Graffiti Moon (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Graffiti Moon Claire Gross Crowley, Cath . Graffiti Moon. Knopf, 2012. [272p]. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96953-9 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86953-2 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-98365-8 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12. Lucy and Ed went on a disastrous date two years ago, and they've avoided each other ever since. When Lucy's friend Jazz takes a fancy to Ed's friend Leo, though, Lucy and Ed are thrown together for a night. Believing that Ed knows Shadow, a [End Page 344] graffiti artist whose paintings have inspired her romantic fantasies, Lucy follows Ed on a tour of Shadow's work around the town. The reader is in on the secret from the start: Ed is Shadow. A self-doubting dropout who finds reading severely challenging, Ed is also an immensely talented and thoughtful artist who can see no viable outlet for his ability, and he's at a crossroads: later this night, he and Leo are planning to rob the high school, Ed for rent, Leo to pay back a dangerous thug. This sophomore release from Crowley (A Little Wanting Song, BCCB 9/10) has all the earnest emotion and elaborate architecture of a Cohn/Levithan collaboration (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, BCCB 6/06), and it is similarly structured, with the narrative alternating between Lucy's and Ed's voices (occasionally interspersed with poems by Leo). Lucy and Ed are a wonderfully matched and misunderstood pair, and their journey from mutual dislike and disappointment to interest and affection is well constructed and moving. The problems they struggle with—particularly Ed's financial woes and uncertain future—give the narrative a grittiness that makes its sweetness all the more powerful. From the magic of late-night escapades, to the skilled use of the tried-and-true secret-identity love triangle that's not actually a triangle, to the host of engaging secondary characters, this is a love story with something for everyone. Copyright © 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois