I recently picked up a copy of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, thanks to a blogger event at Hachette's offices.

I read it over two nights before bed and if there is one contemporary YA you buy this year, let it be Graffiti Moon.  I adored it with all my heart and soul.  This is not a review, more of a heads-up about the title coming from Hachette here in the UK.  It's not out until July here in the UK, although it is available online from Amazon in it's US incarnation.



UK Cover

 Naturally I can't stop you from buying a copy but by waiting you will find the perfect summer read.  This is the write-up:

'We've got at least seven hours to get what we want before the sun comes up.'


School is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. Somewhere in the glassy darkness, he's out there, spraying colour, birds and blue sky on the night. And Lucy knows that a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for - really fall for.


The last person Lucy wants to spend this night with is Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since punching him in the nose on the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells Lucy he knows where to find Shadow, the two of them are suddenly on an all-night search to places where Shadow's pieces of heartbreak and escape echo off the city walls. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.



US Cover

It is a beautifully written book - slender and heartfelt, told from three different points of view.  It's lyrical and magical and utterly perfect.  I am genuinely pleased to have read this and cannot recommend this highly enough.  Graffiti Moon rings with true words, beautiful words and observations so acute that makes your heart ache.  There is poetry, and discussions of artwork and of life and it all takes place within a single night.  I thought it would feel rushed, full of angst, but it doesn't.  It's slow and wonderful and magical.  The other night I tweeted that it feels like I can swim in the author's words - and I still feel like that writing this a week down the line.  I can't explain reading Graffiti Moon in any other way.  It's not just reading, it's seeing it, feeling it, sensing it.  It is a gem and has all the trademarks of becoming a true classic.