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Masterpiece

by Elise Broach, Kelly Murphy (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator)

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 3,190 ratings · 508 reviews

Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays’ apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy.After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before the...more

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published September 30th 2008 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (first published February 29th 2000)

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9th out of 40 books — 2 voters

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Community Reviews

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Mar 23, 2009 Raina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cute story from the perspective of a beetle. Imagines his life in the kitchen cabinet of a New York apartment, and his friend with the boy who lives there. Turns out, Marvin (our beetle friend) is a fabulous artist, skillful enough to imitate the greats. Thus begins an art theft adventure, with Marvin venturing further from his home than ever before.
Old-fashioned (includes some illustrations), cool art element, appeals to lovers of the borrowers. Engaging, nonthreatening and sweet. Worth booktal...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Kathi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book out loud in the car while my friend, and fellow author, Kathy Whitehead and I drove across the Texas plains from Abilene to College Station.

The rhythm of the prose, the pacing, the language all come together to create the perfect read-aloud. I also want to add that there are some small bits of humor throughout that I think might be lost in silent reading. But Kathy and I found ourselves laughing out loud in dozens of subtle spots.

Well done, Ms. Broach! The story is surprising...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2009 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: art-fiction

This is a delightful book. The first few chapters were lacking in originality (similar to The Borrowers and Stuart Little), but the author moved beyond that into something creative. I read Terry Pratchett's books about tiny beings, and they were so blatantly derivative of The Borrowers that I couldn't even enjoy them; not the case here. (I also decided that there are some situations that just come naturally when you're talking about tiny creatures in a world of humans. Just as human parents warn...more This is a delightful book. The first few chapters were lacking in originality (similar to The Borrowers and Stuart Little), but the author moved beyond that into something creative. I read Terry Pratchett's books about tiny beings, and they were so blatantly derivative of The Borrowers that I couldn't even enjoy them; not the case here. (I also decided that there are some situations that just come naturally when you're talking about tiny creatures in a world of humans. Just as human parents warn kids to look both ways so they don't get run over, tiny parents are going to warn tiny kids about not getting eaten by household pets.)

Almost always when I read fiction about art, especially for kids, there are inaccuracies that really annoy me--like referring to Leonardo da Vinci as "da Vinci", stuff like that--but I found nothing like that here. Durer isn't an artist I really know that much about, but there was nothing obviously wrong that I saw. I did wish that Marvin had been practicing art all along, rather than suddenly producing a masterpiece; that would have been more believable to me, and also got across the point that no one (even Durer) is a master from the beginning. This is brought up with James later, but isn't really strong enough to counteract the sudden-genius thing.

There were moments of genuine suspense--even though I was sure this was going to be an inside job from the beginning, I wasn't sure who was going to be behind it. I don't understand why other reviewers seem to have moral questions about the book. The author makes it clear that art theft is wrong, wrong, wrong. And heartbreaking, too.

The book is a little shallow and obvious for a Newbery, but I think I'm going to nominate it on the Goodreads list anyway for kicks--I thought it was better than some of the other books on there.

(And for the record, I think this is better than Chasing Vermeer--the art history is handled a lot better, and the story arc is clearer; I didn't go for the coincidence storyline in CB--and it's certainly better than the two sequels, and better than The Theft and the Miracle.)(less)

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Oct 10, 2008 Roxanne Hsu Feldman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, 4-6grade, childrensbooks, mystery

The central story of Marvin and Jame's friendship and the art heist are tender/thrilling in turns. There is a problem with the pacing when too much time is spent on tangential details (too many lists of things that the beetles do or eat) or the beetle's lifestyle, for example, that turtle in the tank chapter does not move the plot along, does not come into play later in the story. Some trimming and tightening of the plot would have made this one of the better mysteries for children... but the te...more

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Aug 24, 2008 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

If I were leaning toward recommending to a child a mystery/unlikely friendship story that also features a healthy dose of art history, I will allow my eyes to scan a few shelves past 'J Fic Balliett' and go for this one instead. It's a difficult premise to pull off--a beetle the size of a grain of rice befriends an 11-year old boy and they are both drawn into an art-theft intrigue involving Albrecht Durer (sorry for the missing umlaut)--and the author does it charmingly. I only wish that Durer h...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 06, 2008 Cheryl Klein rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book displays all of the virtues of a really well-written novel for children in the classical mode: an interesting story that shows young readers more of the world; simple, elegant writing; a child character who does things, doesn't just think about them; wisdom in its telling. A wonderful book.

