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Blue Balliett
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The Calder Game Paperback – Illustrated, April 1, 2010

by Blue Balliett (Author), Brett Helquist (Illustrator)
4.6 out of 5 stars 149 ratings
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This new mystery from bestselling author Blue Balliett is now available in After Words paperback!

When Calder Pillay travels with his father to a remote village in England, he finds a mix of mazes and mystery . . . including an unexpected Alexander Calder sculpture in the town square. Calder is strangely drawn to the sculpture, while other people have less-than-friendly feelings towards it. Both the boy and the sculpture seem to be out of place . . . and then, on the same night, they disappear! Calder's friends Petra and Tommy must fly out to help his father find him. But this mystery has more twists and turns than a Calder mobile . . . with more at stake than first meets the eye.
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  1. Reading age
    8 - 12 years, from customers
  2. Book 3 of 4
    Chasing Vermeer
  3. Print length
    416 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    4 - 7
  6. Lexile measure
    830L
  7. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
  8. Publisher
    Scholastic Paperbacks
  9. Publication date
    April 1, 2010
  10. ISBN-10
    0439852080
  11. ISBN-13
    978-0439852081
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From the Publisher

Chasing Vermeer
Attack of the Black Rectangles (Scholastic Gold)
Millicent Min, Girl Genius (Scholastic Gold) (The Millicent Min Trilogy)
Because of the Rabbit (Scholastic Gold)
The Parker Inheritance (Scholastic Gold)
Freak the Mighty (Scholastic Gold)
Rules (Scholastic Gold)
Customer Reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars 314
4.5 out of 5 stars 112
4.7 out of 5 stars 364
4.6 out of 5 stars 852
4.7 out of 5 stars 5,861
4.6 out of 5 stars 3,473
Price $6.20 $7.50 $8.99 $6.65 $5.79 $6.40
More Scholastic Gold Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write. From Newbery Honor Award-winning author, Lisa Yee. Who would have thought being smart could be so hard (and funny)? Newbery Honor-winning author Cynthia Lord has written a sensitive and accessible book about the challenges of fitting in when you know you're a little different. When Candice finds a letter in an old attic, she isn't sure she should read it, but the letter describes an injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding its writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Two boys - a slow learner stuck in the body of a teenage giant and a tiny Einstein in leg braces - forge a unique friendship when they pair up to create one formidable human force. (Made into the film, The Mighty.) This Newbery Honor Book is a heartfelt and witty story about feeling different and finding acceptance -- beyond the rules.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Calder Game

"Balliett doesn't shirk from putting her characters in danger, but what's fascinating is how she weaves in the kids' attraction to puzzles, words, and found objects as she moves them through literal and figurative mazes. Balliett again offers readers new ways to think." -- Booklist, starred review

"Acclaimed for her sophisticated juggling of art concepts, mystery, philosophy and storytelling, Balliett outdoes herself with this ambitious novel.... Motivated readers will treasure this provocative title." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Blue Balliett is the author of several bestselling, acclaimed mystery novels, including Hold Fast, Chasing Vermeer (a Book Sense Book of the Year and an Edgar Award winner), The Wright 3, The Calder Game, and The Danger Box. She writes in the laundry room of her home in Chicago, Illinois, and you can find her online at blueballiettbooks.com.
Brett Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, and grew up in Orem, Utah. He entered Brigham Young University as an engineering major, but soon realized this was not the right choice for him. Having decided to take time off from college, he headed to Taiwan where he stumbled into a job illustrating English textbooks, which he enjoyed. There, a friend introduced him to an illustration student, also from Brigham Young University. This introduction inspired Brett to eventually switch majors. After spending a year in Taiwan, he went back to BYU and transferred to the illustration department. In 1993 he received a fine arts degree in illustration.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Paperbacks
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2010
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0439852080
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0439852081
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years, from customers
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
  • Book 3 of 4 ‏ : ‎ Chasing Vermeer
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 7
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 830L
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 149 ratings

About the author

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Blue Balliett

Blue Balliett

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Blue Balliett grew up in New York City, where she often visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Frick Collection. She took public transportation to school around the city, and discovered early that every crowded bus or train is packed with mystery and drama'and that stories are everywhere. Balliett studied art history at Brown University. She and her family lived year-round on Nantucket Island for many years, and now live in Chicago. Before becoming a full-time writer, she taught at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Balliett is a recipient of the Chicago Public Library's 21st Century Award, the first time the award was given to a children's book writer. She has appeared on NBC's Today Show and has been featured in various national and international publications.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
149 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable and appreciate how it fuses art with mystery. Moreover, they consider it educational, with one customer noting how it teaches about art history. However, the story receives mixed reactions, with some enjoying it while others find it boring. Additionally, the writing quality is also mixed, with some finding it well-written while others describe it as utterly confusing.

