The Art of Secrets - Paperback

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by James Klise (Author)

An Edgar Award Winner, Best YA Novel 2015

Where there's smoke . . .

When Saba Khan's apartment burns in a mysterious fire, possibly a hate crime, her high school rallies around her. Her family moves into a rent-free luxury apartment, her Facebook page explodes, and she begins (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 worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Saba's life turns upside down again. Should Saba's family get the money? Or the students who found the painting? Or the school?

Monologues, journal entries, interviews, articles, and official documents expose a tangled web of greed, jealousy, and suspicion as students and teachers alike debate, point fingers, and make shocking accusations about what's really going on.

"Relationships, secrets and lies aplenty." --Kirkus Reviews

"Will stay on readers' minds long after the last page." --Booklist, starred review

"This story . . . culminates in a shocking twist of an ending that will engrossreaders until the very last page." --The Christian Science Monitor

A Booklist Editor's Choice Book
A Booklist Top Crime Fiction Book
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book
A Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award Nominee

Back Jacket

Saba Khan: In a way, the fire might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. But maybe even writing that is t.o.o. r.e.v.e.a.l.i.n.g.Steve Davinski: Well, okay, yes, there has been some whispering the past couple of days here at Highsmith. Something exciting is going on, and I understand your curiosity. However, it is totally premature for us to discuss that topic today.Jean Delacroix: All right, then? Moving forward. I was the first person to realize that the Spoons garbage art was something special. The style of the work is unmistakable.Kendra Spoon: I m not sure what to say. I m more comfortable in a behind-the-scenes, stuffing-envelopes kind of role. I m not a spokesperson or anything. Maybe you can talk to my brother, Kevin?Kevin Spoon: To be honest, it still blows my mind that I am one of the people who got this going. For the rest of my life, no matter what else I do, I can tell myself: How cool that you pulled that off. You changed that family s life"

Author Biography

James Klise is the author of The Art of Secrets, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Teen Mystery, the Nevada Young Readers Award, and a Booklist Editor's Choice Award, among other honors. His first book, Love Drugged, was an ALA Stonewall Honor Award winner and Lambda Literary Award finalist. His short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in the New Orleans Review, StoryQuarterly, Southern Humanities Review, Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere. Mr. Klise earned an MFA from Bennington College. He leads a popular Novel-in-A-Year workshop at StoryStudio in Chicago and, for the past two decades, he has overseen a very busy high school library.

Number of Pages: 272

Dimensions: 0.9 x 8.1 x 5.4 IN

Publication Date: April 21, 2015

Accelerated Reader:

Quiz Name: Art of Secrets

Interest Level: Upper Middle Grades, 6 and up

Reading Level: 5.6

Point Value: 8