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Jan 09, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: art, thefts, beetles, children-s, fiction, human-animal, relationships, mystery

I picked up this book because I had just finished Elise Broach’s other book, Shakespeare’s Secret, and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed this book just as much, if not more, although it’s quite different from Shakespeare’s Secret. This story is about Marvin, a beetle who lives in the apartment of a boy named James in New York City. James is a quiet boy, kind of overwhelmed by his career-driven mother and step-father, and his artist father. Marvin is an adventurous beetle, who loves to explore James’...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Cheryl rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm debating what level of stars to give this, because it is a technically well-written story - rich with imagery filled vocabulary. The message, however, is so misguided that it cannot receive endorsement.

This mystery is certainly amusing and adequately enjoyable. A young boy is in the typical stranglehold between divorced parents. His mother is somewhat neglectful and more interested in her new family and in being difficult to his artsy father than parenting her older son. A beetle living in t...more I'm debating what level of stars to give this, because it is a technically well-written story - rich with imagery filled vocabulary. The message, however, is so misguided that it cannot receive endorsement.

This mystery is certainly amusing and adequately enjoyable. A young boy is in the typical stranglehold between divorced parents. His mother is somewhat neglectful and more interested in her new family and in being difficult to his artsy father than parenting her older son. A beetle living in the home demonstrates an incredible talent for drawing which leads to the boy getting credit for the drawing by his father and, ultimately, an art museum.

The art museum curator hatches a plan for the boy's drawing skills (actually the beetle's) to be used to create a copy of a masterpiece as a decoy to find an art thief. The beetle cooperates with this deception out of a sense of obligation to the boy's friendship and to somehow validate (by counterfeited art) the boy in his mother's eyes.

This is where the point of the story gets muddy to me. What is the author's message to young readers? The boy's deception is never revealed. In fact, he ultimately is made a heroic character despite his credit-taking lies and breaking/entering - yes for an ultimate good - but is this exhonerated? The book amplifies the flaws of parents and adults, and supports the often-touted message to conceal info from parents - even to the point of endangerment of the young protagonist. Even the beetle goes against his parent's protective instruction and receives only a prodigal beetle's reception. The boy's misdeeds are never dealt with other than an event that is implied as an intentional harming of himself as restitution or a divinely imposed consequence - either way allowing him an excuse to avoid the revelation of his lies. Further, it implies this lack of honesty was to protect the beetle rather than himself...again giving a heroic quality to bad behavior. His counterfeited talent becomes framed and enjoyed as a permanent source of pride in the family home. He is rewarded with the benefits of a friendly reconciliation of his bad parents based upon their appreciation of his previously underlooked talent - which he actually never had? Are we telling kids that they can feel self-worth in pretense? All's well that ends well? How about self-worth in integrity!

Even the art thief's misdeeds are stroked with a brush of empathetic understanding. His love for the work itself is the driving force of his crime. It is questioned whether his multiple thefts of invaluable artwork should be reported since all is well in the end?!? Out of respect for his friendship,(which he had moments earlier thrown under the bus) a delay occurs which allows him to escape scott-free, as well.

See my angst here? I just can't endorse this - well written or otherwise.(less)

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May 31, 2012 Earl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Masterpiece is a fun tale about the friendship between a young boy that has potential to become something big, and a beetle that has a very “artistic” secret. Masterpiece revolves around the story of beetle named Marvin whose family just moved into an Inner city home (New York City if I am correct) of a human family. Marvin shares a tie with James the child of the human family. The friendship begins when Marvin uses James ink set and begins to draw beautiful designs and replications of historic...more

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Mar 06, 2012 IndyPL Kids Book Blog rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

James is having a really terrible 11th birthday. His mom has invited kids he doesn’t even know to his birthday party. All James really wants is for his father to come and finally, at the end, he does - bringing with him a pen and ink drawing set as a gift.

