Blue Balliett is the author of several bestselling, acclaimed mystery novels, including 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 www.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.
Voice of Youth Advocates
December 1, 2004 Mix classic artworks with crime? It seems to be a
popular plot that makes its way here to a thriller for young
readers. Two eccentric sixth graders at the University School find
themselves in the middle of a major art theft. Who was Vermeer?
What does Charles Fort have to do with it all? (He was real.) And
why do Petra and Calder get clues about what has happened? Petra
sees images that relate to the picture of the lady, and Calder's
favorite game pieces, from pentominoes, give him clues. Their
teacher, Miss Hussey, seems to be involved, as does elderly Mrs.
Sharpe, and perhaps Calder's father. And then there is something
odd about Mr. Watch from Powell's Bookstore. Calder's friend Tommy
sends coded messages and then goes missing. Plenty of clues, wrong
directions, speculation, and good guesses lead Petra and Calder on
a sequence of adventures to find the art work before it is
destroyed. This exciting romp will appeal to middle school readers
and make them think about clues and even art. The adults are given
good characterizations although the young people do not know whom
to trust and perhaps get in a little deeper than they should. The
ending comes a bit too quickly without enough evolution and there
are a number of loose ends, but most readers will overlook this
flaw for the fun. The illustrations by Helquist, of Lemony Snicket
fame, contain hidden messages that present challenging puzzles to
the reader.-Patricia Morrow. Horn Book Magazine
July 1, 2004
(Intermediate) "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. Copyright 2004 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights
reserved. School Library Journal
July 1, 2004 Gr 5-8-Fans of Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game
(Dutton, 1978) and E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Turtleback, 1967) will welcome this
novel about two classmates determined to solve the mystery of a
missing painting. Brainy 12-year-olds Petra Andalee and Calder
Pillay attend the University of Chicago Laboratory School where
their teacher's unorthodox methods make learning an adventure. When
Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears on its way to exhibition at the
Art Institute of Chicago, the two overcome their adolescent
awkwardness and let their friendship bloom, pooling their talents
to rescue the masterpiece and expose the thief. Many elements play
a role in unraveling the secrets surrounding the crime: Calder's
set of pentominoes; his encoded correspondence with his friend
Tommy about a missing boy named Frog; and
Voice of Youth Advocates
December 1, 2004
Mix classic artworks with crime? It seems to be a popular plot
that makes its way here to a thriller for young readers. Two
eccentric sixth graders at the University School find themselves in
the middle of a major art theft. Who was Vermeer? What does Charles
Fort have to do with it all? (He was real.) And why do Petra and
Calder get clues about what has happened? Petra sees images that
relate to the picture of the lady, and Calder's favorite game
pieces, from pentominoes, give him clues. Their teacher, Miss
Hussey, seems to be involved, as does elderly Mrs. Sharpe, and
perhaps Calder's father. And then there is something odd about Mr.
Watch from Powell's Bookstore. Calder's friend Tommy sends coded
messages and then goes missing. Plenty of clues, wrong directions,
speculation, and good guesses lead Petra and Calder on a sequence
of adventures to find the art work before it is destroyed. This
exciting romp will appeal to middle school readers and make them
think about clues and even art. The adults are given good
characterizations although the young people do not know whom to
trust and perhaps get in a little deeper than they should. The
ending comes a bit too quickly without enough evolution and there
are a number of loose ends, but most readers will overlook this
flaw for the fun. The illustrations by Helquist, of Lemony Snicket
fame, contain hidden messages that present challenging puzzles to
the reader.-Patricia Morrow. Horn Book Magazine
July 1, 2004
(Intermediate) "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. Copyright 2004 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights
reserved. School Library Journal
July 1, 2004 Gr 5-8-Fans of Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game
(Dutton, 1978) and E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Turtleback, 1967) will welcome this
novel about two classmates determined to solve the mystery of a
missing painting. Brainy 12-year-olds Petra Andalee and Calder
Pillay attend the University of Chicago Laboratory School where
their teacher's unorthodox methods make learning an adventure. When
Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears on its way to exhibition at the
Art Institute of Chicago, the two overcome their adolescent
awkwardness and let their friendship bloom, pooling their talents
to rescue the masterpiece and expose the thief. Many elements play
a role in unraveling the secrets surrounding the crime: Calder's
set of pentominoes; his encoded correspondence with his friend
Tommy about a missing boy named Frog; and
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