Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 06/01/2024 *Starred Review* Leti Rivera grows up rebuilding cars and learning to race by her brother, Santos’, side. Their mother’s death, from before Leti can remember, left their father too bereft to parent. Leti fully believes that with Sombra, her beloved Civic, she has the skills to win races like the upcoming Underground—if she can just be taken seriously. When a (literal) run-in with classmate Jacob brings to light the reason for his recent absence—his father’s death, a grief Leti is all too familiar with—her heart begins to open in a way she thought would never happen. Soon, though, a race gone horribly wrong results in an unexpected tragedy. Leti feels like she must choose between her own destiny and the people she loves. Powerful emotions, short chapters, and high-octane characters in high-stakes situations are met with beautifully lyrical, sparse but intense expressions of grief and examinations of its impact on different types of people and relationships. 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 oneself. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.