Observing all of this from the safety of a very tiny hiding place is Marvin, a beetle that lives in the kitchen cupboard. Marvin has watched the awful birthday party and the sad look on James’ face. Marvin is determined to give James a really g...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Kathy added it

Masterpiece by Elise Broach
Grant Rohrmann
The book I read was Masterpiece, by Elise Broach. Masterpiece is about a beetle named Marvin who draws really good pictures. He lives in the cupboard of the Pompaday Family’s kitchen with his whole entire family. Marvin has a friend named James Pompaday who is an eleven-year old boy. On his birthday James gets an art set from his father and Marvin uses it to draw a picture of the street outside of the house. When James’s mom sees it she thinks James pain...more Masterpiece by Elise Broach
Grant Rohrmann
The book I read was Masterpiece, by Elise Broach. Masterpiece is about a beetle named Marvin who draws really good pictures. He lives in the cupboard of the Pompaday Family’s kitchen with his whole entire family. Marvin has a friend named James Pompaday who is an eleven-year old boy. On his birthday James gets an art set from his father and Marvin uses it to draw a picture of the street outside of the house. When James’s mom sees it she thinks James painted it and shows it to everyone. James can’t tell anyone the truth because no one will believe a beetle can paint. James’s father Karl takes him to the Metropolitan Museum to see real art by an artist named Albrecht Durer. Marvin goes with them. Karl’s friend Denny and a woman named Christina who works at the museum see them there. Karl shows Marvin’s picture to Christina and she thinks it is really good. She asks James to draw a copy of the Durer painting that is on display called Fortitude. While Karl and Christina have coffee Marvin draws a copy of Fortitude because Marvin is the real artist. Fortitude is one of four Virtue paintings by Durer. The three others have been stolen. Christina has a plan to get them back. She wants the copy of Fortitude so it can be stolen instead of the real one and then they can find out who is stealing the paintings. Something goes wrong and the real Fortitude gets stolen. James and Marvin go on an adventure to find out who the thief is. In the end Denny is the thief and all four paintings get returned to the museum.
The main characters are James Terik and Marvin the Beetle. James is a sweet boy whose best friend is a beetle. James’s parents are divorced. He lives with his mom, stepfather and his baby brother William. James is not popular but he plays with his baby brother a lot. He isn’t the favorite child until his mother thinks he can paint masterpieces. He explains it to Marvin when he says, “The thing is, she’s so proud of me, you know? That’s not how she is usually. And it’s not even for something I did – it’s for something you did.” (168) Marvin is a beetle who is the only one who can swim in his family. He has a very big family who love him very much. They worry about him a lot when he isn’t there for dinner. When he comes back from his adventure he says, “He was beginning to understand that some of the most irritating things his family did stemmed from the depth of their love. And suddenly it felt wonderful to be worried and fussed over…” (267). Marvin’s best friend is a human named James. He is a very talented artist and helps James in tough situations. He follows James a lot and is very loyal.
The main problem in the story is that all of Durer’s Virtue paintings have been stolen except one. Christina Balcony at the Metropolitan wants all the paintings back. She wants to use the Fortitude painting to catch the thief. She needs the help of James and Marvin. Marvin’s painting looks exactly like Durer’s. He is the only one who can make an almost perfect copy. When the real one is stolen anyway everyone is very upset. Marvin stays with the real painting and never leaves it. He is the only one who knows where the painting is. Together Marvin and James bring all the paintings back to the museum. They find out that Denny, a friend, is the thief. No one can believe it. In the end the paintings go up in the museum together and Denny disappears.
I like this book and would recommend it to anybody who likes suspense when they read. I like this book because of the action in it and how the characters found the paintings and resolved the problem. My favorite part of the book is when Elaine, Marvin’s cousin, falls into the turtle tank and Marvin has to rescue her. I like this part because Elaine ends up saving Marvin and has to learn how to swim.

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Nov 16, 2011 Shelley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: art-of-the-book, jf, mystery, animals

Poor 11-year-old James: he often finds himself overlooked by his materialistic mother and oblivious stepfather and overshadowed by his baby half-brother. However, James does not go unnoticed by Marvin, a young beetle who lives behind the kitchen sink with his large family. Wanting to do something special for James for his birthday, Marvin draws a perfect miniature of the view from the boy’s Manhattan bedroom window by using his front legs and a pen and ink set James received from his artist fath...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 Sherrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: already-read, 2011-reading-challenge

What do you get when you have a boy, a beetle and ink? You get a mixed up mystery of art theft. Marvin is a beetle that lives in James Pompaday's house under the kitchen sink. Marvin lives there with all his family. He knows James's family very well. On James's birthday, Marvin decides to give James's something. But he can't figure out what. He decides on a buffalo nickel he found. Marven carries the nickel to James's room. When he gets there he sees James's ink and pen on the desk and decides t...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Karen Ball rated it 5 of 5 stars

