Furious

March 25, 2024
Bisexual 17-year-old JoJo Emerson-Boyd’s dreams of following in her NASCAR mother’s footsteps are shattered when her mom dies in a crash. Now she lives in her mother’s tiny hometown of Dell’s Hollow, N.C., with her car-averse former mechanic father. Though she hopes to apply to the F1 Academy, her dad is reluctant to permit she get her license, so JoJo spends her time working at her grandmother Jolene’s garage. There, she meets 17-year-old Eliana Blum, an overly cautious Jewish lesbian and certified Motorcycle Girl, whose rule following tendencies quickly endear her to JoJo. Entertaining quips and a mutual love of the Fast & Furious franchise may be what initially sparks their connection, but it’s their shared sense of loss—JoJo’s grappling with her mother’s death and the loss of the sport that kept her family together, and El’s struggling with the truth of her beloved sister’s sudden departure—sets the girls up for a whirlwind romance based on understanding and empathy. This fast-paced read by Pacton (The Absinth Underground) and Podos (From Dust, a Flame), told via the teens’ alternating perspectives, perceptively balances grief and levity in the form of an easy-to-root-for romance. Main characters are white. Ages 14–up. Agents: (for Pacton) Kate Testerman, KT Literary; (for Podos) Eric Smith, P.S. Literary.