SLIS 5420 - Chasing Vermeer

Week Eight: Mystery – Chasing Vermeer

Book Summary:

        

         Petra and Calder don’t really want to be friends, but when mysterious things begin happening around Hyde Park, where they live, the two become unlikely detectives.  Three people, seemingly unrelated, have received a letter to help an art thief, and somehow Petra and Calder know all three.  The world is on a hut to uncover which of Vermeer’s paintings are real, and which are fakes.  As the two kids begin to piece things together, they eat blue M&M’s, find a book of strange occurrences, and sneak into college buildings in order to locate the stolen art before it is too late. 

APA Reference: 

Balliett, B. (2004). Chasing Vermeer. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

My Impressions:

         Chasing Vermeer is one of many books I have been meaning to read for years but just haven’t had the time until now.  Although I am not a huge mystery reader, I am an avid art lover.  Just putting Vermeer in the title, then later Wright and Calder with the sequels, made these must reads for me, but of course most adolescents won’t know these names.  It is up to adults to point these types of books out many times. 

         I was definitely not disappointed while reading Chasing Vermeer, and after being told to read it many years ago, I am glad I finally did.  The use of puzzles throughout the story and even in Helquist’s artwork made this book fun even though sometimes it was hard work as well.  I figured out a few things well before they were revealed in the book, but did not figure out the art thief.  Although the thief was not a major character, there was definitely enough information given to be able to make the connections, so I really liked that it was not overly simple or too hard for anyone to understand.  This is a great mystery novel, and I can’t wait to read the others in the series.  

        

Professional Review:

         "Dear Friend: I would like your help in identifying a crime that is now centuries old." Sixth-grade classmates Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are drawn into the mystery: a claim that some of the works attributed to Johannes Vermeer were not, in fact, painted by that seventeenth-century Dutch artist. Their investigation--fueled by the enigmatic behavior of their favorite teacher, a shared interest in unexplained phenomena, and a few mystical experiences of their own--uncovers a series of coincidences and connections that, like the pentomino set (a puzzle-like math tool) Calder carries in his pocket, fit together in often-unexpected patterns. And when Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears while in transit from the National Gallery to the Art Institute of Chicago, Petra and Calder end up hunting for the missing painting right in their own neighborhood. The protagonists are smart and appealing, the prose style is agreeably quirky, and fans of puzzle-mysteries will enjoy cracking the codes presented within the text and hidden in Helquist's stylish black-and-white illustrations. But they may also be frustrated that such a heady, elaborately plotted novel comes to a weak resolution, as the answers to the mysteries are explained away in a too-hasty summation--and the villain turns out to be an offstage figure. The conclusion may be disappointing, but the chase to the end is entertaining.

Sieruta, P. D. (2004, July/August). Chasing Vermeer [Review of the book Chasing Vermeer by B. Balliett]. Horn Book 
          Magazine, 80(4), 446. Retrieved form http://www.hbook.com

Library Uses:

         This would be a great book to use for a late elementary or early middle school book club.  There are so many puzzles the kids could figure out together, and they could play the games on http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/games/index.htm after finishing the book. The librarian could hold a contest mid way through the book to see if anyone could guess who stole the Vermeer painting, then announce the winner at a celebration that the painting was found after completing the book.  Make sure to have plenty of M&M’s as snacks, and of course, the blue ones should be separated out.