Graffiti Moon

This outstanding book by yet another terrific Australian young adult author is set in Melbourne, Australia, and alternates narration among several likable and talented teens who make up for lack of self-confidence with a great deal of heart.

Lucy loves art, and likes people who are unusual. Her best girlfriends are Jazz and Daisy, girls who don’t “follow the rules of high school geography.” She also thinks that a mysterious, visionary graffiti artist known as “Shadow” would be her soulmate - if only she could find out who he is.

Ed is Shadow - he dropped out of school because of his dyslexia. Although he can’t read and can barely write, his head is full of ideas, and his pictures are full of expressiveness and beauty. show more Sometimes they are accompanied by verse by his friend Leo, who goes by the sobriquet Poet. Chapters narrated by Leo are in the form of poems.

Lucy doesn’t realize that she actually went out with Ed two years before, and broke his nose on their one and only date.

As the story begins, Lucy and Ed are thrown together again because Lucy’s friends, Daisy and Jazz, want to hang out with Ed’s friends Leo and Dylan. So Lucy and Ed end up paired off, much to their mutual chagrin.

Lucy tells Ed about her admiration for Shadow, and how much she wants to find out who he is, and Ed offers to take her places where he might show up. As they travel by bicycle around the city, Ed takes Lucy on a tour of hidden sites where he has painted graffiti. The haunting and stunning pictures lay bare Ed’s emotional landscape. Lucy sees that Shadow feels there are doors in his head that let in sound but not meaning; that he feels trapped; that he his heart has been “rocked by earthquakes and disappointed seas.” The story of Shadow's pain and fears is expressed by graffiti moons and bricked-in birds; he thinks no girl would want him if she knew who he really was, with his limitations.

But Lucy, who works as a glass-blower, knows that even some of the most beautiful pieces of glass have cracks running through them. If ever she and Ed could be honest with themselves and each other, maybe they could figure out how to open some of those locked doors.

Discussion: The writing in this book is exceptional. The prose is very often poetic without falling into the trap of being “bore-geous” as author Ayelet Waldman calls writing that’s gorgeous but pointless or meaningless. show less

Graffiti has always entranced me. There's something about the sweeping murals, painted in secrecy, that hold a certain power over me. After reading Graffiti Moon, I think my love is even stronger. Before I delve into anything else about this book I need to share how much I loved that Cath Crowley made graffiti into art. Shadow doesn't paint on anything that belongs to anyone, he doesn't tag for a gang, instead he paints the beauty, pain and sorrow that are inside of his soul onto the walls of broken down areas. Unloved areas that crave color. In this book, graffiti is turned into an expression of feeling. Crowley allows her characters to use art in general as an outlet for their emotions. It's a beautiful thing.

This is a story about show more feeling lost and alone, and searching out the one thing that will bring you back. For Lucy, her parents are the source of her confusion. I love how Crowley portrays them in this book, because it is so realistic. They love one another, they love her, they just can't always be around one another. On the other hand, Shadow's nemesis is a matter of self doubt. How can he move forward if the one holding him back is...him? These two characters are the main focus of the story, and they are beautifully portrayed. To say I fell in love with them is a given.

I wish I could more aptly express how sweeping this story is. Crowley has a way with words that just allows you to get lost in the story. Lucy is looking for a mysterious artist, one who will take her breath away. What she doesn't see is that the boy right in front of her is just as wonderful. In this story Lucy and Ed navigate the land of second chances. They discover that sometimes first impressions aren't always what they seem to be. Shrouded in the protective cloak of night, these two learn a lot about themselves and one another. Their dialogue is true to life and unabashedly honest. I can't express enough how amazing these two really are.

Beautiful. That's my review in one word. What Cath Crowley has written in Graffiti Moon is a look deep into the inner thoughts of lost teens. A nighttime adventure that takes them through their deepest secrets. This book captivated me, and I guarantee that it will do the same for you. show less

Read more at The Flyleaf Review

Opening Line:

I pedal fast.

