Chasing Vermeer (Scholastic Gold)

by Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist (Illustrator)

Overview

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

Chasing Vermeer joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780439372978
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.63(h) x (d)
Lexile:	770L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Blue Balliett is the author of several bestselling, acclaimed mystery novels, including Hold Fast, Chasing Vermeer (a Book Sense Book of the Year and an Edgar Award winner), The Wright 3, The Calder Game, and The Danger Box. She writes in the laundry room of her home in Chicago, Illinois, and you can find her online at blueballiettbooks.com.
Brett Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, and grew up in Orem, Utah. He entered Brigham Young University as an engineering major, but soon realized this was not the right choice for him. Having decided to take time off from college, he headed to Taiwan where he stumbled into a job illustrating English textbooks, which he enjoyed. There, a friend introduced him to an illustration student, also from Brigham Young University. This introduction inspired Brett to eventually switch majors. After spending a year in Taiwan, he went back to BYU and transferred to the illustration department. In 1993 he received a fine arts degree in illustration.

Read an Excerpt

When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee & 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. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth they must draw on their powers of intuition, their skills at problem solving, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?

Table of Contents

	About Pentominoes and About This Story	xi
	About the Artwork: A Challenge to the Reader	xiii
Chapter 1	Three Deliveries	1
Chapter 2	The Letter is Dead	6
Chapter 3	Lost in the Art	18
Chapter 4	Picasso's Lie	35
Chapter 5	Worms, Snakes, and Periwinkles	43
Chapter 6	The Geographer's Box	50
Chapter 7	The Man on the Wall	61
Chapter 8	A Halloween Surprise	76
Chapter 9	The Blue Ones	81
Chapter 10	Inside the Puzzle	90
Chapter 11	Nightmare	99
Chapter 12	Tea at Four	112
Chapter 13	X the Experts	127
Chapter 14	Flashing Lights	134
Chapter 15	Murder and Hot Chocolate	144
Chapter 16	A Morning in the Dark	154
Chapter 17	What Happens Now?	167
Chapter 18	A Bad Fall	174
Chapter 19	The Shock on the Stairs	188
Chapter 20	A Maniac	198
Chapter 21	Looking and Seeing	205
Chapter 22	Twelves	214
Chapter 23	Help!	226
Chapter 24	The Pieces	236

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
A puzzling art theft is solved by two sixth-grade sleuths in a first-rate first novel by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Series of Unfortunate Events artist Brett Helquist. Cut from similar cloth to The Da Vinci Code while harkening back to E. L. Konigsburg and Agatha Christie, Balliett's book follows young Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay as they piece together separate, seemingly disconnected events to locate The Lady Writing, a Vermeer painting that gets stolen en route to Chicago's Art Institute. Going on the theory that there are no coincidences, the two wonder about the link between their teacher's statements, Petra's dreams, a book Petra finds in the library, and other clues that set the reader guessing as to their significance as well. But after they learn of the culprit's aim to correct untruths about Vermeer's life and art -- which spurs them into full-throttle detective work -- the pieces all come together in a brilliant ending sure to make readers cheer, "Ah ha!" Infused with intrigue and Helquist's clever illustrations that include coded messages, Balliett's novel is a dynamic can't-miss that will get those brain cells firing as it satiates your appetite for intelligent, modern-day mystery. Matt Warner

bn.com

Balliett, a first-time novelist, has taken the literary craze for intellectual sleuthing, which allows readers to feel smart and stuffed with information while not actually having to do any heavy academic lifting themselves, and combined it with a fidelity to old-fashioned trail-of-clues children's books, resulting in a novel about a stolen Vermeer painting that is suspenseful, exciting, charming and even unexpectedly moving.—Meg Wolitzer

The New York Times

Strange things are happening in Chicago, things that make sixth-graders Petra and Calder feel like they'd "fallen inside a puzzle and couldn't get out." Revolving around the theft of a priceless Vermeer painting, this roller-coaster ride of adventure and mystery offers a bounty of codes for readers to decipher and hidden messages in the illustrations. (Ages 8 to 12)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2004

Art, intrigue, and plenty of twists and turns make this art mystery a great read. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay set out to find the connection between their teacher (a freewheeling constructivist teacher), the eccentric woman in their neighborhood, the bookstore owner, and an international art thief. Balliett intersperses fascinating information about Johannes Vermeer and his paintings throughout the two friends' quest to solve the mystery-a mystery layered with pentominoes (a mathematical tool consisting of 12 pieces), puzzling clues, and suspicious strangers. Helquist's detailed black-and-white chapter illustrations hold hidden messages, clues related to the pentominoes, and more puzzles. Fans of E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler or Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game will find equal pleasure in this debut by a talented writer. (Fiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews

Suspenseful, exciting, charming, and even unexpectedly moving” –The New York Times

“Thick with devilish red herrings, this smart, playful story never stops challenging (and exhilarating) the audience.”–Publishers Weekly

“. . . the exciting, fast-paced story that’s sure to be relished by mystery-lovers.”–School Library Journal

“Art, intrigue, and plenty of twists and turns make this art mystery a great read.”
–Kirkus Review

From the Publisher