Customer Reviews

Chasing Vermeer

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

This may not be The Da Vinci Code for kids, because it seems that the scholarship and research in Chasing Vermeer are more accurate than that in The Da Vinci Code. However, it?s a clever marketing technique, and it seems to be working.

Having read The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, and all sorts of ?simpler? mystery novels as a child, this really was refreshing. I wish something like this had been around (or that I had known of it) when I was in 6th grade. Even for an adult, it?s an interesting, provocative work, with excellent pacing and sure handed writing. And any book that increases interest in art, thinking, or ideas has automatically hit a home run for me.

Aside from the terrific storytelling and infectious plotting, I was very intrigued by the two main characters. Both are ?hybrids? ? a far cry from the typical Caucasian heroes we see everyday. Bravo to the author for the varied ethnicity!

It?s also a pleasure to read a book written ?in? Chicago. Too many novels take place in New York, or L.A., and believe me ? Chicago is culturally rich enough to support many more stories of this nature.

The hidden clues were fun to figure out. I?ve never had much of a brain for puzzles, so even one aimed at kids between the ages of 9 and 12 challenged me. It took me a while to puzzle the clues out, and when I did, I discovered that there isn?t only one solution! There are two, equally valid solutions ? the one on the website, and the one I found. And yes, there really are two ? even though I don?t possess a proclivity for this sort of thing.

I?m already anxiously awaiting Ms. Balliett?s next book. As she is a teacher in the Hyde Park area of Chicago (which is as rich and culturally diverse as it gets here), I hope to see even more of this magnificent city!

Announcements of Blue Balliet¡Çs adolescent mystery ¡ÈChasing Vermeer¡É recently appeared in our Chicago papers. The articles that I read boasted the use of pentominoes to solve a mystery that takes place in Chicago. As a middle school science teacher, I was immediately intrigued. I am always looking for books that foster good problem solving techniques through creative and engaging methods. I dove into the book enthusiastically and was very impressed with the craft with which Ms. Balliett developed her characters; clearly she is a person who enjoys adolescents. I was also captivated by the setting, I spend a lot of time at the University of Chicago campus and Ms. Balliett envelopes the reader in the aura created by the breath-taking architecture and intellectual energy unique to the Hyde Park area. The illustrations by Brett Helquist are wonderful, they add warmth and a sense of mystery as the reader looks for clues within the artwork (even though the clues are disappointing in their simplicity). And so, as I went along on the journey with Petra and Calder, I was drawn into their dilemma and was decoding messages and looking for clues, thinking that this was a very interactive puzzle.

However, as the solution of the problem began coming together, I was horrified at the methods taken to form the conclusion. I will not give away the ending, but there are two main clues which resolve the issue. The first one is obtained through a dreamlike transmission of information from the dead woman in the painting, a form of ¡Èchanneling¡É. While paintings can convey emotions and cultural atmosphere, they cannot convey specific information about their location within a building! The second clue comes through using the pentominoes, not as a mathematical tool, but linguistically as shapes that roughly resemble letters of the alphabet. The reader is introduced to a willy-nilly word jumble that results in a clue. This is like using a protractor to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich; it is possible but why waste a perfectly good mathematical tool in this way? The resulting clue was not created in the same manner that it is deciphered by the children, so there isn¡Çt even a cause and effect relationship in the problem-solving. None of the clues are based on solid evidence, I feel that this is very misguided and a lost opportunity to teach critical thinking. Throughout the second half of the book, readers are encouraged to look for coincidences and to give any connections the weight of solid evidence. There are confusing statements such as ¡Èthe sixth grade class¡Ästudied the idea of coincidence. Was it, as a number of interested scientists believed, just the human fascination with patterns? Or was it something more?¡É So, instead of an introduction to the field of mathematics called probability where the likelihood of an event occurring individually or simultaneously with another event can be quantified, the adolescent is encouraged to believe in some supernatural intervention. I was shocked that a fellow educator would model this fallacy in reasoning. Another passage sounds like a throwback to numerology, ¡ÈCalder discovered more twelves. First he made a list¡ÄThere were twelve names, and twelve letters in each name. ¡Äthe message ¡Æ1212¡Ç also has twelve letters if you spell it out, and so does the name of the painting.¡É Superstition also abounds, ¡ÈHe felt that things were often connected in ways that no one could yet explain in scientific terms. But if none of this was coincidence, what was it?¡É

I am glad that our wonderful city and the U of C campus is featured in a book for young people and I think that Ms. Balliet did a good job piquing the interest of adolescents in art history. But, this book claims to give us insight into how children process information, and there it falls apart. The author should put forth a little more effort in developing the clues so that there is some attempt to foster true critical thinking based on analysis of real data. We need to have more respect for the intellectual capabilities of our students.

Here's some applause for an intelligent, art-centered kid's mystery studded with some sharp writing and magnificent illustrations that are works of art all on their own. Now for the dose of reality in the midst of all the hype: the story doesn't hold up. Things begin to crumble halfway through when (don't worry, I'm not going to give away any specifics plot points) the mystery's solution begins to be uncovered via some very flimsy "feelings" and coincidences. That's something of a betrayal to a setup that was, until that point, so clean and logical. I was so charmed by Petra and Calder that I would happily read another book about them. In fact, next time around, I'd like to learn a little more about the two of them.