My Take On It

What. Is. It? Seriously. What is it with Australian authors? What is it that sets them apart from the rest of the world and makes their voice so unique? Why is it that every YA book I have recently read that was written by an Aussie is fan-freaking-tastic? Every single one. And why is it so gosh darn hard for us Americans to get our hands on most of them? If I ever hit the lottery, I am going to take a trip to Australia, JUST FOR THE BOOKS. I'm going to spend all my time in bookstores buying them up by the truckload and then I am going to ship them back home, read them, and spread the love by passing them on to all my friends. Because guys, have you ever checked the show more price tag on most of those Aussie titles that are sometimes available through Fishpond or The Book Depository? Yikes! Australian books are expensive. I know that I would have to hit a windfall to buy that many Aussie books. I have seriously considered rekindling a friendship with someone I know who recently moved to New Zealand, just so I can have a closer connection to Australia and it's books! (Is that bad? Don't answer that.)

Well if you are wondering why this crazy outburst and weird tangent, it's because I just finished reading Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. And true to form, it's was Ah-Mazing. As I knew it would be. This is the second book by Crowley that I have read, and like the first, A Little Wanting Song, I loved it and am absolutely enchanted with this woman's writing. In A Little Wanting Song, protagonist Charlie is a songwriter and music is a central theme in the book. And Charlie writes beautiful songs friends, read it if you can get your hands on a copy. In Graffiti Moon, the creative outlet is art, which if you are familiar with my blog or me in any way, you know is one of my passions. But you don't have to be an artist, or even an appreciator of art to fall in love with this book. Because her extraordinary way with words will draw you in and make you a believer. Cath Crowley could be talking about economics or quantum physics or organic chemistry and I think I would probably find her descriptions lyrical. That she chose to write about art (and music) are just icing on the cake for me.

A little background info. Graffiti Moon is written primarily from two points of view: Lucy and Ed, with verse written by "Poet" interspersed throughout. The book is not long, it's a quick read at less than 300 pages, and all the events take place throughout the course of one day and night. I love these type books, because when you have a story told in a time frame such as this, every word, thought and action counts. This book is similar to many of the other Australian contemporary YA books I have read in that there is a somewhat gritty urban undertone that pervades throughout. Lucy comes from an unconventional home, her parents are of the artistic bent, one a writer and one a performer. Ed comes from a broken home raised by a single, hard working mom. Lucy's home life is definitely the more stable of the two, though she has concerns about her parents marriage. Ed's mom is working full time while also attending nursing school and Ed has, until recently, been working in a paint store since quitting school two years earlier.

Lucy and Ed have history, so at the start of the book they are not strangers to each other, but they don't know each other either. Lucy is on her way to college to study art and is obsessed with a mysterious graffiti artist known as Shadow. All of Shadow's artworks found throughout the city are accompanied by Poet's verse. Lucy and her best friend Jazza, who has a little bit of a psychic ability in her, are celebrating the end of high school with a night out. Another friend, Daisy, has joined them and each have their own mission for the night. Jazza wants to meet someone and Daisy, who is on the outs with her boyfriend Dylan, is tagging along. As for Lucy, she just wants to track down Shadow. Alternately, Ed and his mates Leo and Dylan are also out for the night, but their plans have a little bit of a darker side to them. Leo owes a scary character money and has set up a way for he and his friends to pay back the debt. Ed is at a low place in his life. His friend/father figure and boss Bert recently passed away and Ed has no prospects for the future. It would seem that Lucy and Ed have little in common, but as the night wears on and the two begin to discover each other you realize nothing could be further from the truth.

So into this world I went, and almost immediately, the sheer force of Crowley's words hit me like a hammer. Here, Lucy's thoughts on Shadow:

"I'm so close to meeting him, and I want it so bad. Mum says when wanting collides with getting, that's the moment of truth. I want to collide. I want to run right into Shadow and let the force spill our thoughts so we can pick each other up and pass each other back like piles of shiny stones."

I adore Lucy as a character. She is confident and strong and she knows what she wants. I love how she is a little strange and tends to say what she thinks without worrying too much about how it sounds to others. I love her feisty spirit and that she's sort of fearless and doesn't take crap from anyone. I love that she once broke some poor guy's nose (albeit accidentally) when he made the mistake of grabbing her "arse."I love how observant she is but at the same time can't see what is right in front of her. I love that her chosen medium is glass, and how she has trained with her mentor for years honing her craft. And I love that her one desire is to meet the person she knows will feel just as strongly about art and literature and life as she does and will want to share it all with her by his side.

