Audiobook5 hours
The Art of Secrets
Written by James Klise
Narrated by Denise Ashlynd, Dan Bittner and Josh Rivedal
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
When Saba Khan's apartment burns in a mysterious fire, possibly a hate crime, her Chicago high school rallies around her. Her family moves rent-free into a luxury apartment, Saba's Facebook page explodes, and she starts (secretly) dating a popular boy. Then a quirky piece of art donated to a school fund-raising effort for the Khans is revealed to be an unknown work by famous outsider artist Henry Danger, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Saba's life turns upside down again. Should Saba's family have all that money? Or should it go to the students who found the art? Or to the school? And just what caused that fire? Greed, jealousy, and suspicion create an increasingly tangled web as students and teachers debate who should get the money and begin to point fingers and make accusations. The true story of the fire that sets events in motion and what happens afterward gradually comes together in an innovative narrative made up of journal entries, interviews, articles, letters, text messages, and other documents.
Author
James Klise
James Klise (Chicago, IL) is a high school librarian and adviser for the student literary journal, book club, and the Gay-Straight Alliance. His short stories have appeared in many journals, including StoryQuarterly, New Orleans Review, Ascent, and Southern Humanities Review. Love Drugged is his first novel.
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Reviews for The Art of Secrets
Rating: 3.696428464285714 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
28 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5the art of secrets is full of surprises! I love the twists and gentle humor! Just what I needed with plenty of suspense to keep me turning the page!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Although I loved all the Chicago references, this one was just a bit too YA for me :(
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fire, fraud, and fakes are the themes in this Edgar YA winner. I always try to read the Edgar's yearly nominees, and I think the thing I liked best in this book was the twist in the tale. It's a story told in multiple first-person POVs, making it unique. You're often reading Saba Khan's journal--given to her after her family's apartment caught fire--by her school social worker. There are chapters from others in Saba's life too, friends, high school teachers, her father, and a first-love interest. But things are not what they seem. The plot thread follows a dumpster-dive found piece of art and a planned high school fund-raising auction to help Saba's family recover their losses. It has a subtle layer of the immigrant's experience in America, yet its unpredictable ending is what I think made this book a winner.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A mysterious fire, a mysterious work of art, and a school fundraiser are the main events in this novel. I liked the mystery about the book. The characters were not anything special and I thought the story was a bit young for a teen audience.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’ve never read a book quite like THE ART OF SECRETS by James Klise. Told in multiple perspectives, almost entirely in the form of discourse and conversation (with the occasional journal entry from protagonist, Saba Kahn), THE ART OF SECRETS is part mystery, part drama, and so very fun to read.In the wake of a fire that destroyed her family’s home and all of their belongings, Saba Kahn has gone from almost invisible at her Chicago prep school (where she is a scholarship student) to borderline notorious, with a basketball star as a sort-of boyfriend and school do-gooders organizing a charity auction to help her family.She’s got a lot to deal with, though. Saba’s family is getting too much attention at school, and from the police. Authorities can’t seem to decide if her family are victims or culprits, which means the rumors are flying at school. And then there’s the whole art thing — an item in the auction, which new girl cum auction organizer and her brother found in an alley, has turned out to be some seriously valuable paintings by a famed but reclusive Chicago outsider artist. When the art goes missing, Saba has another mystery plaguing her and her family. And more rumors to try and ignore.With points of view ranging from Saba’s father, to Saba’s boyfriend, to the school principal, to her classmates running the auction, THE ART OF SECRETS is a unique mystery, as well-designed as it is well-written. Klise‘s characters are wry and witty, and even with so many narrators, the voices are compelling and distinct. I’m still excited about the book. I can’t stop being excited about it. And while it’s a rare book that I think is a contender for the Printz, the National Book Award, and the Edgar, I fully expect to see these and other accolades for James Klise in the near future.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5“I did not see that coming”. This thought crossed my mind when I reached the end of The Art of Secrets by James Klise. Complete with those clever red herrings, this refreshing who done it kept me guessing right up to the last few pages.