Crashing into You

by Rocky Callen

Overview

In this fiercely moving YA romance novel, Leti Rivera's love of street racing is put to the test when tragedy strikes her family and threatens to tear her apart from the boy she's falling for.

Seventeen-year-old Leti Rivera dreams of becoming a famous female street racer. Her brother taught her how to drive so fast that nothing can catch her.

But when Jacob Fleckenstein crashes into her life, Leti starts to think that running isn’t always the answer. Together, inside her car, they both feel like they’re flying, and Jacob’s gentleness and honesty threaten Leti’s vow to keep her heart tight in her fist and her grief locked away.

Yet after tragedy strikes following a race, Leti blames herself and swears an oath, a juramento, to give up driving. But will she be able to keep her promise when racing could be the very thing that saves Jacob . . . and herself? Perfect for fans of Netflix's Atypical and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250377937
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	03/31/2026
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Rocky Callen, the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant, has long lived a life of service ever since she was a 13-year-old advocating for the undocumented immigrants in her community. She interned at NASA at 12 years old, started lobbying congress at 13, and wrote and produced student radio stories at NPR at 14. She was a behavioral therapist for over ten years. She received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband, daughter, and baby boy. Rocky founded the Bleed Ink Foundation, a creative hub and resource center for writers, and the HoldOn2Hope Project, which unites creatives in suicide prevention and mental health awareness. She is the author of A Breath Too Late and Crashing Into You.

Editorial Reviews

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

* "An Ecuadorian cultural infusion and great autistic representation layer with busy, realistic-feeling teens, a complex but ultimately hopeful family dynamic, and a lightning-fast plot for a powerful emotional payoff about the consequences of losing one’s self." —Booklist, starred review

* "This ­novel should hold an ­important place in teen l­ibraries." —School Library Journal, starred review

"Telenovela flair to a charming teen romance." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Put this love story at the top of your to be read pile." —Kasie West, author of Sunkissed

"Crashing Into You bursts onto the page with complex family dynamics, authentic explorations of grief, and relationships to root for. Powerful and immersive." —Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times-bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow

"A compelling story about first love and the hard choices we must make to move forward." - Lilliam Rivera, author of Pura Belpré Honor book Never Look Back

Praise for A Breath Too Late

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year, Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, and Texas Library Association 2022 TAYSHAS Pick

"An amazing and wrenching story." —Printz Award–winning author Jandy Nelson

"Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." —New York Times-bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

"Both a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted." —New York Times–bestselling author Alison McGhee

"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King

"A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story. Callen’s writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." —National Book Award finalist and Printz Award–winning author An Na

From the Publisher

2024-03-23
Leticia Rivera is a pro at outracing her problems—until she isn’t.

Sixteen-year-old Leti is a street racer in Maryland, something her older brother and primary caregiver, Santos, taught her—from driving at age 11 to mastering auto mechanics. Santos wanted her to be confident and know that the road was hers. Attending the fancy Philmore Academy on scholarship, Ecuadorian American Leti sticks out at the private school—“my body doesn’t fit into this uniform just like I don’t fit into this school”—and she’s not interested in the sexual advances of wealthy, popular Derek O’Neil, school quarterback and her rival on the underground racing circuit. Leti endures sexism, fat shaming, a barrage of microaggressions, and being abandoned by her best friend in favor of the popular kids, effectively solidifying her status as an outcast. She’s falling for fellow outsider Jacob Fleckenstein, an autistic boy who’s full of kindness and has a passion for outer space. Leti’s dreaming of getting an invitation to the Underground Race, with “winnings so big they could carry me far away,” when tragedy strikes. The novel starts out strong with its compelling setting, no-nonsense protagonist, and cast of quirky side characters, but it falters in melding together a love story, a tale of redemption, an underdog storyline, and a plotline about grief. Readers might stay for the action but become overwhelmed by the number of elements, some of which are executed less skillfully than others.

A bumpy but largely enjoyable ride. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews