Module 9: Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer

By Blue Balliett

Summary: Calder Millay and Petra Andalee find themselves red hot in the middle of a mystery.  After they both notice their teacher acting funny, things begin to fall into place.  Calder's boss at the used bookstore has been acting strange, and he sees his teacher, boss, and an old lady acting strangely outside his house one day.  Soon afterwards, they discover that a famous painting has gone missing and it is up to them to discover it before it is destroyed forever.

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

My Impression: I give this book a B+.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book but it had a slow start and was overall a slower read for me personally.  I love that there was a girl detective paired with a boy detective.  This makes it appealing to both boys and girls.  This would be a great book for a book group for kids.  This would give the teacher an opportunity to show the students artwork by Vermeer that might make them more interested in the book.

Professional Reviews:

Horn Book (July/August 2004)

"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. (2004).  Chasing Vermeer [Review of the book Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliet]. Horn Book Magazine, 80(4), 446. Retrieved from  http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses: Make October a month of mystery.  Choose a different novel for each week which will include Chasing Vermeer.  On each day of the week reveal a different clue for the book either through a display, email to teacher, or through morning announcements.  Have students submit their guesses.  The first student to correctly guess the title gets a copy of the book.