And Ed. Oh, Ed. Ed has had it hard. But does he wallow in self pity, or drown his sorrows? Nope. He's loyal to his friends, almost to the point of being too loyal, he loves his mum, and he loves his art. But at the point where we meet Ed, he's feeling pretty hopeless about life and his future. Like Lucy, art holds a special place in his life. It's his means of expression and escape. Here's a little bit of Ed:

"You ever notice how the night changes shape?" I ask Lucy. "It starts out thick with people and sound and then gets thinner till in the middle there's almost nothing in it but you."

Crowley writes wonderful supporting characters too. Jazza and Leo are the perfect best friends to Lucy and Ed. It's fun to watch Daisy and Dylan muddle through their relationship problems too. And though their roles are minor, the adults in Graffiti Moon are beautifully rendered and have weight to them, something that is often lacking in YA lit today. I love the eccentricities of Lucy's mom and dad (how could I not? Her mother wears T-Shirts that sport words of wisdom like IF YOU DON'T WANT A GENERATION OF ROBOTS, FUND THE ARTS. And she wears them to parent-teacher conferences:) I love Ed's mom, who in her own quiet way is an immense influence on Ed. I love Al, Lucy's mentor, who not only teaches her art but also is her cohort in discovering Shadow's identity. And I really, really, love Bert. By the time this story unfolds he has already died, but his memory and words are always in Ed's thoughts and his sage advice is a guiding force in all that Ed does. Bert always believed in Ed's potential, and the relationship the two men, one old and one young, shared is truly beautiful to read.

There are so many engaging characters in Graffiti Moon and I love their interaction with each other. I can't say more without divulging important aspects of the plot, but on more than one occasion I was reminded of the movie You Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Sort of the same dynamic is present between Lucy and Ed. There's an attraction and interest between them, even when they are disagreeing, and there are loads of sweet moments where you want to just shake them and tell them to snap out it and see what's so obvious to everyone else. And again through all of it are Crowley's gorgeous words and imagery:

"I liked that he had hair that was growing without a plan. A smile that came out of nowhere and left the same way. That he was tall enough so I had to look up to him in my dream sequences. I really liked his T-shirts. When he asked me out he was wearing this one with a dog walking a man on a leash. And there was always this space around him. The sort of space you'd queue to get into."

A smile that came out of nowhere and left the same way. Brilliant. And there are moments that are just brimming with the naive notions of kids on their way to adulthood.

"Imagine loving someone enough to sleep with them and then forgetting their name," I say.
"She didn't love him. You don't have to love someone to have sex with them."
"I know that," I say, trying to act like I'm not embarrassed for thinking love and sex are the same thing. I know they're not, but I want them to be close enough to at least brush each other as they pass.

Have you ever read a book and felt like it was written just for you?

"I hold out my arms and let the coolness float across my skin. The lightening never came in the end. Just the breeze, I feel like that Winged Victory of Samothrace sculpture that Mrs. J showed me. It's marble, held at the Louvre in Paris. A statue of the winged goddess Victory. She lost her head along the way but she still looks triumphant. Half angel, half human, wings spread wide. I turn to Jazz. "I'm going to kiss Ed," I say, and she smiles."

That particular sculpture, and the glass art of Dale Chihuly which is also mentioned throughout the book, are personal favorites of mine and have a special place in my heart so reading about them through the words of an author that I admire was such a treat. I just connected with this book on so many levels and I can't speak highly enough about it. Yes, it is hard to get hold of some Australian books, but luckily Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon has just been published in the States. I sincerely hope you are able to pick it up and try out for yourself because it is a magical book from start to finish:)

I'll leave you with one of my favorite of Poet's poems:

Here

She says she'll forgive me
She says just this one time
She says get on with it and kiss me
She says do that twirling thing with my hair
She says that was exactly what I was after
She says she's glad the cool change has come
I say I'll see her tomorrow
She points a finger at the sky
And says it's here

5/5 Stars show less

“Humor without sadness is just pie in the face”

My favorite part of this book was the humor. Full on, snort and laugh out loud moments - intermixed with sad and quiet moments. This is a story about Lucy and Ed, Daisy and Dylan, Leo and Jazz. The three boys are friends and the three girls are friends. It's the last night of Year Twelve and many of them have plans (and some have none) so it's the first night of freedom after their tough exams. And the girls are ready to be free. The boys are excited to meet them but they also have other plans tonight.

