You're Welcome, Universe

I took an 8 week course in ASL and have continued to use it since. I can not express enough what an amazing job representing deaf culture and in general the book is really nicely diverse. Whitney Gardner has some nice experience with the deaf community as well. You can read an interview with her here.

Even though this is a young adult and does have that high school type drama troupe I really didn't mind because Whitney managed to keep the whole book interesting and wrap up nicely in 300ish pages. I think a couple of issues are legitimate like what should be considered graffiti vs. art and what true friends should be. All in all, a very captivating read! I love that Julia's art is in the book and it makes a really big impact. Excellent book, I recommend! ~Ashley

2.5 Stars

Couldn't finish. The main character was so utterly unlikable that I didn't want to read any more...so, I didn't.

Julia thought her best friend had her back, just like she did when she took revenge on the slob that embarrassed her with graffiti on a wall at her school. Julia's work, though, was art. Julia's best friend can't stand the heat and snitches on her which sends Julia to a mainstream school, leaving behind her Deaf and Hard of Hearing School and all of the comfort it provided.

SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD!

Julia didn't want new friends, especially after what he former friend did but try as she might, she couldn't get away from Yoga Pants (YP). Their friendship is obvious and YP learns to sign throughout the book. Julia can't get over how fast she's learning. I love this development with the characters. As much as Julia doesn't want to be involved with YP, they get closer everyday. I think this is the way most friendships form, right? Slowly and then all at once?

I also loved that the artwork was not just talked about, but it was shown in the book. Like Julia, I didn't think of it as graffiti, but artwork. Just like they argue about in the book, graffiti has a connotation of being bad and unimportant. I like how they refer to her work as street art because that's what it is. Artistic. She wasn't being a vandal and doing it to be mean spirited, but instead showcase her talent while also beautifying places that needed it.

This book gives a lot of insight into Deaf culture that I didn't even realize was a thing (like capitalizing Deaf). As a teacher, I deal with students with lots of different abilities and reading this book makes me want to learn to sign so I can be prepared for my future students that may need that from me. It made me want to be a better teacher.

~This review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!~This book made me happy. Happy in the contented, yeeeeees this was good kind of way. I don't read that many contemporaries (usually find them trite and boring), so I don't think I'm easy to please – but this book. I pretty much clutched it to myself and gave it a hug when I finished. Also can I please have this quote on t-shirt:I'm not easy. Never have been.Julia is a tough cookie. A tough cookie with an artist's heart and soul. I love her so much, even though I'm not sure she would like me, hehe. She has been hurt so many times in life that she just builds up walls against everyone, which is something I can definitely relate to – though not for the same reasons. I love her independence and how she embraces her Deafness, refusing to allow it to be a liability or anything negative in her life. Not to say she doesn't struggle and hurt – she does. But she overcomes and she doesn't wallow in her sadness.I bury my face in the cushion of my beautiful armchair, my command center, and scream. Over and over, my throat vibrating and crackling with fire. Nobody comes to see what's wrong. Nobody can hear me.This was my first experience in the Deaf world. I have some older family members who are deaf, but they are far removed so I really don't have any contact with anyone Deaf. While this is not an OwnVoices novel, the author appears to have THOROUGHLY done her research, as many people who either are deaf or have close deaf family members have reviewed this book and given it mad props for an accurate portrayal of the Deaf community. SO HAPPY about that! I was very intrigued by the fact that there are “Deaf” people and “deaf” people...I had no idea.Julia does a lot of growing in this book. And in case anyone doesn't remember from being a pre-teen or teenager...growing pains are real. Both the physical and mental kind. In this case Julia learns a lot about friendships, and letting people go. It HURTS, people...but she grows through it and it's a beautiful thing.Diversity is HUGE in this book, and (to me, a very NOT marginalized person) it seems to be presented as such a normal thing, no one bats an eye (except one teacher at some point in the narrative, but that's only realistic I suppose).- Julia is Indian American, and while it only occurs once in the book itself, she is often the target of racial slurs – many of which don't even apply to her, but are due to people making ASSUMPTIONS based on her skin color. #RAGE- Julia has two moms. I'm embarrassed to admit this is the first book I've met with that kind of representation, but I really enjoyed seeing/reading it. It's so completely normal, and they both play such huge roles in Julia's life. The narrative spent just enough time explaining the relationship between the 3 of them to help the reader avoid having a constant “but how...?” in the back of the mind while reading.- Julia is Deaf, and her moms are both Deaf as well. See above comments.- Julia is a graffiti artist – this may not technically qualify under the diversity label, but come on – graffiti artists are DEFINITELY in the minority. I loved that pictures of her art were included in the book – I have troubling picturing things without pictures and finding out that the illustrations were included was one of the main reasons I bought a hard copy instead of an ebook!I might be burning bridges, but they're my bridges to burn.Burn, baby, burn.I loved pretty much everything about this book. Please go read. I'm super excited to have found another debut author that I absolutely love!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+