I'm hoping a MN book sleuth can help me find this book!
I read in while I was in secondary school, so late 80s to mid-90s. It's set in New York. The main character and his three friends (two other boys and one girl) are all talented at art and come up with a plan to graffiti a plane (possibly after criticising graffiti artists who tag subway trains - tagging a plane would be far superior!).
They somehow befriend a guy who works for a catering company who supplies airplane food, and with his help they break into a New York airport and spray the work 'peace' in four different languages (including Hebrew and/or Arabic) on a plane. It gets onto international news (including praise for such a great message), and for a while they think they've got away with it, but they are tracked down by a reporter who identifies their signature tags (doodles on notebook possibly).
The other details I remember are:
- the main character has a crush on the girl (Sonia?) but she is dating another boy in the group.
- one of the other boys lives in a loft apartment filled with plants, and there's a description of his parents having boxed off a corner so he has a bedroom.
- there's one scene where the four of them are on a train and the main character is the only one without a notebook to sketch in to pass the time.
- the guy who gets them into the airport either hides them in his truck, or they break in through a fence and he picks them up.
- they have to practice doing their section so it can be done in a time limit.
- they have to pick a type of plane that is low enough to reach, but is an international flight.
If anyone else remembers this or can name the book, that would be great!
