CRASH INTO ME

This is no ordinary road trip. After four high-school students—reticent narrator Owen, perpetual liar Audrey, Korean-American lesbian Jin-Ae and socially inept, alcoholic Frank—meet online, they head west on a celebrity-suicide road trip. Their last planned stop is Death Valley, where they will carry out a suicide pact. During their intense two weeks together, the teens bond emotionally and physically, as they make self-discoveries, explore their own reasons for committing suicide and feel validated for the first time. Flashbacks to the students’ online chats show how far they’ve traveled—in miles and in changed perceptions. As they approach their final destination, they must decide if their trip has come to a conclusion—or if their lives are just beginning. This gripping debut novel gives a spot-on portrayal of depressed and suicidal teens with realistic voices. Fans of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (2007) will find this page-turner a hopeful alternative. (Fiction. YA)