Crash Landing

(Paperback)

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Governor General Literary Awards Winner A NYPL Best Book of 2024

This YA debut is a searing ode to queer identity, growing up in an immigrant community, and carving a place for yourself in the world with the help of your friends.

Jay Wong is spending the last languid days of summer 2010 trying to land a kickflip and begging for something (anything!) to make her senior year different-to finally give her some stories worth telling. When she meets Ash Chan, it seems like she's getting what she asked for. Ash is confident, intensely independent, and hell on a skateboard-nothing like anyone Jay knows and exactly how she wishes she could be.

Offering to film Ash's submission to an upcoming skate contest introduces Jay to a side of Vancouver she's never seen and gives her the chance to push back against the expectations placed on her. But Ash has a secret, and Jay is increasingly desperate to figure it out. As things between them ride the fine line between friendship and something more, Jay has to decide just how much Ash will impact all the choices she still has to make about where she's going and who she wants to become.

Reviews

This novel is not a story that unfolds. Instead, it intricately folds up into the shape of Jay as she gets to know herself, and is influenced by race, class, gender, sexuality, friends, and family. Crash Landing is part coming of age, coming out, and coming home, told in a voice that rings true when it comes to all three. Carrie Mac, best-selling author of 10 Things I Can See From Here
Li delivers an impressive debut. A vivid, exhilarating ride.Kirkus Reviews, *starred review, 02/03/24
Highly recommended for collections seeking new voices in YA.School Library Journal, 05/25

Author Bio

LI CHARMAINE ANNE (she/they) grew up in the unceded Coast Salish territories (a.k.a. Vancouver, British Columbia), where she skates, writes, and makes music. Crash Landing is her first novel.