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Guests | February 8, 2012

Nathan Englander: IMG Big Think

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Tonight is the first event for the new book, and I've spent most of the afternoon at home with curlers in my hair and cucumber circles on the eyes... Continue »
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Chasing Vermeer

by Blue Balliett

Chasing Vermeer Cover

ISBN13: 9780439372978
ISBN10: 0439372976
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

This bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art.

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?

Review:

"Puzzles nest within puzzles in this ingeniously plotted and lightly delivered first novel that, revolving around the heist of a Vermeer painting, also touches on the nature of coincidence, truth, art and similarly meaty topics. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay become friends in sixth grade at a school operated by the University of Chicago (Balliett taught at the University's Lab Schools), both of them independent thinkers excited by their maverick teacher, Ms. Hussey. For reasons unknown to her students, the teacher asks her class to ponder the importance of letters (the epistolary sort) and to mull over Picasso's ideas about art as "a lie that tells the truth." Readers have the edge on the characters, being privy to an enigmatic letter sent to three unidentified persons outlining a centuries-old "crime" against a painter's artistic legacy. These mysteries deepen exponentially when someone steals a Vermeer masterpiece and holds it hostage, demanding scholarly redress for misattributions within Vermeer's small oeuvre. The art mystery and the crisp intelligence of the prose immediately recall E.L. Konigsburg, but Balliett is an original: her protagonists also receive clues through dreams, pentominoes (math tools with alphabetic correspondences), secret codes (including some left to readers to decipher) and other deliberately non-rational devices. Helquist (the Lemony Snicket books) compounds the fun with drawings that incorporate the pentomino idea to supply visual clues as well. Thick with devilish red herrings, this smart, playful story never stops challenging (and exhilarating) the audience. Ages 8-12." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
an_Assyrian, November 16, 2006 (view all comments by an_Assyrian)
After receiving a recommendation from a trusted Powell's employee, I purchased this math, art, mystery, and adventure book for my 8-year-old daughter who enjoyed it very much. Since we visit Powell's bookstore, museums, and caf?s located within the University of Chicago campus, this unique book complete with a university setting and sweet characters, made for a delightful reading. Father and daughter's next adventure book from this (hopefully!) series, "The Wright 3".
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Mimi, October 15, 2006 (view all comments by Mimi)
Mysteries worth reading are hard to find. This one mixes math (pentaminoes-figures made of 5 touching squares), art, and mystery. My students love it. It leaves you with the sense that art is valuable and important in people's lives. True to the mystery genre, there are red herrings, 2 sleuths, and deductions to be made. Appropriate for 5th graders for sure.
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Yascas, August 15, 2006 (view all comments by Yascas)
As are so many things in life, this book is a mystery.
With nothing but an imagination and a set of pentominoes (mathematical tools) the reader is led into a braintwisting maze to uncover the marushka doll-like layers of serets that lay hidden within this story.
The preface to the book states, "Don't be fooled by ideas that seem, at first, to fit easily. Don't be fooled by ideas that don't seem to fit at all. Pentominoes, like people can surprise you." So will this book.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780439372978
Author:
Helquist, Brett
Publisher:
Scholastic Paperbacks
Illustrator:
Helquist, Brett
Author:
Helquist, Brett
Subject:
Art
Subject:
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
Subject:
Mystery and detective stories
Subject:
Children's 9-12 - Fiction - Mysteries / Detective
Subject:
Art (painting sculpture artists architecture etc.)
Subject:
Mysteries & Detective Stories
Subject:
Children s Middle Readers-General
Copyright:
2004
Edition Description:
Paper Text
Publication Date:
20050531
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
from 4 to 7
Language:
English
Illustrations:
YES
Pages:
304
Dimensions:
7.63 x 5.25 in
Age Level:
09-12
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Related Aisles

Chasing Vermeer New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$7.99 In Stock
Product details 304 pages Scholastic Paperbacks - English 9780439372978 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Puzzles nest within puzzles in this ingeniously plotted and lightly delivered first novel that, revolving around the heist of a Vermeer painting, also touches on the nature of coincidence, truth, art and similarly meaty topics. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay become friends in sixth grade at a school operated by the University of Chicago (Balliett taught at the University's Lab Schools), both of them independent thinkers excited by their maverick teacher, Ms. Hussey. For reasons unknown to her students, the teacher asks her class to ponder the importance of letters (the epistolary sort) and to mull over Picasso's ideas about art as "a lie that tells the truth." Readers have the edge on the characters, being privy to an enigmatic letter sent to three unidentified persons outlining a centuries-old "crime" against a painter's artistic legacy. These mysteries deepen exponentially when someone steals a Vermeer masterpiece and holds it hostage, demanding scholarly redress for misattributions within Vermeer's small oeuvre. The art mystery and the crisp intelligence of the prose immediately recall E.L. Konigsburg, but Balliett is an original: her protagonists also receive clues through dreams, pentominoes (math tools with alphabetic correspondences), secret codes (including some left to readers to decipher) and other deliberately non-rational devices. Helquist (the Lemony Snicket books) compounds the fun with drawings that incorporate the pentomino idea to supply visual clues as well. Thick with devilish red herrings, this smart, playful story never stops challenging (and exhilarating) the audience. Ages 8-12." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?
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