Delightfully fun! Marvin is a young beetle, living in the Pompaday's New York apartment kitchen cabinet with his family. Marvin dreams of leaving the apartment and seeing the larger world that is outside the windows, but that terrifies his family. Marvin befriends James, Mrs. Pompaday's older son, on his birthday, and gives him the gift of a tiny ink drawing of the scene out James's window. When the drawing is discovered by the adults, James takes credit for it, not quite knowing how to tell tha...more

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May 18, 2011 M. rated it 3 of 5 stars

2012 Rebecca Caudill nominee. This book grows on you. James is an overlooked kid living with his mother and stepfather, people more interested in their new baby and their social life than in James. James' father is an artist who sees him regularly, but the mother makes sure he keeps his emotional distance from James. Marvin is a beetle who lives with his large extended family behind the sink in James' kitchen. When James' father gives him a drawing set for his birthday, Marvin uses it and discov...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Ellen Booraem rated it 5 of 5 stars

will never squish a beetle again.

Elise Broach’s MASTERPIECE is the kind of book I would have loved in childhood, when one of my favorite boredom-fighters was to imagine myself in an upside-down house, stepping over high thresholds and trying to get comfortable with all the furniture stuck overhead.

Broach encourages us to imagine a beetle’s life in a plush New York City apartment: Settled in comfortably behind the wall under the kitchen sink, scrounging meals from the trash and what the baby dro...more will never squish a beetle again.

Elise Broach’s MASTERPIECE is the kind of book I would have loved in childhood, when one of my favorite boredom-fighters was to imagine myself in an upside-down house, stepping over high thresholds and trying to get comfortable with all the furniture stuck overhead.

Broach encourages us to imagine a beetle’s life in a plush New York City apartment: Settled in comfortably behind the wall under the kitchen sink, scrounging meals from the trash and what the baby drops on the floor, taking a bath in a bottle cap, riding the vacuum cleaner to a vacation spot in the conservatory.

Marvin, a young beetle, lives with his parents and extended family in the home of the Pompadays (the name says it all). The human family’s only worthwhile member is James, who turns eleven at a depressing party engineered by his uber-networking mother and stepfather. When James’s artist father arrives to give him a pen-and-ink set, he doesn’t think much of the present until Marvin secretly visits his room at night to leave his own present, a buffalo nickel.

Dipping his front legs into the ink, Marvin discovers he can draw—not just draw, but make stunning art. James discovers Marvin’s tiny, gem-like rendition of the scene outside his window, and in short order discovers Marvin, too. The two strike up a wordless friendship, so compatible with each other that they need only a modicum of code: Marvin runs up James’s finger for “yes,” and back down for “no.”

This comes in handy when Mrs. Pompaday discovers the drawing and infers that her son is an artistic genius. One thing leads to another, and before long Marvin and James find themselves in the Metropolitan Museum of Art faking an Albrecht Dürer drawing to help foil some art thieves. The plan goes badly wrong, of course, and it takes all of Marvin’s creativity and James’s upright courage to keep priceless artworks from disappearing forever.

This book itself is a tiny gem. Like Mary Norton’s THE BORROWERS series of the fifties and sixties, Broach imagines a gorgeously detailed miniature life behind the walls of the Pompadays’ apartment, complete with family suppers and missions to rescue the homeowner’s contact lens from the bathroom drain. (“Why, it looks exactly like my fruit bowl,” Marvin’s mother comments.)

Delightfully, Broach sneaks in cool insights about art and ethics without once preaching or sacrificing plot pressure. The story is entirely told from Marvin’s point of view, but his attention is so closely focused on James that we think we’re seeing things through the human boy’s perspective, too. Like Marvin’s drawings, this is an act of genius.

Seriously, you’ll think twice before you stomp your next beetle.

(less)

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Dec 10, 2010 Lars Guthrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

E.B. White, George Selden. Sophisticated little animals. Manhattanites of yesteryear, with their glib savoir faire and urban obtuseness. Witty, well-chosen language. It’s counterintuitive that it still sells.

‘Stuart Little’ and ‘The Cricket in Times Square’ still do, thankfully. People just won’t give up on literate, if retrograde, children’s literature, because reading it, particularly reading it aloud, remains such a delight.

