Blue Graffiti

Calahan Skogman

A love letter to Johnston, WI, a small town in middle-of-nowhere Midwestern America.

Living in the home he inherited from his mother and abandoned by his father, painter and construction worker, Cash, has never known anything beyond the fields of Johnston, WI—never particularly wanted to, either. Why would he when his friends are there, his work is there, his history is there. He loves Johnston. But when an emerald-eyed stranger named Rose blows into town one summer evening in his favorite local bar, everything changes. It's love at first sight. For Cash, anyway.

What follows is an intimate reflection on the love, faith, and tragedy that courses through the blood of America’s backbone. Cash and his closest friends find themselves vital threads in the fabric of their community, the memory of those forgotten, and partners in a new enterprise: adventure.

A bluesey ode to the Beat generation for the modern era, Blue Graffiti is Wisconsin-raised writer Calahan Skogman's poetic debut imbued with an essential freedom, romance, and longing for a bygone era.

Praise for Blue Graffiti

"You’ll feel echoes of Kerouac and The Outsiders in this poetic debut novel about fathers and sons, of boys becoming men, of what it feels like to be caught between the helium of dreams and the ceiling of small-town American reality."

—Jodi Picoult, #1 NYT bestselling author

"The fabric of this story feels well-worn and delicate. Skogman speaks with such an assured familiarity of the characters and spaces in Blue Graffiti, like a tour guide driving you around his hometown. And within every seemingly mundane moment, he directs your attention to the bit of magic and mystery imbued in it."

—Eric Heisserer, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Arrival

"Blue Graffiti is a big-hearted, hypnotic ode to the American Midwest, the waning days of youth, and the power of love to break, heal, and remake us a thousand times over. An emotional and utterly romantic—in the truest sense of the word—debut."

—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Funny Story

"Skogman’s debut is a love letter to barstool philosophizing and a tender portrait of small-town life with a simple but powerful message: There’s always something special about home. Thoughtful, measured storytelling with moments of tremendous heart."

—Kirkus Reviews