SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

September 9, 2015 by Robin Willis

Book Review: The Art of Secrets by James Klise

September 9, 2015 by Robin Willis   Leave a Comment

Art-of-Secrets-copyHigh school sophomore Saba Khan, her parents, and her young brother Salman are at her school team tennis match when their apartment catches fire and they lose everything they own. Saba and her family are not rich. Her parents came to the U.S. from Pakistan and are working hard to provide a good life for Saba and Salman, but her father earns a modest living working in a Chicago factory packing boxes. They are a close family of devout Muslims living in a friendly immigrant community. When the fire turns out to be a result of arson, they are confused – they have no enemies, only friends.

When Saba’s classmates at her prestigious but struggling private school (which she attends on scholarship) band together to hold an auction to provide support for the family, they are incredibly grateful. Many people in the school community have provided immediate support, including clothing and a temporary apartment. Her classmates and fellow outsiders Kevin and Kendra Spoon take the lead in the auction, even going so far as to scour neighborhood alleys for furniture and other items people have thrown out to add to the auction. During these efforts, they find a notebook of sketches that turns out to be the work of famous Chicago outsider artist Henry Darger, worth approximately $350,000 to $450,000. Kevin and Kendra, along with their mother, insist on including the notebook in the auction for the Khan’s, but are persuaded to at least take out insurance on it until the sale.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

When the notebook goes missing a few weeks before the auction, everyone is a suspect. Was it the school’s principal, who obviously wanted the money from the sale to go to the school? Or the art teacher who was acting suspiciously? Was it one of the students, or one of the many curious onlookers who came to see the notebook before the auction?

Told from multiple points of view, through Saba’s journal, her father’s visits with his imam, and multiple interviewers including a newspaper reporter, police officers, and insurance investigators, James Klise has created a detailed and intricate view of the workings of a small private high school. The theme of ‘outsiderdom’ is carried throughout the novel. Saba’s outsider status, due to both her presence as a scholarship student and her family’s religious faith and immigrant background, is explored throughout the novel. From suspicion that her family somehow set the fire, to the principal’s obvious prejudice and lack of empathy for her family, to the incredibly creepy way her suddenly interested new boyfriend Steve refers to her as ‘exotic,’ we see Saba’s life (beyond her close knit family) as she struggles to belong in her school and community. Kevin and Kendra Spoon are outsiders in a different way. With their all-american blond good looks and high powered businesswoman mother, they should naturally fit in to the school community. Unfortunately, their mother’s job has had them move frequently, and they are newcomers to the school. In fact, we find out that one reason they have thrown themselves into the auction to support Saba’s family is to ingratiate themselves with the school community. An additional outsider point of view is provided by the foreign exchange student who is living with Steve’s family for a year. He is immediately suspect when the art goes missing simply due to his ‘otherness.’

In addition to being a brilliantly crafted mystery, this novel is a brilliantly told story of the personalities and prejudices of a small high school community. I highly recommend including this in any collection serving students in 7th grade and up.

The Art of Secrets is a 2015 Edgar Award winner for Best Young Adult Novel. A copy of the novel was provided for review by the publisher.

Filed under: book review, Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Robin Willis

After working in middle school libraries for over 20 years, Robin Willis now works in a public library system in Maryland.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

September 2020

Book Review: Thoughts & Prayers by Bryan Bliss

by Robin Willis

September 2016

Book Review - Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith

by Robin Willis

August 2016

Book Review: GEMINA, the sequel to ILLUMINAE, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

by Robin Willis

April 2016

Post It Note Reviews, by The Teen

by Robin Willis

April 2016

Book Review: The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

by Robin Willis

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#184)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Trees: Haiku from Roots to Leaves by Sally M. Walker, ill. Angela McKay

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Nat the Cat Takes a Nap

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Here Be Monsters: On Horror, Catharsis, and Uneasy Truces with Yourself, a guest post by author Rebecca Mahoney

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Hi-Lo & Mighty Reads: 15 engaging and ­accessible series for ­reluctant and striving readers

18 Stellar Historical Fiction Titles for Tweens | Summer Reading 2021

11 Middle Grade Series Updates for Eager Fans

22 Latinx Middle Grade Titles Filled with Magic, Found Family, and More

14 Fiction and Nonfiction Books to Celebrate Pi Day

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023