BLANCO & THE STARRY NIGHT (THE MASTERPIECE SAGA)

In Clay’s YA debut, a graffiti tagger discovers a workshop where artists bring one-dimensional images into the physical world.

Thirteen-year-old orphan Blanco hasn’t yet found a permanent home. His latest placement, however, shows promise, as his new, wealthy foster father shares a love of art with Blanco. The teen wakes up one night to burglars yanking Van Gogh’s Starry Nightright off the wall. As that’s Blanco’s favorite piece, and he’s had previous run-ins with the law (courtesy of his graffiti tags), some suspect that he’s the thief. He sets out to recover the painting and gets caught up in a group of young fellow artists and their bizarre workshop—they have the astonishing ability to bring art to life, from an apple one can grasp to a doorway one can pass through. Blanco may possess this skill as well, and he struggles to learn to use it. But why are there so few details available about the Architect who runs the workshop? Clay introduces a fascinating world and cast of characters in this pithy opening installment to his series. Blanco is a relatable young hero who quietly pines for a family, and the workshop artists are a motley bunch, including the delightfully hyperactive Tinker and the perpetually obnoxious Smirk, who deliberately mispronounces Blanco’s name (“Watch it, Blank-o”). Supernatural qualities aside, the art is remarkable in its own right as the narrative showcases descriptions of a variety of techniques, including stenciling, sculpting, and etching, which uses acid to burn an image onto a metal plate. As much of the story is about discovery, there’s a lot left unexplored, and this opening entry ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

A shrewd, diverting story that adeptly blends real-life and supernatural elements.