Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
I received this book for free from Hear Our Voices Book Tours & the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
The Art Thieves by Andrea Rogers Published by Chronicle Books on October 8, 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Dystopian, Young Adult Fiction / People & Places / United States / Native American, Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction / Time Travel
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Hear Our Voices Book Tours & the publisher
Buy on Libro.fm
Goodreads
Also by this author: Man Made MonstersTO: Angel Wilson (LawAngel@IBLO.gov)
FROM: Stevie Henry (shenry@gmail.com)
Thanks for coming to see me; but by the time you read this, it will be too late. No one will have started to panic, yet; but in less than two months nothing will be the same. What came first, The Chicken or the Egg Flu? I wish it mattered. But let’s just say, maybe go back to wearing a mask, bathing in sanitizer, and avoid birds and eggs for a bit…I did not kill my brother. I did quite the opposite, really.
It’s the year 2052. Stevie Henry is a Cherokee girl working at a museum in Texas, trying to save up enough money to go to college. The world around her is in a cycle of drought and superstorms, ice and fire … but people get by. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
When a mysterious boy shows up at Stevie’s museum saying that he’s from the future -- and telling her what is to come -- she refuses to believe him. But soon she will have no choice.
From the author of the Walter Award-winning Man Made Monsters comes a YA novel that conjures our futures in startling life – the ones that we are headed towards, and the ones we can still work towards.
The Art Thieves book is amazing! It was 5⭐️ for me. If you are into speculative fiction & futurism then you are going to want to add this to your TBR ASAP. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s Afro-futurism, Rogers builds a near-future world that can be described as Cherokee futurism.
It is set in the near future where weather disasters and extremes are now the norm. But they live a pretty normal life considering the times. Her mother is intent on making sure the family is prepared in case of emergencies. She has a little brother, Levi, who is Black Cherokee, whom she loves very much and protects since he has bad food allergies.
But Stevie’s life takes a turn one day when a mysterious young man appears at her museum job, an “indigenous” artist from Costa Rica. But is he an artist as he says he is or is he an art thief?
Music Lovers
Each chapter is a song title and the book is divided in half like a vinyl record with a side a and side b. I love that the chapters are short, it keeps it mid-paced for reading. The playlist and the reading list alone will have you busy after you finish reading this book the first time.
I am now an official super fan of Andrea L. Rogers’ writing! Man Made Monsters was such a good book and it even had some futuristic chapters in it. Now she has hooked me with The Art Thieves. I love her writing style and how she unveils plot. One thing that you can bet on doing is returning to whatever front matter she has provided once you get into the meat of the book. There are always clues and connections hiding in plain site that once you connect them with the plot will make you go 🤯.
Educators
Educators, I think you will like this one! There are so many relevant topics for students to discuss in The Art Thieves. You can study futurism, environmental disasters/climate change, history, the importance of art on humanity. Check out some of the topics below that I mention for ideas if you plan to teach.
Stop HERE if you are sensitive to spoilers. I don’t plan on spoiling, but I really like this book so I might walk the edge. Protect yourself!
Themes That Stuck With Me
If you love to annotate books, you will enjoy engaging in a few quests. Let me set you up. Analyze the following in the book:
- Significance of stars and the sky: There are a ton of references to looking at the sky. Sometimes the characters are enjoying the clearness and how bright the stars are. Other times they are looking at the constellations. The sky also holds significance because there are entire settlements of researchers and wealthy people in outer space. It’s an escape for those who can afford it to get away from the downfall of the planet and human diseases.
- Importance of art and humanity: Check out the image of the Ladder for Booker T. Washington by Martin Purveyor. It’s incredible. You could look at it forever even though it seems like such a simple piece. Stevie works in a museum, so she is surrounded by art. Adam is an “artist” she meets at the museum. Art is seen as crucial to hope in human survival and thriving. So much so that time travelers have it as a priority on things to make sure they are preserved. Connected to what is showcased and stored in museums are also important possessions of different Indigenous nations. These are stolen and held disrespectfully against the descendants wishes and beliefs. The conversation about “liberating” these pieces comes up several times.
- Music and vinyl records: This is something I want to dig into further. So I’m currently playing Redbone’s essential albums list and will probably check out the spotify playlist that Rogers made on her website. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6s2J0FoCvlaNIqPElo9UBZ?si=0Dm-ctAMTxaoPVzKTS9O8w
- Literary References: I love how she pays homage to Octavia Butler through her characters references to reading her books. Parable of the Sower is as real as it gets to me for futurism that is a little too close to home and real. I’ve linked a
Share this:
Leave a Reply