By: Advik A.
A painting. Two kids. A thief. What do they have in common? They all are part of a striking art mystery called Chasing Vermeer. Let’s dive into the world of Chicago for a moment, shall we?
All the characters live in a place called Hyde Park in Chicago. The book has twenty-four chapters and all of them include the two kids who solve the mystery. Their names are Calder and Petra. There are other characters like Calder and Petra’s parents and their teacher, Ms. Hussey. Here are all the characters:
Calder
Petra
Ms. Hussey, a teacher
Mrs. Sharpe, a mysterious woman who has a lot of books
Mr. Watch, a person who meets Mrs. Sharpe and Ms. Hussey
Mr. Pillay, Calder’s dad
Mrs. Pillay, Calder’s mom
Mr. Andalee, Petra’s dad
Mrs. