How long is chasing vermeer

In the beginning of the book Petra and Calder receive a letter from an unknown person asking them for help fixing a crime involving art. This letter threatens them, telling them that if they go to the authorities, their lives will be in danger. Calder and Petra,they are eleven year old students at the University School, located near Chicago.

Calder knows Pentominoes. In the middle of the book the famous Vermeer painting goes missing. They go on the run searching for the painting.

There are so many possible clues and connections. Soon they realize they are being followed by a man. Calder gets left behind. Petra is able to escape from the chasing man but soon loses the painting as she and a police officer search for Calder.

Again Petra finds the painting and finds an injured, but alive, Calder. The conflict of the book is person vs person because Calder and Petra are tying to find the theft and the painting. The theme teamwork because they work together to find the painting and theft. The title relates to the book "chasing Vermeer" because they looking for the famous Vermeer painting. A major event in the story is when they found the painting and solved the mystery. The theme can be seen when they are figuring out the clues.

The setting adds to the conflict because in Delia Dell Hall thats where the painting was found. I think this book will make a good movie because it would be bring attention to others and it'll be funny. The narrator is reliable because it give good information and isn't untruthful. I was surprised when they found the painting is found hidden in a wall in a stairwell. I was angry when Calder got injured. My favorite was when the painting was found and put back.

An interesting thing i learned was to never give up on what your looking for because at the end you always get what you want. I thought the ending of the book was pretty good because at the end of the story, the author explains and gives many clues and coincidences found in this book. I was moved when they got letters from a random person. I would rate the book 4 out 5 stars because it was well written and interesting. I would recommend this book to people who like mystery and cool books.

What would you do if were looking for a stolen paintings? Mar 10, Tracy rated it it was ok. The star rating may be a little unfair. For me, as an adult, it's two stars. Any kid age 8 to 12 probably would give this 5 stars. This is a code within a story, and I had a hard time deciding which to pay attention to. Because there's also an identical code in the pictures which is easily deciphered, I chose story.

I'm pretty sure the code is easily deciphered within the story, I just didn't write down each time the author mentioned a specific pentomino. The storyline really is pretty good with The star rating may be a little unfair. The storyline really is pretty good with a reasonable premise, good suspense, and excellent resolution. Balliett writes well, and targets her intended audience well. I thought the ending was pretty clever. Balliett explores some ideas that really weren't interesting to me, and they took up a large part of the narrative.

I'm not that interested in connecting random events randomly. So what if two different events in completely different locations both contain the number Twelve is a fairly common number. I am somewhat interested in trying to find patterns in everyday occurances, but I lean more towards fractals than any other theory.

I'm really not interested at all in unusual acts of nature, especially not cats raining from the sky throughout history. There are too many other explanations than a crazy one crazy being they actually fell from the sky. Between the space this theme of the story took up and the overall juvenile content, this book wasn't for me.

However, I can't fault Ms. Balliett for writing for her intended audience. These are just the kind of themes and thoughts that young readers would enjoy ruminating over. Some literature transcends age and some doesn't. There are some good things in this book that I will definitely take more time to think about.

I think it was an excellent idea to invite Brett Helquist to illustrate this book. He did an excellent job of inviting art into the book. His section in the "After Words" is especially informative. The "After Words" section itself was a stroke of genius. What a great idea!! I wish all books came with similar sections. There is just one final question that was not adequately resolved. I went through the illustrations, decoded the hidden message, and now I'm not sure exactly what it means.

There is the most basic explanation given in the final pages of the book, but if there is something more, please let me know. Last but not least, I want my own pentominoes. Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo. After I finished reading the book, I read with interest other reviews, which is usually my habit after I've written my own review. I like to see what other readers thought of a story, or how similar--or, in some cases, dissimilar--my own thoughts and feelings are from other readers. I was surprised by the supposed hype that the book had generated.

I was surprised, in fact, by the way I was caught up in the story myself. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay live down the street from each other in Hyde Park, share the same birthday, and have as the same sixth-grade teacher, the wonderful Ms.

Hussey, at University School. It's rare to find a teacher who allows her students to have a say in what material they will cover, and both Petra and Calder are aware of this. When Ms. Hussey asks the students to discuss with an adult a letter that changed their life, most students are baffled.

When the assignment fails, Ms. Hussey instead takes them on a field trip to the Art Institute--where the worlds of Petra, Calder, Ms. Hussey, and Vermeer collide. Who was Vermeer? An artist, it turns out, who has several paintings attributed to him that some members of the general public don't agree were done by the painter himself.

