Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

On the night of Lucy's last day of high school, she is determined to find Shadow - the graffiti artist who paints murals around town. She feels like she could really connect with Shadow and find a common love and appreciation for art.

Lucy has been working as a glassblower and has a wild imagination, so it's one reason why she loves Shadows works so much. Now, if only he would stop leaving his paintings long enough for her to come and see him in person...

Ed dropped out of school in year ten. He can't read and got caught "cheating", so he left school to work in a paint shop. He got a discount on the paint so he can use it for his own purposes.

But the owner of the paint shop died of a heart attack and his wife can't afford the shop. Now Ed is out of work and he was helping his mother pay the rent.

Then his friend, Leo, needs to steal supplies from the high school to pay off money that he borrowed from a very shady guy - a guy that will do serious harm if he doesn't get his money on time.

The one thing Ed, Leo, and Dylan don't plan on the night of the heist is to get invited to spend the night with Daisy, Lucy, and Jazz. Leo is into Jazz (and vice versa) and Daisy is already dating Dylan, though they fight constantly.

The only problem is Ed and Lucy. They went on a date before Ed dropped out of school. And the date ended with Lucy breaking Ed's nose because he touched her butt.

Not the best way to part ways.

But Lucy is determined to meet Shadow, and the trio of boys just happen to know who Shadow is and where all of his haunts and paintings are located.

So begins the adventure of finding Shadow, traveling in a pink van, running from thugs and the authorities, and overall just a weird night for the six of them. Read Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley to follow along on their adventure.

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a very enjoyable book! I haven't read anything quite like it so it was entertaining and informational for me.

I really liked how both main characters had something unique they enjoyed doing. I would actually like to see more YA books about glassblowing - it sounds really interesting and something different. And graffiting - pretty much illegal, yet neither Lucy or Ed thought of it that way.

Their love for the art made them seem older than their actual age. They thought so far out of the box that one doesn't usually see in high school students. They knew exactly what they wanted to do as a career, which is also a rarity in high school students.

This was set in Australia which I enjoyed. I've never been there but just reading about the different locations and reading different sayings was great.

Out of Lucy and Ed, I think I liked Ed the most. He had a harder life, quitting school after sophomore year and helping his mom out with the rent. But he also did an illegal act by graffiting because he loved to do it.

This book was told by both Lucy and Ed's point of view, giving the reader a chance to find out more about the characters and what they were thinking.

Also, this book was written about one night. One. They travel all over town and find out more secrets in one night than they had in a year. It was written very well and I really liked it!

I would recommend this to any reader. I think they would like it, plus it's from Lucy and Ed's point of view so both guys and girls can read it and try to relate to one character.