false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174837816m/444347.jpg 444347 23 In the classic tradition of E.L. Konigsburg's <I>From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</I>, debut author Blue Balliett introduces readers to another pair of precocious kids on an artful quest full of patterns, puzzles, and the power of blue M&Ms. Eleven year old Petra and Calder may be in the same sixth grade class, but they barely know each other. It's only after a near collision during a museum field trip that they discover their shared worship of art, their teacher Ms. Hussey, and the blue candy that doesn't melt in your hands. Their burgeoning friendship is strengthened when a creative thief steals a valuable Vermeer painting en route to Chicago, their home town. When the thief leaves a trail of public clues via the newspaper, Petra and Calder decide to try and recover the painting themselves. But tracking down the Vermeer isn't easy, as Calder and Petra try to figure out what a set of pentominos (mathematical puzzle pieces), a mysterious book about unexplainable phenomena and a suddenly very nervous Ms. Hussey have to do with a centuries old artwork. When the thief ups the ante by declaring that he or she may very well destroy the painting, the two friends know they have to make the pieces of the puzzle fit before it's too late! <p> Already being heralded as <I>The DaVinci Code</I> for kids, <I>Chasing Vermeer</I> will have middle grade readers scrutinizing art books as they try to solve the mystery along with Calder and Petra. In an added bonus, artist Brett Helquist has also hidden a secret pentomino message in several of the book's illustrations for readers to decode. An auspicious and wonderfully satisfying debut that will leave no young detective clueless. <I>--Jennifer Hubert</I> 3280795 book 1 6 2004 Chasing Vermeer total:3095|5:852|4:1102|3:818|2:257|1:66| 3095 11702 3796 592 1 5 false false Thu Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 07:52:04 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 10:18:24 -0700 2008 Da Vinci Code for tweens." - Newsweek

This is only one of the quoted praises lumped on Chasing Vermeer and proudly emblazoned on its back cover. It is probably the most apropos quote because it hinges almost entirely on the readers' familiarity with and reaction to Dan Brown'...more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 07 07:04:54 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 07 07:05:18 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 3 false false Sun Nov 25 21:51:55 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 25 21:59:09 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Feb 16 17:39:53 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 17:40:33 -0800 2009 3 2 false false Mon Dec 15 14:02:57 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 14:03:54 -0800 2008 2 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jan 13 15:16:57 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 15:17:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Jan 12 15:50:21 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 16:02:34 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Mar 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 10 09:01:15 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 09:01:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Oct 11 19:17:05 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 20:07:31 -0700 2009 Chasing Vermeer is a great mystery about how to children have to solve a mystery under their own will. The protag...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Mar 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 16:25:25 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 16:25:25 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 14:33:30 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 08:28:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 14:19:05 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 23:09:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 17:38:40 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 08:12:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false true Thu Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 14:18:02 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 15:52:31 -0700 2009 1
The Bad: The protagonists--are they really kids? From the beginning I had difficulty believin...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 07:52:33 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 08:00:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 16:13:42 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 16:24:05 -0700 2009 1 or 2
It's about Calder and Petra trying to solve a mystery about some wack guy who stole a painting and is threatening to destroy it! The funny thing is that they are constantly getting small clues as to who stole it in weird ways. But you kinda need to know a...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Dec 16 19:32:18 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 15:18:18 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 08:32:17 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 14:20:22 -0700 2009
Vermeer - some kids will become interested in learning more about art.

Codes - As an ad...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 20 00:39:03 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 00:44:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 25 10:26:34 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 10:38:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=444347