Customer Reviews

Masterpiece

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm debating what level of stars to give this, because it is a technically well-written story - rich with imagery filled vocabulary. The message, however, is so misguided that it cannot receive endorsement.

This mystery is certainly amusing and adequately enjoyable. A young boy is in the typical stranglehold between divorced parents. His mother is somewhat neglectful and more interested in her new family and in being difficult to his artsy father than parenting her older son. A beetle living in the home demonstrates an incredible talent for drawing which leads to the boy getting credit for the drawing by his father and, ultimately, an art museum.

The art museum curator hatches a plan for the boy's drawing skills (actually the beetle's) to be used to create a copy of a masterpiece as a decoy to find an art thief. The beetle cooperates with this deception out of a sense of obligation to the boy's friendship and to somehow validate (by counterfeited art) the boy in his mother's eyes.

This is where the point of the story gets muddy to me. What is the author's message to young readers? The boy's deception is never revealed. In fact, he ultimately is made a heroic character despite his credit-taking lies and breaking/entering - yes for an ultimate good - but is this exhonerated? The book amplifies the flaws of parents and adults, and supports the often-touted message to conceal info from parents - even to the point of endangerment of the young protagonist. Even the beetle goes against his parent's protective instruction and receives only a prodigal beetle's reception. The boy's misdeeds are never dealt with other than an event that is implied as an intentional harming of himself as restitution or a divinely imposed consequence - either way allowing him an excuse to avoid the revelation of his lies. Further, it implies this lack of honesty was to protect the beetle rather than himself...again giving a heroic quality to bad behavior. His counterfeited talent becomes framed and enjoyed as a permanent source of pride in the family home. He is rewarded with the benefits of a friendly reconciliation of his bad parents based upon their appreciation of his previously underlooked talent - which he actually never had? Are we telling kids that they can feel self-worth in pretense? All's well that ends well? How about self-worth in integrity!

Even the art thief's misdeeds are stroked with a brush of empathetic understanding. His love for the work itself is the driving force of his crime. It is questioned whether his multiple thefts of invaluable artwork should be reported since all is well in the end?!? Out of respect for his friendship,(which he had moments earlier thrown under the bus) a delay occurs which allows him to escape scott-free, as well.

Another confusing aspect in the story was the lack of authenticity about the art itself. The author could have presented actual works of art to stimulate interest and unit studies OR could have entirely made up fictional works of art. Instead, an odd presentation was used that muddied fact and fiction. One actual artist's work, Bellini's Fortitude, was used in the story, yet credited to another artist, Durer. Fictional works to accompany Durer's (Bellini's) Fortitude made a quartet of supposed stolen works of Durer in the story. Durer had an actual artwork of a beetle, which related to the character in the story. This amalgam of fiction and fact was odd.

See my angst here? I just can't endorse this - well written or otherwise.

Masterpiece

Regardless of whether or not you have read Elise Broach's SHAKESPEARE'S SECRET, you will absolutely fall in love with a marvelous little beetle named Marvin. Marvin inadvertently discovers he is a miniatures artist when he dabbles in James's ink set. The uncanny ability to recreate Durer miniatures puts Marvin in a number of dangerous (for beetles) situations, especially when everyone mistakenly assumes that James is the talanted artist--and later when Marvin and James try to thwart an art heist!

This novel has just the right blend of suspense, mystery, humor, and compassion to appeal to my middle school students. My students cannot put this book down once they start reading. As a matter of fact, one of my students got so wrapped up in the prose that she missed hearing her bus bell to go home.

I thought SHAKESPEARE'S SECRET was a masterpiece, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that MASTERPIECE was as masterful!

I have almost finished reading this book with my eight year old son, and we love it.
The style is warm, humorous and intelligently written from the point of view of Marvin, the
beetle narrator and artistic genius.

The story set in New York follows the adventures of Marvin who having descovered he is amazing
at ink drawings forms a friendship with a boy James, whose father, mistakes Marvin's
masterpiece for his sons. Intrigue ensues as James and Marvin get sucked into a world of forgery, stolen artifacts and double dealing .

A fast paced adventure with enough action for a reluctant reader and enough intrigue for a compulsive one.

"Home, for Marvin's family, was a damp corner of the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink." Marvin, a young beetle -- not a roach-- lives with his happy family in the kitchen of the Pompaday family,where they dine on a "constant litter of apple cores, bread crumbs, onion skins, and candy wrappers." They dislike the Pompadays themselves, but they are fond of Mrs. Pompaday's eleven-year-old son, a quiet boy. When Mrs. Pompaday throws James a birthday party and invites all the obnoxious sons of her clients, only Marvin's family notices how unhappy he is. They decide to give him a present, and send Marvin, a clever young beetle, off to deliver it. But in James' room, Marvin has an urge to give him something really special, and leaves a tiny beetle-leg-and-ink drawing for him... And so James' life will never be the same again, because Marvin's delicate sketch is so perfect that it could be confused for a Duhrer masterpiece.

In fact, it is confused for a Duhrer masterpiece.

