Throwback Thrusday (Yes I do realize it's Saturday): Graffitti Girl by Kelly Parra

Graffiti Girl by Kelly Parra 2007

Rating: 4/5

IQ "The other day I tried to put a fat cap on my spray can, but when I pressed the nozzle nothing came out. I shook the can and pressed, still nothing. Miguel finally told me the cap was clogged. That was kind of how I felt with my art, a spray can full of color and ideas ready to paint, but stuck-clogged-with no place to create." Angel

I wish I had artistic talent. That was my final thought when I finished this book. The art described by the author of Angel, Nathan, Miguel and others made me ache for artistic talent and to see their artwork for myself.

Graffitti Girl is about junior Angel Rodriguez who loves art, especially painting. She's being raised by a single mom who seems to care more about the random, hurtful men in her life, than her daughter's own life. The only family member who seems to care about Angel is Nana. A contest is held to paint a community mural and Angel loses. She's crushed, especially when her art teacher describes her art style as "whimsical." (although that's not why she lost the contest). Angel sees the term "whimsical" as an insult, almost saying that her artwork is done in a cartoony, not very well-done style. Angel's guy friend (who she would love to be something more with), Nathan Ramos tries to console her and he also becomes interested in her art. He's an athlete (track), talented artist and a good student. Enter "Badman" aka Miguel Badalin. Miguel is also in Angel's art class. He's your typical Sexy Bad Boy, who is a great artist. His main style is graffiti and he leads Angel into the dangerous, tumultuous world of graffiti art.

Something I love about Kelly Parra's books is the interesting way she mixes it up between chapters. In Invisible Touch she uses blog entries, in Graffiti Girl she headlines each chapter with a term used by graffiti artists. I loved learning about the words graffiti artists use, especially ones that you think you already know the meanings of, like writer. A writer is a practitioner of graf art. Also I enjoyed the commentary Angel added after each term. For example: Character is a figure used to add something to a piece. Angel's commentary: I seemed to know a lot of these.Learning about graffiti was absolutely fascinating. The culture, the designs, the terms, the different perspectives and the creative tag names. Some viewed graffiti as vandalism, others viewed graffiti as an expression of their artistic freedom.

The love triangle added a nice level of drama into the story, but it wasn't the key element. We never really saw the characters of Nana and Angel's mother become fully developed and I felt their relationship could have been expressed a little better, more details. Watching Angel grow on her journey as an artist and a person was an engaging read.

I would highly recommend this book to all art lovers, non-artists and people interested in graffiti as well as those who view graffiti artists as criminals. 7th grade and up. I'll be thinking of my own tag name, even though I'm no artist!

- Graffitti Girl was donated by Kelly Parra to be featured in my Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration giveaway. Thanks for your generosity Kelly! Also don't forget my HHM Celebration giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 PM CT!

Invisible Touch

Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra 2008

Rating: 4/5

IQ (Incredible Quote): "I know how difficult it is to believe in something that everyone else doesn't. It's almost as if you have to overcome a fear, to be brave enough to break away from society's view of normal." Kara

(You can see a summary of the book here). I enjoyed Invisble Touch immensely. I thought the main plot was original as well as romance (didn't see the ending coming). Kara sees signs that are clues to a person's fate. She generally tries to help that person if their fate is supposed to be tragic. Her mother doesn't want her to talk about the signs or tell anyone so Kara starts a blog where she anonymously blogs about seeing signs. It's a way to get all her secrets that are weighing her down off her chest.

The blog entries are a good and helpful way of getting into Kara's head. I agreed with a lot of what she said and I liked how she phrased it "There are people in life who can only see black and white, and then there are those that can see gray, and red, orange, yellow, and blue too."

The friendship between Kara and Danielle is interesting. They don't share their feelings with each or really seem to trust each other, and yet they are best friends. It's an odd friendship, but it suits them both. But how can someone be your best friend if you don't share your feelings and secrets with them? Their complex friendship adds an intriguing twist to the plot.

Kara's mom and brother are frustrating. Her mother because she is always trying to put Kara in therapy/hospitals and only sees things in black and white. The flashbacks of Kara from when she was in (essentially) a mental hospital are sad and depressing because you can clearly imagine a young child, terrified out of her mind at the signs she is seeing, and everyone thinks she's crazy and instead of comforting her, they are only trying to medicate and lock her up. Kara's brother Jason is frustrating because he's not there for Kara and she needs him since her father died. The Featherman was a rather creepy but cool addition to the story!

Invisible Touch is a nice addition to the supernatural/paranormal genres while still remaining realistic. The action will keep you turning the pages and it's a pretty easy read so you can (and will definitely want to!) finish it in one day. 8th Grade and Up.

Disclosure: Thank you Kelly for donating this book to give away!

BTW Be sure you vote in my poll because it concerns what to include in my reviews. I'm working on improving my blog!

Also there will be no Male Monday post this week and I got no new books :(