  | Crashing in love Author: Jacobson, Jennifer | |
| Price: $21.88 | ||
Summary:
Since her parents divorced, twelve-year-old Peyton has known that to achieve happier outcomes in her life, she's got to focus on eliminating her flaws-and on making sure her first boyfriend is truly right for her. But when she discovers a boy lying unconscious in the middle of the road, the victim of a hit-and-run, her perfect summer takes a dramatic detour.
Download a Teacher's Guide
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 4.70 Points: 8.0 Quiz: 516138 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (09/01/21)
School Library Journal (10/01/21)
Booklist (09/15/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/15/2021 Almost 13-year-old Peyton is facing a dull summer. Her best friend, Mari, will be away all summer, putting an end to their various plans. On the way to Mari's house to say goodbye, however, Peyton sees what at first seems to be a pile of clothes lying on the road but on further inspection turns out to be an injured boy about her age. The boy, Gray, then lies in a coma in the hospital, and Peyton divides her time between sitting beside his bed and talking to him, at his parents' request, and trying to discover who hit him. Peyton is devoted to self-motivation, and her first-person narrative is appropriately crisp and peppy, and the characters around her are vivid and bright, from her struggling journalist mother to her laid-back father and manipulative paternal grandmother. She is disappointed when her daydream about Gray and who he actually turns out to be don't match, but the truth jars her into reevaluating who she is and wants to be and forces her to step out of fantasy and into the real world. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 10/01/2021 Gr 4 Up—Inspirational quotes paper the walls of Peyton's bedroom in the coastal Maine house she lives in with her aspiring journalist mother and two older sisters. Always striving to be a better person, Peyton is positive that with the right attitude, anything is possible. With a little more effort, maybe her parents wouldn't have gotten divorced. Twelve-year-old Peyton is also positive that this is the summer she'll get her first boyfriend; in fact, she has created a list of all the qualities her future boyfriend should embody. Riding her bike one morning she finds a boy in the road, victim of a hit-and-run accident. So sure is Peyton that this comatose boy is the boy of her dreams, she devotes her summer to sitting with him in the ICU and trying to solve the mystery of who was driving the car responsible for the accident. Things don't go exactly as planned. Peyton's summer of romance turns out to be one of growth and understanding—understanding what led to her parent's divorce as well as why her best friend has become estranged. Although Peyton does find a potential boyfriend and solve the mystery of who was driving, these accomplishments come with the realization that life is messy and problems can't be solved with inspirational quotes. All of the primary characters are cued as white. While the focus of the story is Peyton's relationship with family members and friends, secondary issues of class differences are subtly addressed. VERDICT A heartwarming and remarkably poignant story of a girl navigating the sometimes painful process of growing up. A solid choice for middle grade readers.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's Sch., Brooklyn - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
