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You're Welcome, Universe

by Whitney Gardner

Art, identity, and a suburban graffiti rivalry

Regular price $13.38 USD
Regular price $22.30 USD Sale price $13.38 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Art, identity, and a suburban graffiti rivalry

After Julia paints over a slur aimed at her best friend, she is expelled from the Kingston School for the Deaf and sent to a mainstream school, where she is the only deaf student. Graffiti becomes her way to claim space, but an unknown artist begins altering her tags, turning her work into a contest over creative territory. Whitney Gardner’s contemporary YA novel connects Julia’s art with questions of belonging, friendship, and self-expression. Interior illustrations of Julia’s graffiti tags make the artwork part of the book’s presentation as well as its story.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teen and young-adult readers interested in stories about deaf protagonists and school belonging.
  • Readers who enjoy contemporary YA fiction centered on visual art, friendship, and creative rivalry.

Themes

Deafness and belongingArt and self-expressionFriendship and conflictIdentity

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A vibrant, edgy, fresh new YA voice for fans of More Happy Than Not and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, packed with interior graffiti.

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award!


When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a "mainstream" school in the suburbs, where she's treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the 'burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off--and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Told with wit and grit by debut author Whitney Gardner, who also provides gorgeous interior illustrations of Julia's graffiti tags, You're Welcome, Universe introduces audiences to a one-of-a-kind protagonist who is unabashedly herself no matter what life throws in her way.

"[A] spectacular debut...a moving, beautifully written contemporary novel full of quirky art and complicated friendships...this book is a gift to be thankful for."--BookRiot
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