Suddenly, Petra and Calder's world is filled with a strange book entitled "Lo! Jun 26, Patrick rated it it was ok Shelves: young-adult , junior-fiction-elementary-age , art. This book is OK. It's not really trying to be the Da Vinci Code for kids, but the movement in recent years with "smart" protagonists is definitely represented here.

The two protagonists are very likable and I was interested in the glowingly positive representation of the Chicago School constructivist education model. The problem here is a common one in YA, but magnified in this book I think. The kids are too curious and diligent. I can believe the overly brave, adventurous kids in most YA more than I can believe in all these kids reading thick books and articles by themselves about obscure topics their teacher leads them to. And then the two philosophize about the meaning of of love, life, "What is art?

Maybe I'm too cynical about America's youth, but I just don't see it. And then the plot point where the general public rouses from their apathy and gets excited about Vermeer's art and the attribution of possible forgeries--I buy that even less.

But I liked the story and many of the characters and would give it an average 3 stars if it weren't for the random mysticalness thrown in too. The boy gets messages from his pentominoes and two characters literally talk with the missing painting in their minds so clearly that they can write down her words. Not to mention a looong, wordy conclusion. So an OK book that falls short of its potential in my opinion.

Oh yea, one more complaint. I think the code breaking is clever and enjoyed looking at the code in the pictures although I didn't bother solving it. I just wasn't going to spend the time to write those out letter for letter and just gleaned what I could from the kids' comments after. I bet some kids would love it, but I bet most just skip it like I did. View all 3 comments. Jul 08, Megan Baxter rated it liked it. Chasing Vermeer is a fun children's book, easy to read, with pictures that involve some thought, if you want to put that thought into it.

I am lazy, I did not. I have some overall questions about the tack the book takes on Charles Fort and how it veers a little bit into magic without ever exploring that, but hey, a children's book that might introduce kids to Charles Fort? I'm pretty much in. Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement Chasing Vermeer is a fun children's book, easy to read, with pictures that involve some thought, if you want to put that thought into it.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here. In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook Jan 08, Christopher Alvarado rated it it was amazing. I loved the book because shows a new level of mystery for me because I liked how a painting was stolen. And too characters named Petra and Calder want to find it they use pentominos to help them find the painting and they find the painting but while they where doing that strange things are happining.

Feb 16, Natalie rated it it was amazing. View all 6 comments. Jun 09, Anna rated it it was amazing. I read this in third grade, and I decided to read it again Sep 03, Haley added it. I was obsessedddd with this series in middle school. Feb 16, Samantha Sheeran rated it it was amazing Shelves: chasing-vermeer. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett is a story about two sixth graders who go on a magical adventure!

The book starts out by 3 anonymous people receiving a letter asking for help to uncover the truth about an artist named Vermeer. You find out at the end of the book that these three people in fact live in the same area and are related in many ways. Petra and Calder seem to be your typical sixth grade students, until you realize that they think very differently than other sixth graders.

They are mes Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett is a story about two sixth graders who go on a magical adventure! They are mesmerized by puzzles, asking questions, and trying to think about and explain the inexplainable. When a famous paing done by Vermeer called A Lady Writing is stolen on the way to a Chicago art museum, Petra and Calder beleive they are destined to help discover where the stolen painting is being kept. They each have things happen to them that they can't explain but that help them become closer and closer to solving the mystery of A Lady Writing.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but eventually they do find A Lady Writing and realize that every single person and event that happened to them is connected. Chasing Vermmer was an excellent book. In fact, I didn't put it down once until I was finished. One thing that I especially loved is that I got a very clear visualization of what the actual lady in A Lady Writing looked like. She is described in great detail as a lady with a yellow jacket with fur on the edges and she looked old-fashioned.

Her hair was pulled back tightly with shiny ribbons and her dangly, pearl earrings were very shiny from catching the light just right. Anyone can visualize this image perfectly. Another aspect that I loved about the book were Petra and Calder's way of thinking. What was the most surprising part? The most surprising part of writing Chasing Vermeer was discovering how much I really had to say, and that I really could write a book, a page at a time, even though my life was so busy.

What other influences favorite artists, unexplained occurrences inspired the story? I great deal of my own life went into the book. See our price match guarantee.

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Format: Paperback. Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks. Age Range: Years. Author: Blue Balliett. Language: English. Street Date : May 1, TCIN : Find More New Items. Hours Our building is currently open for pick-up of materials , 45 minute computer sessions, and browsing of materials. Contact Us S. When strange and seemingly unrelated events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Originally published: New York : Scholastic Press,