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    The Children's Book Review

    Whitney Gardner, Author of You’re Welcome, Universe | Speed Interview

    Bianca SchulzeBy Bianca Schulze3 Mins Read Author Interviews Books with Girl Characters Chapter Books Teens: Young Adults
    Whitney Gardner Author of You’re Welcome Universe Speed Interview
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    The Children’s Book Review | March 7, 2017

    The Children’s Book Review: Which five words best describe You’re Welcome Universe?

    Whitney Gardner: Graffiti, Fury, Friendship, Fingerspelling, and Fire.

    If you had to take a vacation with one of the characters from You’re Welcome, Universe, who would it be? Why?

    It would have to be Julia, my main character. I think she and I would get into lots of good trouble together.

    What has been the best reaction from a reader, so far?

    Watching author Laura Silverman live tweet her read through of my book was thrilling!

    What’s on your nightstand? Any books?

    My Kindle is there, so lots of books! Also a NYT crossword puzzle book, a pencil and sharpener and probably two half full water glasses.

    For your writing energy: sugar or salt, tea or coffee?

    Coffee, always coffee. But I do take mine light and sweet.

    Writing tools: computer, pen and paper, or all of the above?

    I write on the computer but I’m surrounded by Post-It notes with half-ideas scribbled down on them. All my ideas and notes go into notebooks but all the actual writing is done on the computer.

    Can you tell us one more thing we may not know about You’re Welcome, Universe, your writing style, or yourself?

    You’re Welcome, Universe has an homage to one of my favorite places in New York City that has since been demolished. 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center. My main character gets to do one last piece of art there before it’s destroyed.

    ***

    you're welcome universe by whitney gardnerYou’re Welcome, Universe

    Written by Whitney Gardner

    Publisher’s Synopsis: 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.

    Ages 14+ | Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-0399551413

    Available Here: 

    Text, logoBuy on AmazonLogo

    About Whitney Gardner

    WhitneyGardner_authorphoto
    Whitney Gardner

    Whitney Gardner is the author of YOU’RE WELCOME, UNIVERSE (March 7, 2017; Knopf), an illustrated YA novel about a Deaf teen artist who must decide between being painted into obscurity or risking getting caught after she finds herself locked in a graffiti war with an opponent who takes it a step too far. Visit her at heywhitney.com.

    This speed interview with Whitney Gardner, author of You’re Welcome, Universe, was conducted by Bianca Schulze. For similar books and articles, follow along with our content tagged with Young Adult Fiction and Speed Interview.

    What to Read Next:

    1. My Writing and Reading Life: Paige McKenzie, Author of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
    2. Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton, Authors of Shiny Broken Pieces | Speed Interview
    3. Karen Fortunati, Author of The Weight of Zero | Speed Interview
    4. Ashley Poston, Author of Geekerella | Speed Interview

    *Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links that share some commission. Rest assured that these will not affect the cost of any products and services promoted here. Our team always provides their authentic opinion in all content published on this site.

    Knopf Books for Young Readers Speed Interview Whitney Gardner Young Adult Fiction
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    Bianca Schulze
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    Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

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