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ReadabilityArt loreEducational valueStory qualityWriting quality
12 customers mention "Readability"11 positive1 negative

Customers find the book to be a great read, with several mentioning they love both the book and the author. One customer notes it's particularly enjoyable to read aloud.

"Blue Balliett is such a good author!!! This book is very educational and makes u feel like u can do anything...." Read more

"Good book" Read more

"...The Calder Game is a good book for individual reading. Reading to a group of 40 kids, the book looses some of its appeal and mystery" Read more

"Love this book and author. She is a fun author to read. It has also gotten me and my children interested in pentaminos." Read more

7 customers mention "Art lore"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate how the book fuses art with mystery, with one customer noting how it references real things with hidden puzzles, while another mentions the creative illustrations by Brett Helquist.

"...It was a most unusual story linking art, pentominoes, imagination, coincidence, and the pure genius of three very young detectives, one of whom had..." Read more

"...Thoughtful readers will especially enjoy the intricate mix and balance between art lore, teaching inspirations, literature and philosophy, art as..." Read more

"...These books have a nice look and feel. Brett Helquist's illustrations are creative and the jacket covers are colorful and engaging...." Read more

"...and that's what I'm reading, but it mentions real places and real artwork That we can Google and look at later" Read more

7 customers mention "Educational value"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book educational, with one mentioning it teaches about art history, while another notes how it inspires creative thinking in young people.

"This series of books teaches kids about art history, while using well developed characters and storylines which are fun and fascinating...." Read more

"...I love the creative thinking of young people who see things adults miss...." Read more

"...enjoy the intricate mix and balance between art lore, teaching inspirations, literature and philosophy, art as puzzle, puzzles as ideas, ideas as art..." Read more

"...Blue Balliett has interesting ideas, and I love how she centers each story around a deserving artist...." Read more

9 customers mention "Story quality"6 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality of the book, with some enjoying it while others find it somewhat boring.

"...kids about art history, while using well developed characters and storylines which are fun and fascinating...." Read more

"...The Calder Game was pretty good though, so I still have faith that eventually she will put all her talent together and produce something far beyond..." Read more

"...The characters are superficially described. There is no meaningful conflict or climax. Save yourself the money and don't waste your time. D-U-L-L!" Read more

"great story good condition" Read more

4 customers mention "Writing quality"2 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some finding it well-written while others describe it as utterly confusing.

"...Blue Balliet really writes well to pull the kids in to the book, and keep them intrigued...." Read more

"...I wasn't fooled. Balliett seems to do a lot of incoherent rambling here and makes no real attempt at putting together the pieces laid before her, or..." Read more

"...in another country, and both grieving the loss of Calder, was well-written, albeit inevitable...." Read more

"...Great for the third or fourth grade reader, it's a little challenging and that's what I'm reading, but it mentions real places and real artwork That..." Read more

