The last thing on 16-year-old Jess
DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any
guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things
to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s
drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to
sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the
chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle
into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the
grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps
herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up
enough to risk friendship and her first romance?
~~~~~~~~~~
“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination
of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”
~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific
Northwest College of Art
~~~~~~~~~~
In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur
stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional
smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck
situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding
mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and
stout beer and constantly works toward employing
wei wu wei
in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an
oxymoron.
Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her
expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks
after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who
might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing
astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four
feline companions, and two giant sequoias.