‘Masterpiece’ could have been published 50 years ago with hardly a r...more

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Jan 08, 2010 Cindy Hudson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Masterpiece by Elise Broach is a delightful story of the unlikely friendship that develops between a lonely young boy named James and a beetle named Marvin. In the tradition of E. B. White's Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan, Broach takes this human/insect encounter out of the wild and into New York City, where Marvin lives with his parents and other relatives behind a kitchen cupboard in James's home.

The two characters meet when Marvin draws an ink rendition of the skyline outside Jam...more

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May 02, 2009 Bob Redmond rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This is the story of a beetle who befriends a boy by drawing some pen-and, ahem, antenna-and-ink pictures.

It's in the spirit of CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE, with cute drawings and a relationship between an insect and a boy. There's also an art-history lesson, a theft, and a drama that plays out in the Met. Hey, could this be another FROM THE MIXED-UP-FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, another (with Selden's CRICKET) Newberry-award winner?

No. This book is constructed, VERY constructed, to be just li...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 03, 2009 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-lit, fiction

A very cute story. I wasn't sure I'd like a book about a boy and a beetle, but I did. I admired the friendship that develops between them. I also enjoyed learning about the artist Albrecht Durer and art heists. I had no idea there was such a thing as art stealing criminals!

I also appreciated the humor in this novel, such as the following:
"It must be Denny's mail, Marvin thought. He knew a little about the human system of mail, because Papa had explained it to him several weeks ago, when, tragica...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars

"That was the very heart of friendship...your willingness to help each other in a jam, to take a friend's problems as your very own."

—Masterpiece, P. 120

"The most important things in a friendship didn't have to be said out loud."

—Masterpiece, P. 142

Elise Broach has created something of a "Roald Dahl meets E.L. Konigsburg" kaleidoscope of action in this book, and the mixture really does have quite a bit of appeal. Solid characters (James jumps out at me as the primary shining example) serve...more

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Apr 13, 2009 West Region, added it

Shelves: mystery, older-elementary, middleschool, juvenile, srp-09-theme

Masterpiece
by Elise Broach

James and Marvin become the most unlikely of friends, when they find that their families occupy the same apartment in New York City. James was ignored by his mother who was busy with the new baby and her business clients. Marvin was doted upon, and overprotected by his extended family of brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts.

Do you want to know how James and Marvin met? Well, James received a pen and ink drawing set from his artist father, and was disappointed in the g...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Gabriel Gill rated it 5 of 5 stars

is about a little This book beetle named Marvin that lives with this family in New York. They live with the Pompadays in there apartment .One day Marvin over heard a conversion in the kitchen with Mrs.Pompaday and her son James and how he was going to have his birthday party at there house. So the next day at James birthday party Marvin watched from the kitchen cabinet were he lived .And could tell that James wasn’t enjoying his party, right after his party his real dad gave him a pen and ink se...more is about a little This book beetle named Marvin that lives with this family in New York. They live with the Pompadays in there apartment .One day Marvin over heard a conversion in the kitchen with Mrs.Pompaday and her son James and how he was going to have his birthday party at there house. So the next day at James birthday party Marvin watched from the kitchen cabinet were he lived .And could tell that James wasn’t enjoying his party, right after his party his real dad gave him a pen and ink set with his initials. So Marvin had an idea to draw him a picture. So right after James and the Pompadays were asleep he crept up the stairs to James room he dipped his legs in ink and drew the picture. Right after he finishes the picture it was morning and James started to wake up. Marvin tried to scurry away, but he was to slow and James saw Marvin, and thanked Marvin for making the picture .Right after he thanked him, his mom (Mrs.Pompaday) walks in and ask who James was talking to. Marvin runs and hides under the ceramic piggy bank. James replies, “no one.” His mother scans the room and sees the picture. She was amazed with the picture and asks James if he drew the picture he says, “Yes”. Mrs.Pompaday was going to show it to his dad who is an artist. So Mrs. Pompadays shows it to his dad and he was surprised with it .His father takes him to the met and his dads friend Denny was there. Denny is the manager for the Getty art gallery and impressed with the drawing. They then end up going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There they meet Christina the manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Christina is amazed at the drawing as well. She lets James and his father in on a secret. The secret is that the FBI has leads that there will be a robbery of the Fortitude painting. They want to know if James could reproduce a copy of the Fortitude painting so the original won’t be stolen. James agrees to help them by having Marvin draw a copy of the Fortitude. Find out more and read what will happen in the masterpiece. I loved this book very much and there are many surprise in this book !(less)

