The Art of Secrets

January 27, 2014
In his intriguing second book, Klise (Love Drugged) tells the story of a Pakistani family rebuilding their lives after their apartment is destroyed in a fire set by an arsonist. Coming to their aid, students from sophomore Saba Khan’s prestigious Chicago high school plan a community fundraiser to help replace what her family lost. But when one of the items in the auction is reported missing—a collection of drawings supposedly painted by reclusive (real-life) outsider artist Henry Darger, worth half a million dollars—fingers are pointed and rumors circulate about who might have stolen it. Through emails, texts, journal entries, interview transcripts, newspaper clips, and official documents that pull in the perspectives of students, teachers, and others, Klise simultaneously reveals details about what might have transpired while allowing characters’ darker motives—prejudice, envy, greed—to emerge. Astute readers may solve the whodunits early on, but the question of “how far would be willing to go to make dreams come true” propels the book forward to its scandalous conclusion. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

February 15, 2014
Relationships, secrets and lies aplenty for caper-loving fans. Here are the facts: Saba Khan's family is left homeless after a suspicious fire guts their small Chicago apartment. Saba's school community rallies around the reserved, observant tennis player and her family, and two fellow students, Kendra and Kevin Spoon, organize a charity auction on their behalf. Among the donations is a 10-page illustrated story by renowned Chicago self-taught artist Henry Darger (trash-picked in Darger's old neighborhood by Kendra and Kevin), which is promptly insured for $550,000 and then goes missing. Who torched the Khans' apartment? Who stole the artwork, and why? How did they do it? The answers unfold with briskly paced care in Klise's (Love Drugged, 2010) second novel, an apparent homage to the style of his sisters Kate and M. Sarah Klise's Regarding the Fountain (1998) and others. Through the interview transcripts, journal entries, text messages and overheard conversations of Saba and her father, as well as fellow students, faculty and administration at Highsmith School, readers get both bird's-eye and close-up views of the case, and careful readers will quickly unmask the culprit. Strong on plotting and art history but weak on believable voices (Saba herself comes through beautifully, but her father, Farooq, and Spanish exchange student Javier are particularly cringe-inducing), Klise doesn't quite pull off the trick his clever, appealing villains do. Enjoyable but inessential. (Mystery. 11-14)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 6-10-A suspicious fire, possibly a hate crime, destroys Saba Khan and her family's apartment and possessions. The Khans rely on the generosity of their neighbors and donations from Saba's school, a prestigious private school near downtown Chicago. Siblings Kendra and Kevin Spoon, two of the teen's classmates, decide an auction would be a great way to raise money to help the Pakistani American family. Soon the Spoons find a unique piece of artwork for the auction, and the event becomes big news that everyone wants in on. The art goes missing, and anyone involved in the auction is a suspect. This novel is told in variety of formats, including journal entries, email, text messages, newspaper stories, and police reports. Ten different characters share their points of view, leaving readers to work out exactly what happened and who might be guilty. Keeping up with all the different perspectives can be daunting, and some entries don't always contribute to the momentum. For fans of realistic fiction with plot twists, mysteries, and epistolary-type novels.-Natalie Struecker, Rock Island Public Library, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2014
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* After her family's apartment goes up in flames, Saba Khan's Chicago high school organizes a benefit auction for her family. When a book by the famous outsider artist Henry Darger turns up among the items that have been gathered for sale, it raises a number of perplexing questions: How did such a unique piece go missing for so long? Shouldn't the financially floundering school get a cut of the profits? Instead of bringing everyone together, the discovery further marginalizes the school's outsiders. The story is told through documents, interviews, journal entries, and text messages from Saba, her father, teachers at her school, and her classmates as their suspicions about the art and the origin of the fire grow, and fingers are pointed in every direction. Klise lets loose a chorus of genuine voices as the disturbing truth emerges, and people's secrets grow too large to hide. This art mystery is that rare book that will be passed around by teens as well as teachers in the faculty lounge, discussed and dissected and immediately reread to scour for hidden clues and motivations. The incidents at Highsmith School will stay on readers' minds long after the last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
When an arsonist sets fire to her apartment, tenth grader Saba Khan's community rushes to support her family, and her social stock sky-rockets. But when a valuable piece of art turns up in a fundraiser for Saba's family, the community splinters. Who should get the money? This darkly ambiguous, provocative novel highlights the destructive power of secrets and the politics of generosity.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2014
Tenth grader Saba Khan loses her home and everything in it when an unknown, possibly hate-motivated arsonist sets fire to her apartment. And it could be the best thing that ever happened to her. Saba's Chicago high school and community rush to support her family, and her social stock skyrockets -- she even (secretly) dates a popular senior. But when an odd collection of art donated to a fundraising auction for Saba's family turns out to include a work by a famous artist worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the community begins to splinter. Suspicion and questionable motivations surface among teens and adults as the debate rages about who should get the money (the Khans? the kids who found the art? the school?) and why. And things become exponentially tenser when the art disappears and then is found destroyed. Here, pieces begin to fall into place as the novel surges forward to a surprising but disturbingly plausible conclusion. Klise (Love Drugged) structures and advances the plot through journal entries, interviews, documents, and monologues in which characters reveal events from their own perspectives. This darkly ambiguous, provocative novel highlights several themes worthy of discussion, including the destructive power of secrets and the politics of generosity. anastasia collins

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)