Wright 3 (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: jade fish, Robie House, Hyde Park, Frank Lloyd Wright (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Sixth-graders Calder and Petra and Calder's friend, Tommy, form an uneasy triangle, trying to work out how they can all be close friends and trust each other. The trio get caught up in an effort to save Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, when their teacher, Miss Hussey, explains that the architectural masterpiece has fallen into disrepair and will be divided into four parts and sold to museums. Miss Hussey asks her students a difficult question: Can a house be art? The special abilities of Petra (writing and organizing), Calder (geometry and codes) and Tommy (finding and collecting) help the friends in piecing together information about the tragic history of Robie House. Blue Balliett packs this story (Scholastic, 2006) full of information about art, architecture, literature, geometry, codes, talismans, film, and community activism. Middle school listeners will enjoy the intrigue, suspense, and danger that the triumvirate experience, but might miss some of the details. The Author's Note at the end explains what is factual and what details were changed to accommodate the story. Ellen Reilly reads in a breezy style with great tempo, easily distinguishing between the characters and adding suspense to the story. Fans of E.L. Konigsburg's A View from Saturday(Atheneum, 1996) as well as Wendelin Van Draanen's Sammy Keyes series will enjoy this mystery.– Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. How many newsworthy art crimes can 12-year-old sleuths thwart in a single year? At least two, as readers will discover in this sequel to Balliett's celebrated Chasing Vermeer (2004). After all, "magical coincidences" are what these -thinking-kids' adventures are all about. Tommy Segovia, the best friend Calder corresponded with during the Vermeer crisis, has returned to Hyde Park, and he resents Petra and Calder's tight twosome. But when a house by Frank Lloyd Wright is slated for destruction, the sixth-graders overcome tensions to save the landmark and decode its secrets--among them, an intriguing buried artifact. Leapfrogging connections and mystical messages from Calder's pentominoes once again drive the plot, but some children may find this second installment more arcane than the first, with too much focus on Wright and his genius, difficult-to-follow gleanings from sources as eclectic as H. G. Wells' Invisible Man and Fibonacci, and a central problem that lacks the glamorous hook of an international art heist. But determined fans will grab hold of the true-to-life friendship issues Balliett introduces, and some--particularly her brainiest, most open-minded readers--will emerge energized by the invitation to explore themes of an interconnected universe. A new pentominoes code appears in the narrative, and Helquist likewise embeds another challenge in his drawings (unfinished in the galley). Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439693683
• ISBN-13: 978-0439693684
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,094 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Everything's in place for a great story, but it never happens, August 8, 2006

By	R. Baker "Squirrel" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Wright 3 (Hardcover)

I thought I'd give this author's second book a chance even though I found her first one ("Chasing Vermeer") rather disappointing. I like her Hyde Park setting, I like the way she works art into her stories, I like the way the teacher in the book runs her classroom as a place of exploration rather than a lecture hall. So--I thought, thought I--maybe with all these strong elements in place, the author will improve her plotting abilities in her second book.

Alas, no. The story has so much potential that is never met. Once again, coincidence and "intuition" play a huge, way too huge, role in the resolution of the storyline. The Scooby-doo type ending (wherein the bumbling adult bad guys are "unmasked" and supernatural events explained at least in part by their stupid criminal plans) is disappointing and unpredictable from the things we've seen earlier in the story.

The pentaminos storyline has grown wearisome, the bibliomancy one of the kids performs using "The Invisible Man" is irritating and irrelevant, the coded messages simplisitc and unintriguing.

The relationship between the three kids is nicely portrayed--their jealousies of one another, and their attempts to reconcile differences and balance individual needs with group needs. I also liked how the kids in the story work for a cause--saving the Robie House--and I found their demonstration in front of the house in which they "destroy" works of art by chopping them up to be the most interesting part of the book, far superior in terms of action and emotional content than any of the so-called mystery elements. This part of the book is worth reading, and worth having kids read, both because of its philosophies and because it shows how actions by individuals can make a positive difference. Hope the author's next book moves more in this direction and away from the pseudo-mystical, pseudo-supernatural, pseudo-mystery lines the first two have followed.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Math Clues stymie *L O N G division* of WRIGHT Masterpiece !, May 2, 2006

By	mcHaiku "nmi" (Brown County INDIANA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wright 3 (Hardcover)

In Blue Balliett's second mystery, Chicago schoolmates Petra, Calder & Tommy learn that Frank Lloyd Wright's deteriorating masterpiece, the Robie House, is designated for an unusual math feat of *L O N G DIVISION*! The Wright gem is to be severed so that sections can be given to four major world museums. With fellow 6th graders, the seasoned sleuths are fired up to save that treasure. Their adventures >>PLUS<< scaline triangles, Fibonacci numbers and pentaminoes . . . are all added to a broth kept simmering with a valuable fish 'find' as well as some unexplained & extraneous happenings. Blue Balliett once again leans heavily on the stylish illustrations of Brett Helquist to add complications so loved by young readers brought up with large doses of fantasy. His many illustrations of the main characters (including "Goldman" the fish) suggest that while all kids don't have "A.D.D's" the chapters do tend to be quick reads.

Some criticisms of "Chasing Vermeer" cited "too many coincidences." In "The Wright 3" author Balliett makes coincidences a necessary part of the book's framework, a legacy from her last book. The average "tween" reader also seems to revel in "codes" whether they make sense or not . . . but they will be enthusiastic about this tale regardless. There are also ghostly figures >>AND<< red herrings netted at every turn. Are the clues mostly imagined? Will Petra & Tommy rub each other out? Have you wondered if author Balliett has teamed up with the NEA to raise the consciousness of "tween" readers regarding the world of Math & its impact? These questions are offered in case you feel a need for more actual mystery!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: In "The Wright Three" readers will encounter more than their *Minimum Daily Requirements* of Quotations.

Perhaps it isn't wise to encourage adults to review books for Young Adults - or "TWEENs." My own book choices at ages 10-13 came from the *MYSTERY* shelf . . . "C" featuring AGATHA CHRISTIE . . . in libraries that didn't have separate YA sections. I grew up longing to 'own' Hercule Poirot's "little grey cells" instead of Calder's pentaminoes. ON BALANCE, adults will probably stick to their long-standing preferences, whether some other Chicago mystery writer, or Christie, P.D. James or Laurie King, and middle-schoolers will be happy to read only reviews by their peers.

If summer brings you to the mid-west Reviewer mcHAIKU suggests you schedule a walk in Chicago's Hyde Park at twilight . . . Be sure to break your leisurely pace long enough to check the shadows behind those puzzling windows . . . AND be grateful along with the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) that the Preservation Trust continues to make progress with the restoration of Robie House.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, June 19, 2006

By	Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Katy, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wright 3 (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this sequel to Chasing Vermeer. The focus of the story this time is Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House in Chicago's Hyde Park. In Balliett's FICTIONAL story, Robie house is facing destruction and Petra, Calder, and Tommy must work together to save it. The plot resolution reminded me of a Hardy Boys story with the tidy roll up of the bad guys but that did not bother me.

The interesting history of Frank Lloyd Wright is part of the storyline. Calder is still intrigued with his pentominoes. Fibonacci sequencing and geometry are part of the plot. There are also allusions to H.G. Wells's Invisible Man. Petra, Calder, and Tommy are interesting characters who continue to grow and develop.

Spare me the comparisons to the DaVinci Code that plagued Balliett's Vermeer. This is just a fun read. I am in favor of any book that will spark a young reader's interest in Art (with a capital "A") and other aspects of cultural literacy. In the time crunch of our test-driven school culture, art and artists are getting left behind.