Broach, author of the equally excellent stories, "Shakespeare's Secret" and the witty and funny picture book "When Dinosaurs Came With Everything", is a wonderfully gifted story teller. "Masterpiece" leaves the reader with the hope that it might be possible, in a good world, to enjoy the friendship of a gifted insect, to visit behind the scenes at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and to solve a mystery. There's more than a little wisdom embedded in Broach's prose as well:

"Why don't beetles ever get divorced?" Marvin asks.
..."Well, our lives are short, darling. What would be the point?...And we expect a lot less than people do. If we get through the day without being stepped on, with a little food to fill our bellies, a safe place to bed down for a few hours, and our family and friends close by -- well, that's a good day, isn't it? In fact, a perfect day. Who could ask for more? ... Also, we have no lawyers."

I especially look forward to recommending this book to my very young, strong readers, who aren't old enough for the content in the young adult section but who are already too sophisticated to be placated with Junie B. Jones. They'll love turning "Masterpiece"'s pages.

We read this book as a family read-aloud. It has great illustrations and a very intriguing premise. We LOVED the beginning, but started losing interest about halfway through, as the relationship between James and Marvin (the only interesting relationship in the book) gets buried in a lot of boring adult conversation and grown-up issues. The parents have the personalities of your typical sitcom characters, and the other adults characters are pretty forgettable, so it's a shame that they get to take over the book. I will add that if you are looking for a book to introduce/reinforce some useful vocabulary, this book is a good choice. We enjoyed the mystery and suspense, and the information about Durer and art was interesting; we just wished that some of the contrived adult situations had been edited out.

I think the author painted herself into a corner and didn't know what to do about the deception that an insect was creating the masterpieces rather than the boy and eventually the boy would be found out. However, having the boy purposefully maim his drawing hand in a brutally painful manner is a disturbing message for children. This is kid lit, but that solution throws the plot into adult lit. Suddenly, the story only works if this is a mentally disturbed child who has hallucinated the artistic beetle. But that isn't the story being told.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach is a delightful story of the unlikely friendship that develops between a lonely young boy named James and a beetle named Marvin. In the tradition of E. B. White's Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan, Broach takes this human/insect encounter out of the wild and into New York City, where Marvin lives with his parents and other relatives behind a kitchen cupboard in James's home.

The two characters meet when Marvin draws an ink rendition of the skyline outside James's window as a birthday present. When everyone thinks that James is the artist, of course he can't tell them who really drew what's being hailed as a masterpiece. The two are drawn into a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where officials hope to recover previously stolen masterpieces by a well known artist from the early Renaissance.

You'll happily follow the adventures as the two work to unravel the complications of their deception while they learn the true value of art and friendship. The publisher, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, also features an excellent companion discussion guide on its Web site, [...]

Do you know a child that's a little quiet and shy, and that doesn't have many friends or possible a stressful home life? If so, then this book is for them!

James lives with his mom, stepfather and new baby brother. He doesn't mind his stepfather and he likes to spend time with his baby brother, but sometimes his mom doesn't really listen to him and he ends up getting the short end of the stick (like his birthday when she invited kids he doesn't even like so that she can mingle with their parents to further her business). James' dad gives him a pen and ink set for his birthday, and he's not terrible excited until he wakes up the day after his birthday to an extremely small drawing.

Meet Marvin the beetle. He lives with his family in a cupboard in James' home. He sees the way James is treated and he wants to do something really nice for him for his birthday. His plans get somewhat sidetracked when he finds the ink James has left out.

Due to Marvin and James' friendship, an interesting offer is presented to James: make a copy of one of Albrecht Durer's famous Virtues for a planned art theft. This is where the story really picks up and sucks you in, so pay attention!

Pick up this one to follow the unlikely friendship between a boy, a beetle, a museum curator and the discovery of the true meaning of family and friends.

Notes on the Cover:
I like it a lot: I like that the border of the cover looks like an art frame, the title is in it in large, black letters, and even includes the pen, ink and Marvin!

What a wonderful children's novel! I wasn't expecting much from it for some reason...maybe the back blurb didn't really 'speak' to me or something? But I easily fell into the story, which is fun, exciting, and endearing. I thought the book was an excellent blend of realistic fiction and mystery, with a dash of fantasy. The writing is terrific, and the style makes it the perfect kind of book to read aloud to 3rd or 4th graders. I absolutely adored the characters in this book. I just love it when a quiet unassuming kid gets recognized as the hero he is! And I even loved Martin the beetle...and I'm terrified of bugs! I'll now have to think twice before I go squishing any bugs! I can't wait to read Elise Broach's other novels. "Masterpiece" is definitely an excellent read-aloud pick or independent read for kids 8 and up; I highly recommend it!

I am always trying to read the grade 3-5 list. Sunshine state young readers list. I am also looking for books that connect for my students as well as to the arts, my school is a performing arts elementary school. With this book I not only foundd a wonderful story but a piece the boys will like as well as interest the students in art. It's a must have for my classroom library.