*NO JET LAG in this BALANCING ACT*
4 out of 5 stars
*NO JET LAG in this BALANCING ACT*
Alexander Calder's stabiles & mobiles are the focus of a third art mystery by Blue Balliett. The young friends from the Hyde Park section of Chicago team up again: Petra with her mind categorizing new words, Tommy & his sidewalk debris, Calder incessantly tumbling his pocketed pentominos; the three are challenged by a complicated, cross-Atlantic trail. The author suggests that it was as if, "the winds had changed, blowing them all into a new alignment" - - of deepened friendships, eye-opening appreciation of shapes, numbers and words. They become involved quite literally in a balancing act. The author's description of Calder's significance in the art world persuaded me to stay with the sometimes disjointed 'laying of clues' and perhaps a few too many elements: the historical Blenheim Palace & mazes; art, ideas & weather that might be unwelcome gifts from America. Balancing words is also an art form & the author comes closer to doing this with "Calder's Game" - - we share the belief that Art can be life-changing. Readers not only in upper elementary & middle-school grades will perhaps be attracted to this adventure by the appeal of colorful shapes, codes & mazes, and figuring out messages. It is exciting to see the appeal across ages and genders. Art is available to everyone and can contribute to a buoyancy of spirit. CREATE your own mobile: "Impetus" could be its name. Cut out FIVE shapes; balance textures with colors, and see whether they add up to new perceptions about Art and Friendship gained from your experience of the "Calder Game"? Give in to that jet stream and ENJOY.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Miss Peach
    5.0 out of 5 stars This author is amazing!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This series of books teaches kids about art history, while using well developed characters and storylines which are fun and fascinating. I purchased all 4 in the series, and I’m reading them (and enjoying them) before passing them on to my grandkids. Awesome.
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  • Mary Lynne Jarvis
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of a series of art related mysteries needing the insight of preteens to solve
    Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I read this the first time when it was newly published. I was an elementary school librarian and it was on our states list of children’s choice nominees for the year. I was lucky enough that next summer to visit the National art museum in DC to view the Alexander Calder display. The pentominoes were a fascinating part of the mystery in the Calder Game. It was a most unusual story linking art, pentominoes, imagination, coincidence, and the pure genius of three very young detectives, one of whom had been named Calder after the artist. Not having any knowledge of art I learned a great deal. Likewise, I had never experienced pentominoes. But I have been a kid, and I’ve taught thousands of kids in my career. I love the creative thinking of young people who see things adults miss. That’s the case with Petra, Tommy, and Calder who once again (this is the third in a series of art related mysteries that are solved by the child detectives) are called upon to solve something no adult has been able to. In this case, it’s definitely a matter of life and death as Calder has disappeared in England while on a trip with his father. After having been missing dangerously long, his friends are flown over from Chicago to find him before it’s too late.
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  • Kate Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars A well-drawn mystery with many meanings
    Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    This third volume following the bestselling Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3 continues the adventures of three sixth-graders--Calder, Petra and Tommy--in solving another art mystery.

    When Calder Pillay travels with his father to a remote village in England, he encounters both mazes and mystery -- including an unexpected Alexander Calder sculpture (Minotaur) in the town square. Both the boy (who was named after the artist) and the sculpture disappear on the same night!

    Petra and Tommy fly to England to help Calder's father find him. This mystery twists and turns like a Calder mobile in high wind. Who is the mysterious girl with the camera? Who is the injured man found in the woods? Is there a secret room behind the waterfalls? What is the meaning of the puzzling graffiti left in place of the missing sculpture? Is there an even more twisted game afoot?

    Blue Balliett captures the personalities and minds of each character with deft strokes and draws the atmosphere for each scene with masterful nuances. It feels authentic because the author actually visited all the places she describes -- the 1000-year-old village, the graveyards and mazes, the palaces and gardens, the waterfalls and bridges. She has a fine ear for the subtleties of accents and characters' turns of phrase. This is a book to savor.

    In this volume, Blue Balliett focuses on the art of Alexander Calder, whose mobiles (hanging) and stabiles (floor-based) revolutionized modern art and gave it a fourth dimension, motion through time. The ever-changing perspective that never looks the same twice leads us to reflect on change in general...now you see it, now you don't...and how each experience changes us as well, moment by moment.

    At one point in the story, the three young friends get separated, each trying to find the next clue and keeping up their courage in scary situations. Their ordeals lead them to a stronger bond between them, a greater appreciation of each other's differences. For this reader it was good to have them be rid of their previous animosities.

    Back home in Chicago, the kids also see a welcome change in their classroom, where their previously restrictive teacher has also had a happy transformation through the inspiring power of Alexander Calder's art. Blue Balliett's enlightened teaching philosophy shines through the pages here.

    Thoughtful readers will especially enjoy the intricate mix and balance between art lore, teaching inspirations, literature and philosophy, art as puzzle, puzzles as ideas, ideas as art. Rather like a mind mobile, wouldn't you say?

    There is a secondary puzzle to decode, hidden in Brett Helquist's delightful illustrations, using Alexander Calder icons as an alphabet.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Jordan K. Henrichs
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Calder Game
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    What can I say about Blue Balliett? I loved Chasing Vermeer. I enjoyed how she fused art with mystery and had fun with a concept totally new to young readers. With The Wright 3, I thought she terribly overplayed her hand. The book was all over the place and utterly confusing. Still I could tell, the voice, the potential was there and I believed that one day Balliett would knock our socks off. I hoped that this time around she'd abandon Petra, Calder, and the gang and venture into a new mystery, but no such luck. So how does her third novel, The Calder Game, fare?

