Book Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Title:  Graffiti Moon

Author:  Cath Crowley

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre:  Contemporary 
Size:  272 pages

Release Date:  February 2012

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone

Source: NetGalley

First Line:   "I pedal fast. Down Rose Drive, where houses swim in pools of orange streetlight."*

Summary (from GoodReads):

It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.

His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.

Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.

But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.
 

Excerpt:

I took a can and my brain clicked off and my hands clicked on and I escaped onto the wall, a painted ghost trapped in a jar.  I stood back to look at it and I knew the sad thing wasn't that the ghost was running out of air.  The sad thing was that he had enough air in that small space to last him a lifetime.  What were you thinking, little ghost? Letting yourself get trapped like that?*

My Thoughts:

This was one of the most lyrical books that I've read in a long time. This book slowly crept upon me and then grew on me quickly and before I new it I was pleasantly addicted to the beauty that is Cath Crowley's writing.

Graffiti Moon is told in alternating chapters from three different points of view. Those of the two main characters (Lucy & Ed) speak the loudest and the third (Leo's) is the simple addition of poetry.  I'll admit that this narration style did give me pause at the beginning of the book and I honestly didn't feel a huge connection to the characters at the beginning.  I forced myself to read the first 50 pages and boy am I glad that I did.

The characters though young are also in a way ageless and timeless in their appreciation for art and more importantly in their way their art allows them to express themselves and relate to the world around them.  The picture Cath Crowley paints is  one of universal problems like dyslexia, divorce, self esteem, peer pressure, poverty...and one of honest growth and individualism.  As Lucy and Ed search for the elusive Shadow...they find not only themselves...but also each other.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a little different...something undeniably beautiful.

Was it Worth My Time

*Please note: All quotes are taken from an Advance Reading Copy and are subject to change.