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Title details for Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett - Available

Chasing Vermeer

#1 in series

by Blue Balliett
Ellen Reilly
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and 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 left even the FBI baffled?
From the Package edition.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Chasing Vermeer

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    November 9, 2004

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739344736
      • File size: 137692 KB
      • Duration: 04:46:51

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 5.4
    • Lexile® Measure: 770
    • Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
    • Text Difficulty: 3-4

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A Vermeer painting is stolen. Petra and Calder, two bright, quirky sixth-graders, come together to solve the crime that has the whole world baffled. Going beyond a simple mystery, this story explores the meaning of art and the nature of coincidence. Ellen Reilly shines as narrator, providing perfect voices for the protagonists and the host of supporting characters. Her pleasant pitch and well-tempered pace make it easy to follow the twists of a complex plot. Once the mystery is solved, however, the ending seems tacked on, falling flat. The book's illustrations contain an additional puzzle, so pairing the audio with the print edition should double the fun. E.S. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 14, 2004
      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.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 20, 2005
      "Puzzles nest within puzzles in this ingeniously plotted and lightly delivered first novel that, revolving around the heist of a Vermeer painting," PW
      said in a starred review. Ages 8-12.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.4
  • Lexile® Measure:770
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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