Stained

About this book

In this stunning novel in verse, a boy watches his town grow bitterly divided from behind the lens of his camera... until he finds the courage to stand up for what's right. A story of bravery, allyship, and risks worth taking. Twelve-year-old Ulysses is new in town. Between his unusual name and the port-wine stain splashed across his face, he's hardly looking for more attention. Uly is happiest hidden behind the lens of a camera, where he can obscure his appearance while taking in the world around him. Luckily, his middle school needs a photographer for their mural project, and Uly gets to watch (and snap) as students come together to paint a local artist's design. The mural is perfect: powerful words, images from nature, and even a painting mistake transformed into a tiny rainbow. Except that tiny rainbow becomes a GIANT problem. Murals are supposed to bring communities together. What does it say about our community, that our mural must be destroyed over something as innocent as a rainbow? Activism, art, and identity collide in this courageous story based on real-world events. Told in captivating, accessible verse, Rhonda DeChambeau captures a town in crisis and the unlikely heroes who step in to bring their community back together.