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Jun 19, 2011 Alyssa Calhoun rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-choice-2011

Masterpiece is a delightful tale of a friendship formed between an unlikely pair: James, an 11 year boy and Marvin, a young beetle who lives in the kitchen cupboard of James' New York City apartment. For James' birthday, he receives an ink set from his father, which springs the book into action. Marvin finds the ink and uses it to create a scene that James' parents mistake for his. The museum wants to use his talent to stage a heist, but when things go wrong, Marvin is the only one who notices....more

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Aug 12, 2010 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Masterpiece begins when Marvin a shiny black beetle decides he wants to give a birthday present to James a quiet boy who longs for friends. In Marvin’s pursuit to give James just the right kind of present that he feels he deserves, he ends up drawing a wonderful recreation of the skyline from James’s window. The masterpiece that Marvin has created leads others to believe that it was made by James. The story further leads Marvin and James to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they are instrume...more

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Jul 03, 2009 Jenben8426 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-chapter-books, young-adult

This was really a cute book! "Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James lives with his mother, stepfather, and baby brother in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy." When James receives a pen and ink set from his father for his eleventh birthday, and Marvin decides to draw a beautiful work of art using that ink set; an unlikely friendship forms and Marvin the beetle and James the boy are drawn into an unlikel...more

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Jun 28, 2009 Elizabeth K. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-new-reads

I loved this book. A beetle living in a New York City apartment takes up pen and ink, or rather claw and ink, drawing, and is so talented at it that his work ends up at the Metropolitan Museum being passed off as an authentic Dürer sketch. It owes a lot to books like The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Cricket in Times Square, but it still manages to feel original. I'm always a sucker for details like how the beetle family shares the apartment with a people family, making picnics out of food crumbs...more

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May 27, 2009 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: animal-stories, childrensbooks, mysteries

Marvin is a small black beetle who lives in James' family's house. He and his family live in hollowed out rooms behind the kitchen sink, and keep the plumbing and wiring in repair to prevent a handyman from discovering their existence.

Marvin likes James, who is a decent kid, and feels sorry for him, because James doesn't get much attention from his remarried mom, who's more interested in selling expensive Manhattan apartments than him.

So when James gets a pen and ink set from his father for his...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-caudill-nominees, borrowed-from-the-library, fantasy, beetles, friendship, art, art-crime, arty-boys, artists, durer, mystery, families, relationships, relationship-problems, juvenile-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Martin is a young beetle who lives in the walls of the Pompaday’s apartment in New York City. The beetles don’t think much of Mr. & Mrs. Pompaday or bouncing baby William, but they are quite fond of 11-year old James (Mrs. Pompaday’s son from a previous marriage). Martin wants to do something special for James on his birthday, so he uses James’ new drawing set to make him a picture. The tiny, precise drawing is much like the style of Albrecht Dürer. James loves it, but when the Pompadays and...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 22, 2012 Isabelle rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one, I'm not that mean

Recommended to Isabelle by: no one, people like me, I'm nice

Shelves: forgettable, laughable, godawful, my-childhood

The idea of this story was great but it was butchered by the complete lack of writing skill.
Let me sum it up.
This is how I'm feeling throughout the entire book.
Blah-de-da . . . a cockroach, yuck . . . the kid got a paint set, I wonder what will happen next . . . oh, (view spoiler)
This book is a Tell not Show book. The cockroach paints. I hate the cockroach because I HATE COCKROACHES....more

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About Elise Broach

Elise Broach is the New York Times bestselling author of children's books including Masterpiece, Shakespeare's Secret, Desert Crossing, Missing on Superstition Mountain (the first book in the Superstition Mountain Trilogy) as well as several picture books. Her books have been selected as ALA notable books, Junior Library Guild selections, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book, a New York Public...more

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Books by Elise Broach

Missing on Superstition Mountain (Missing on Superstition Mountain, #1)

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Trivia About Masterpiece

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Quotes from Masterpiece

“A person's birthday should be a special day, a wonderful day, a day of pure celebration for the luck of being born! ” — 55 people liked it

“A great friendship was like a great work of art, he thought. It took time and attention, and a spark of something that was impossible to describe. It was a happy, lucky accident, finding some kindred part of yourself in a total stranger." pg. 287” — 12 people liked it

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title link	preview: Masterpiece
avg rating	preview: Masterpiece Goodreads rating: 3.86 (3190 ratings)
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Masterpiece

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