    Calder, Petra, and Tommy are still struggling with the idea of being a trio. Petra and Tommy can't get along because each one wants Calder all to themselves, which puts Calder in an awkward position. So when his father heads to England for a conference, Calder escapes the tension by traveling along. He's excited, upon arriving, to discover that the village of Woodstock where they'll be staying, harbors an original Alexander Calder (the artist the boy was named after) sculpture, named The Minotaur. Later, when the sculpture is suddenly stolen and Calder disappears shortly afterwards, Petra and Tommy journey with Mrs. Sharpe to England to help Calder's father find their friend.

    When comparing to Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3, I would probably rank this one somewhere in between. It's definitely a major step in the right direction after The Wright 3. It's biggest downfall however, is it's utterly slow and somewhat boring beginning. Chapter One of this book is a very short, one page description of an eerie setting and a missing boy. We, the reader, know this boy is Calder and are supposed to feel excited about reading on and discovering why he's gone missing. I love hooks like this, when they're done well. The problem with this hook? I feel it's actually more of a cop-out, especially after reading what follows.

    I got the feeling while reading this, that Balliett wrote the first one-third of her novel before she realized that she hadn't even gotten to her problem, thus the plot of her story, the stolen sculpture and the missing boy. It's then that she probably decided to go back and sprinkle these "mysterious" flashbacks in the beginning, to hold her reader's attention as a promise that she was in fact, getting to her point. I wasn't fooled. Balliett seems to do a lot of incoherent rambling here and makes no real attempt at putting together the pieces laid before her, or moving her story along. She's a better author than this and the beginning one-third of this particular story comes off sloppy, lazy, and hurried. We begin in the past, we're rushed to the future, only to be brought back in time yet again. It's confusing. The beginning of this book reads an awfully lot like The Wright 3 and I found myself putting it down quite often, not wanting to return to it.

    But I'm glad I did. Once the story finally gets going, it's rather good. In The Wright 3, I felt sorry for the characters, who seemed to desperately want to do some real detective work, but that Balliett didn't supply them with any. Her new book, actually has a story to tell, without random nonsense floating throughout it. Finally, in The Calder Game, Balliett does away with Petra's "visions", Calder's pentominoes (well, not entirely), and even allows Calder's father to come to the front of the stage and become quite the information-seeker. Gone are the friendly confines of Chicago's Hyde Park and gone is the company of the all-to-lovely Ms. Hussey (the three's new teacher, Ms. Button, is incredibly cranky). I think these slight changes give this series a well needed shot to the arm. Petra and Tommy's realization that they are alone together, in another country, and both grieving the loss of Calder, was well-written, albeit inevitable. It'll be interesting to see where Balliett takes us next, considering that the three children are over their differences now.

    Where The Wright 3, and even Chasing Vermeer to a certain extent, dangled way too many unnecessary story pieces in front of us, some that never did fit in anywhere, The Calder Game does a fine job of putting everything together without wasting any information. My only complaint about the ending is Balliett's need to sit us down and explain carefully HOW each and every puzzle piece fit. The last three or four chapters are literally, explanations. If you're going to do away with the unnecessary information, then trust your reader to put together some of the rest, on their own.

    These books have a nice look and feel. Brett Helquist's illustrations are creative and the jacket covers are colorful and engaging. I just don't find myself enjoying what's inside them as much as I want to. Blue Balliett has interesting ideas, and I love how she centers each story around a deserving artist. I feel like they're not executed as well as they could be. The Calder Game was pretty good though, so I still have faith that eventually she will put all her talent together and produce something far beyond what Chasing Vermeer even was. I still wish she'd give these characters a break and dabble in something different, but I don't see it coming. So until then, it's her potential that will probably lure me back to a fourth book to see what this trio has in store for us.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Susan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great story to read aloud, references real things with hidden puzzles. just enjoy the story or get as involved as you want
    Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I have two copies and as a grandma I read a chapter at bedtime and my grandson follows along in his book. Great for the third or fourth grade reader, it's a little challenging and that's what I'm reading, but it mentions real places and real artwork That we can Google and look at later
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • MEL
    5.0 out of 5 stars just like Blue Balliett's other
    Reviewed in Canada on October 2, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Really interesting, just like Blue Balliett's other books
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