For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

This was an interesting concept for a book, however the way it was carried out was frustrated for me.

The plot is set out as if the reader is meant to be able to help solve it, but for me, the solution came out of nowhere and I couldn't engage with the clues. This style was mirrored in A Challenge to the Reader. I was very excited by this idea of finding a hidden message in the illustrations, however I didn't even come close to solving it. I had no idea what I was doing. It was only until I looked at the answer that I figured out the pattern and then was able to solve it. (Also, I struggled to find the supposed answer on the provided website in the book, but was finally able to locate it on Scholastic's Teacher's Activity Guide under Downloads near the bottom.)

The concept was clever and cool, but a lot of the clues were horribly hard to find. There were three that I could not find for the life of me until I looked up what I was supposed to be searching for. Only then was I able to see them. I do think finding the clues gets easier as you go, because you learn where Helquist is likely to hide them (space on walls, panes in windows). I'd recommend looking for all of the clues once you finish the book rather than as you read. It really pulls you out of the story and was just frustrating to me until I figured out what I was supposed to do. It may have been more successful if the prompt had been clearer. For instance, I understood the prompt for odd versus even but interpreted it in a different way than was meant and therefore was very frustrated.

Besides that frustration, I thought the book was good. It was written in an interesting way, had an unique premise, and was a cool way to raise interest in controversies in the art world. I didn't necessarily relate to either of the main characters and they felt pretty flat, but I think you can get away with that in a book meant for younger audiences. The plot itself was okay, a bit slow at times. There were times of suspense, but usually it didn't really pull me in because I couldn't engage with the mystery. It was written as though the reader was supposed to solve the crime with the characters, but there was too much hidden behind the scenes that I couldn't catch on to. Maybe I'm just not great at mysteries, but I mostly felt along for the ride on this one.

Interesting ideas about coincidences and such, but it did feel pretty random once the mystery was solved. I don't really put much faith in coincidences so maybe that just didn't resonate with me, but the final reveal was a bit of a let down and I felt there should have been more to it.

Good attempt with the puzzles and clues, but for me, it was too difficult. The pattern felt nearly impossible to solve until I looked up what I was supposed to be doing. I really enjoy books that allow the reader to solve puzzles such as Emily Rodda's Deltora books, which is geared toward a younger audience, but these ones felt a bit too difficult. You really had to be in the author and illustrator's heads to know what to do, which was frustrating. Fun once I knew what to do, but at the start, I had no hope.

Overall, an okay read. Had good potential, but was a bit flat at the end for me. I'm kind of intrigued that it is a series. May or may not continue if my library has the rest of the books.

My Art teacher husband bought the third book in the series years ago and in an attempt to get through our tbr shelf I read the first book.  It was fine; if I was in 6^th grade I could see how some great educational tie-ins would have really got me into this series. As an adult this isn’t a middle grade book that really grabbed me. The plot sort of gets messy at the end and the who done it is a stretch but I think it’s fine for what it is, but I won’t be picking up the rest. If you want to get your kid into art history I think this could be a great book to make activities around and start that spark. 

Reads like a contemporary From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler (but not as good). I liked the layers in the book. I like that the characters are diverse though the introduction to Petra's MENA/WANA heritage is strange. I wish Balliet had spent a little more time developing that rather than handwaving Petra's race away.

My main complaint is that I couldn't really follow along with the clues in the illustrations since I read the book on my phone and the app I was in didn't allow for zooming in the illustrations. However, that's a format problem, not a story one.

The theme (Art of the Heist), book selections and kids' alternate activities have been announced for the annual event.

Last March, I went to see Vermeer's "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The painting was on loan for the museum's 100th anniversary. It was a wonderful spring break adventure. 

In honor of that trip, my "theme reading" was Blue Balliet's children's book, "Chasing Vermeer." In that charming novel, two Vermeer paintings in particular are discussed, "A Lady Writing," and "The Geographer." 

Lately, I got quite excited, because the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is having a special exhibition, in which two Vermeers will be on view -- the very ones Balliet referenced in her book, as I mentioned above. Except I'm not quite right.

Yes, MFA is getting "A Lady Writing" from the National Gallery. But the other Vermeer that will be on loan is "The Astronomer," not "The Geographer." However, it was a natural mistake - "The Geographer" and "The Astronomer" seem to feature the same model. They are nearly the same setting. 

I sincerely hope the exhibition motivates young people in Massachusetts to read the book. Theme reading is a fine thing, and Petra and Calder were great characters.

You can preview the exhibition here: http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/class-distinctions.

-cg