It's a wonderful story about encounters and chance meets and about how art can speak to a soul better than words ever could. I love that we got Leo's poems between Lucy and Ed chapters. I show more love that we got the same moments just slightly overlapped from Ed and Lucy. I loved how sweet this one was but also raw and real. Life isn't all rainbows and butterflies - sometimes it's blue skies on cement with yellow birds sleeping and blackbirds soaring. show less

Rating: 4.75/5
It’s been hours since I finished this one and I’m still having this odd, dreamy look in my eyes, that stupid banana smile and this urge to do some graffiti. In my own room. All because of Ed.

Lucy, Jazz and Daisy, three friends just finished their year 12 and instead of throwing a party or get trashed at the club, they spent their last night with three boys: Ed, Leo and Daisy’s boyfriend Dylan, looking for the authors of the most heartfelt, genius-like and expressive graffiti of whole town. But sometimes, the things you most want and desperately look for can be right in front your eyes.

While reading the blurb, the premise looked good however the execution was much, much better.
The book reminded me what it felt like on show more my last day of high school: the farewells, the excitement, the freedom and then the incertitude about our futures, the questions about which path to take, where we will be ten years from now. We were eighteen and clueless about what was waiting for us outside the cocoon of high school and home but we dismissed it all; the truth is we were terrified and I wish we had someone to tell us that life isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be. I wish we had someone like Shadow, painting how we felt, someone like Poet to write the words we wanted to hear/read. Unfortunately, graffiti isn’t very appreciated in town.

So, throughout the whole book, I wished very hard to be in Lucy’s shoes, looking at those graffiti that might hold my answers and my feelings, looking for Shadow, the artist who paints them with the right colors. With the help of Ed. Ed who makes her tingle and zing in all the right places just by looking at her from across the room. Ed, who messed up their first date by grabbing her arse. Ed, who got kicked out for school for cheating in an exam. Ed who thinks that art is cool and likes Vermeer and Rothko. Ed who is not single.

Ed who claims that Shadow is not the person she glorifies and thinks he is.

Graffiti Moon was a breath of fresh air, tackling the issue of coming-of-age in sometimes, a very serious but still engaging way. Juggling between Lucy and Ed’s point of view, you never grow tired or bored with their voices. They’re funny, smart, talented, creative, and lost. They didn’t know where the night was heading and they didn’t expect that what they were looking for was just within arm’s reach.

The author’s writing is truly amazing. Her descriptions are so accurate and vivid; I could easily picture the walls and the colors just by closing my eyes. It was very pleasant. So needless to say, I really enjoyed reading this one for everything it offered and then some: its characters, the paintings, the poems and the smile it is plastering on my face each time I’m thinking about it. show less

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved a mysterious guy she'd never met before. A guy that painted walls in the night with visions she could only imagine until she saw them and she thought she knew him from his paintings from his graffiti art and his name Shadow. Once upon a time there was a boy, who's father ran out on his pregnant sixteen year old mother and who quit school in the 10th year because he got caught cheating. But the words were his, just not the writing. So he quit and got a job and became a shadow, The Shadow, expressing himself through art saying what he couldn't say in words. And one girl could read what he said. This is their story.

I highlighted about three quarters of this book, the poetry used to describe the show more pictures Shadow paints it's just beautiful. I didn't know graffiti could be so beautiful, so detailed, have so much imagery in it. I'll admit I have a bias towards graffiti, I always see the gangs marking their territories, racial slurs and who loves who. I've never seen really beautiful graffiti. Or maybe I've never looked for it. But this story it's only about graffiti. It's a coming of age story that happens overnight---a long night---in Australia after everyone, all but one that is graduates from high school.

Everyone has their own issues they are dealing with, Jazz's parents have had her on lock down studying since midterms and they are away in Germany so she's out to have a good time. Daisy wants a new boyfriend after Dylan, her boyfriend of 3 yrs egged her Jazz and Lucy in the head after school today. And Lucy, she wants to find Shadow because she knows from his paintings they will have everything in common and she has stopped going out since that ill fated date with Ed in tenth year, shortly before he dropped out of school. It's obvious from the way Ed describes his problems in school that he has a learning disability but Leo has helped him get by until tenth year. Then he got caught pulling an essay out of his pocket and the substitute teacher went bat crazy on him. It was, I think in Leo's handwriting so rather than get him in trouble, even though it was Ed's words, he quit. He got a job at a paint store and worked for a man that was a pseudo father and bolstered his self esteem. But he died and Ed hasn't had a job since then and can't help his mom pay the rent.

