Grace Notes

Judges' comments

At the point when their worlds should be opening up to new futures and new possibilities, violinist Grace and aspiring street artist Crux are feeling the crush of constraint from all directions — the daily new Covid restrictions perfectly mirrored by overprotective and domineering parents. When Crux takes a chance and paints Grace’s portrait from a social media post in a laneway, their parallel paths start to intersect.

Karen Comer takes us vividly and viscerally, into the time of Melbourne’s first Covid lockdowns. But this novel for young adults is much more than a story about the unbearable tension of that first year of the pandemic. Grace Notes takes its pulse from the burning hearts of its two young protagonists — full of possibility and yearning to be seen by those who understand their creative drive — and in a spray of verse that perfectly suits the story, it draws music from their lives.