This is a book you should not judge by its cover. It is beautifully published, with an embossed dust jacket, a textured linen lining, and pages so smooth and heavy you just want to hold it for its tactile qualities. The illustrations are also artfully done and appear throughout the book; something not so common in a book for young adult readers. My good review, however, ends here. After seeing the cover art and reading the "hook" passage on the back, I bought the book, but by the time I read several chapters, I wished I had just waited and gotten it from the library. I slogged through chapter after chapter, hoping that it would just be a late bloomer and pick up partway through. It did increase in suspense toward the end, but then the characters seem to turn the story over to the author, who gives a whole analysis of everything that happened and why. This should have been built into the story; it reminded me of the ending of Scooby-Doo. (If it weren't for you kids...!)

I read a lot of young adult books, as a writer and a teacher, and this book is a lesson in how NOT to write a mystery. I can't understand why the publisher put such an illustrator and such lovely materials into the publishing of this book. I'd bet they're just trying to cash in on The DaVinci Code craze. This story was disappointing at best.

This book has two main problems. The first is that there are way too many coincidences. The second is the unbelievable ending. The fun part about reading a mystery is trying to collect the clues and figure it out. But too many of the clues are coincidences and no one will see the ending coming. The explanation is pretty preposterous. The illustrations are a puzzle as well, but doesn't help with the story and is basically just a gimmick. I liked that the story was set in Chicago and the two main characters were likeable as well, but as a mystery, it is very badly plotted. There is all that build up and then a big let down at the end. It's somewhat worth reading, but if you're looking for a good mystery, you'll be left unsatisfied and empty.

I was initially very excited to read this book. The packaging and illustration were incredible, and the idea for the book was awesome. I love young adult literature, and mysteries, and was hopeful that I could read this out loud to my students. Upon reading the book, I was thoroughly disappointed. The plot had way too many holes, and left the reader having to question why things were happening the way they were. The method for solving the crime was way too far fetched, and supernatural. This book could have been a lot better if it had many more details included, if the different sub-plots could be meshed together in a better way, and also if you put a completely different author on it. One who can actually write an engaging story. So, the statement holds true here, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." I judged this book by it's cover, and was completely disappointed, and $20 in the hole.

I hate to write a negative review of a well-meaning book that tries as hard as this one. But I have to warn away readers lured in by comparisons to favorites like "Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" and "The Westing Game." The sad truth is that "Chasing Vermeer" is a bit of a mess, with no rhyme or reason, no real mystery to piece together, and an unsatisfying ending.

Here's the problem: in tone, style and premise, this book sets up in the tradition of classic interlocking character puzzle-mysteries like "The Westing Game" and "Holes." But in fact, there are no puzzle pieces to fit together. Every revelation...I mean EVERY...comes about through hunches, visions, "just somehow knowing," or absurdly unlikely coincidences. That would be fine, if it were supposed to be a supernatural adventure story. (In fact, that could have been a terrific book: a spine-tingling supernatural adventure about kids who can communicate with the characters in a stolen painting.) But the author is convinced that she's spinning a logical mystery, and so the whole thing falls apart. At the end, there is no satisfying ca-chunk of everything clicking into place. Some of the explanations given for events in the book are kludgey to the point of embarassment.

A suggestion for fans of this type of book: dig deeper into "Westing Game" author Ellen Raskin. "The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues" is a fabulous puzzle-mystery, criminally out of print but available in libraries. "Figgs and Phantoms" is funny and mysterious, but also extremely personal and strange. It has a more supernatural and even philosophical/spiritual bent that's surprisingly moving.

I found the writing scattered and unfocused. It jumped from here to there and back again without any semblance of structure. For instance, in one scene Petra (ickiest name ever, BTW) and Calder were selling brownies to raise money for Tommy -- unfortunately, you have to wait chapters and chapters to find out if they even sent it to him. Then there was the man in the post office who later proved to be completely uninvolved with anyone or anything. And then there was the coincidences that hinted at communicating with . . . I'm not sure if it was the dead or the painting or Mrs. Sharpe. Maybe the author has ADHD.

Anyhoo, it isn't a good mystery when the 'mystery' part, along with a good many of the characters, has to be explained over the course of an entire chapter at the end of the book. I think a good mystery has a symmetry to it, not to mention a resoluation that requires no explanation. There's a math to a good mystery and this one doesn't add up.

Finally, it's maddening when a story revolves around coincidences and feelings and dreams. How convenient that the characters 'knew' all the right answers. But wouldn't it have been better if the clues were gathered instead of announced? Wouldn't it have been more imaginative?

We read Chasing Vermeer over the summer and here are some of our thoughts. We liked the book because it is a mystery with a good plot. Our eyes flew across the page like scurrying squirrels. The story has two kids who worked on solving the problem. The mystery really made you think, we even had to use math skills. Plus, the novel had really good art work.
However, the beginning of Chasing Vermeer is a little tough to follow and also very confusing. Another thing that we did not like was you had to figure out the codes. A silly complaint from of the class is that blue M&Ms are used instead of yellow because yellow M&Ms taste better!
In conclusion, the majority of the class would recommend this book to a friend. We enjoyed this book because we solved the mystery. We hope you read this book!!

I was very excited when I first heard about and saw this book; it sounded witty and thought-provoking as well as exciting. When I first started reading, this was the case--but unfortunately the more I read the more disappointed I became. The characters, although interesting, were unrealistic and frankly, weak. (I've never heard of an 11-year-old who would actually CRY at the mere thought of a PAINTING being all alone somewhere!) The plot, likewise, just wasn't important enough; it was so built up at the beginning that I expected something really important, and the climax--well, it was more like an anti-climax. Lastly, the author depended far too much on coincidences to solve the mystery. The main characters literally did nothing to solve the crime except follow their feelings, dreams, etc. It wasn't realistic, and it didn't make the characters seem like they did anything special.