You’re Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner

e-ARC, 304 pages

Release Date: March 7, 2017

Published by: Knopf
Read from: March 11-16 , 2017 

Stand-alone

Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.) 

For fans of: Marginalized Voices, Disability, Contemporary, YA

     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.
     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.

*MY THOUGHTS*

     To be honest, what made me want to review this one was the cover. I was definitely feeling the super bright colors and I needed to know what was in between those pages. And I’m so glad I picked this one up, because I was in for a special surprise!

“It always baffles me when people thin I’m just typing things out to be different.“

18%

     Julia is helping out her best friend when she’s caught. She’s expelled and sent to a school of “hearies.” Julia is Deaf and some kids treat her horribly. She hangs on to one thing: her art. She begins painting again, but soon finds herself in a war.

“Words are only words.“

25%

     I LOVED the marginalized voices in this one! Julia has two moms, she’s Deaf, and they’re people of color. This book helps the readers learn so much about different languages, cultures, and lifestyles and I was all here for it. 

“The words don’t make you. YOU make you.“

25%

     I also loved the artwork. I wish I had read a final copy though to see it in its full glory. In the e-ARC the format was kind of wonky so some of it was cutoff and on different pages and it was a little annoying. I can see myself reading this again as a finished copy. 

“What we make is bigger than the both of us.“

70%

     My main issue with the book was the plot. It was so S L O W and by the time it picked up, it was at the end. i wanted to see more about the back and forth from the war,by the time she strted really painting, they had already revealed who it was. I just wish I could have had a little bit more “umph” before the rushed ending. 

“Silence is the loudest sound.“

86%

     I seem to pick up a lot of books on a whim, and normally I’m disappointed with those. But this one was a good pick. I did pretty good with picking this one. Let’s see what else Gardner has up her sleeve after this book!

Overall, I give this