As an artist and activist, one theme remained a constant throughout Keith Haring’s life: rebellion. In this young adult biography, acclaimed author Michael G. Long examines Haring’s upbringing and career through this lens: hosting queer people and people of colour at high-art gallery openings; refusing to use mediums and art styles that his professors required; coming out as a gay man and exploring his sexual experiences through his art; drawing guerilla-style on the New York subway; and painting in protest of nuclear weaponry, police brutality, racism, the spread of crack cocaine and, most famously, the AIDS epidemic. With each chapter anchored by an iconic work of Haring’s art, Rebellious is a pacy, energetic and accessible look at Haring’s unconventional life and how his paintings shaped and reflected the world around him—and how they still resonate today.

As an artist and activist, one theme remained a constant throughout Keith Haring’s life: rebellion. In this young adult biography, acclaimed author Michael G. Long examines Haring’s upbringing and career through this lens: hosting queer people and people of colour at high-art gallery openings; refusing to use mediums and art styles that his professors required; coming out as a gay man and exploring his sexual experiences through his art; drawing guerilla-style on the New York subway; and painting in protest of nuclear weaponry, police brutality, racism, the spread of crack cocaine and, most famously, the AIDS epidemic. With each chapter anchored by an iconic work of Haring’s art, Rebellious is a pacy, energetic and accessible look at Haring’s unconventional life and how his paintings shaped and reflected the world around him—and how they still resonate today.