So that's where things are when these six meet. It's hilarious at times like when the girls are all in the bathroom and Dylan asks, "What do you think they're talking about in there?" "I'll take a wild guess and say us," Leo tells him. Then they guys all go the the bathroom and it's been awhile and Lucy asks, "What do you think they're talking about?" "I'll take a lucky guess," Jazz says, "and say us." (p52 of the ARC).
There are other funny parts but other equally heartbreaking parts. Cath Crowley takes the reader on an exquisitely emotional roller coaster ride. We are almost at the top about to know it all, or at least Lucy is and then it's snatched away as we plummet down to the bottom of the hill. And every time it happens it makes it takes them that much further from the truth, from the beginning of something wonderful.

Even though the events happen over the course of a night, it seems like it is much longer. Not because the story lags or the pace is slow, but because Ed and Lucy get to know each other so well. The chapters are told alternating between Ed and Lucy and it works really well. Lucy's idea of love is romance and that's what she thinks Shadow represents, because he understands art and is sensitive according to what she sees. And for Ed, he sees himself through the eyes of others as a dropout with no future, going nowhere, painting on walls and he sees nothing. But he and Lucy share their thoughts on Shadow's paintings and art and life throughout the night ans some other adventures.

The writing is beautifully done and easy to read. It's not overly flowery. It's spare but poetic if that makes sense.

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 said 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? p.61 ARC

There's just no other way to say that it's a completely addictive novel. It was a day and a half read for me but only because I started late in the day. I loved the writing style, the narration and the characters. I didn't say much about them. Leo is a man of words, a guy after my own heart, though after this novel, I'm not so sure. He writes poetry and he's really good. Again, his poems are spare, but to the point. They get right to the point. And he's the best friend a guy like Ed could ever ask for. And vice versa. Dylan is a bit stupid. I think he's smart, he just acts before he thinks, like egging his girlfriend. But he's a bit more of a secondary character than the others are. Jazz is a good friend to Lucy. After all, she's the one that gets her into this night and helps her see it through. And its a night she'll always remember. And Daisy, well she's a bit like Dylan in the role she plays, just a bit character. There are parents! It runs the gamut from crap to very well meaning and meddlesome. And there are other adults involved in the lives of the characters lives.

There is a very lit bit of swearing an some talk of doing it but that is it. Use you best judgement.

Heather

I was provided an ARC of the through NetGalley from the publisher Knopf Books for Young Readers and Random House. I was in no way compensated for my review. show less

I started this a couple of times, but every time something distracts me. It's no secret that I love Aussie lit, so I always meant to come back to it, and this time I was determined to finish it.

And I am so glad I did.

Every now and then you read a book that makes you want to not read other books so it stays as long as possible with you. This is that kind of book. Because it's the best thing ever. It's like rainbows in words. Things that make you happy just because they exist. This is it.

I loved all the characters and their little stories and how they unfolded, but I have to say that I liked Ed a bit more than Lucy. Lucy's a great girl, smart, an artist, just a tiny bit starry-eyed. But Ed is such a complex character that you can't help show more but fall in love a little with him. I loved their back story. I loved the dynamic between the boys and between the girls, and between the boys and girls. And I loved their friendships. I loved the way Lucy and Ed are wary around each other but eventually just let go of that. I loved...

Actually, it's easier to tell you what I didn't like about this whole book - NOTHING. I wouldn't change a thing, and it was such a satisfying read, with perfect pace and unforgettable characters. I could go on and on about the story and how much I liked it, but I don't want to - just read it!

So, about those rainbows? I rarely ever do this, but:

We'll meet and click and sit up all night and everything will tip out of me and into him and the other way around and while we're tipping the night will fade and the world will get pink and in that pinkness he'll kiss me.

I'm sorry, but if this isn't the prettiest piece of writing I have ever read, I don't know what is.
But, there's more!

I told her yeah, but there was no skin on my voice and she heard the bones in my words like I did.

And even more!

I want to run right into Shadow and let the force spill our thoughts so we can pick each other up and pass each other back like piles of shiny stones.

I don't know. I don't have words. It's one of the best books I have ever read, and I'm really sad it was so short! This, combined with my love for graffiti (I was once madly in like with a graffiti artist - I was over it pretty soon, but the love for street art remained) makes this an instant favorite with me. show less