The Art of Escaping [Paperback]

Seventeen-year-old Mattie has a hidden obsession: escapology. Emphasis on hidden. If anyone from school finds out, shell be abandoned to her haters. Facing a long and lonely summer, Mattie finally seeks out Miyu, the reclusive daughter of a world-renowned escape artist. Following in Houdinis footsteps, Miyu helps Mattie secretly transform herself into an escapologist and performance artist.

When Will, a popular athlete from school, discovers Matties act at an underground venue, Mattie fears her secret persona will be exposed. Instead of outing her, though, Will tells Mattie a secret not even his girlfriend knows. Through a blossoming friendship, the two must find a way to express their authentic selves.?

Told through the perspectives of the witty main characters, this funny and fresh debut explores the power of stage personas and secret spaces, and speaks to the uncanny ways in which friendships transform us.

Seventeen-year-old Mattie is obsessed with Harry Houdini and Dorothy Dietrich, but she doesn't want anyone to know. She doesn't even tell her best friend Stella, let alone anyone from her high school. After Stella leaves to attend boarding school for the summer, Mattie isn't sure how to spend her time, and all of her anxieties come to a head. After a night of heavy drinking at a local speakeasy, she finally decides to indulge her interests and seeks out the reclusive Miyu, who is the daughter of a famed escapologist, and convinces her to train Mattie in the art of escapology.

When Will, a popular jock from Mattie's high school, accidentally stumbles into one of Mattie's escape performances, she's sure that he will spill her secret and send her world crumbling down. But he has a secret of his own, and no one saw it coming.