Crashing into You by Rocky Callen (review)

Reviewed by: Crashing into You by Rocky Callen Wesley Jacques Callen, Rocky Crashing into You. Holt, 2024 272p Trade ed. ISBN 9781250861894 20. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250861870 11. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 When Leticia "Leti' Rivera was born, her mother died in childbirth, leaving Leti to grow up with her Papi, her older brother, and tremendous guilt over the mom she lost and doesn't remember. Now an outcast scholarship kid at the stuffy Philmore Academy by day and a street racing queen by night, Leti has big dreams of driving her souped-up black Civic—la Sombra—in big races, then in the pros, and then hopefully out of Prince George's County, Maryland. Meeting similarly outcasted classmate Jacob and falling harder than she can admit doesn't quite derail these plans but definitely makes the badass persona she's worked hard to cultivate a little shaky. Jacob's initially unrevealed autism makes his words blunt and unconventionally thoughtful, which Leti finds charming, especially when he is honest about his grief after the recent loss of his father. Leti's first-person narration is poetic, realistically marred by anxiety and self-doubt that makes Leti and Jacob's fast friendship read as profoundly cerebral, heartbreaking but intensely self-aware. Readers may be frustrated by Leti initially being unable to recognize clipped words, averted eyes, and an aversion to touch as anything other than rejection, but meet-cutes remain cute for a reason as the two seem to fumble into something mutually comforting after Jacob opens up to her. The emotional threads of this novel run at a breakneck and riveting pace, where secret juramentos, comas, and subsequent amnesia provide telenovela flair to a charming teen romance that is as much about healing and self-forgiveness as it is about awkward high school crushes and smooching with accommodations. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois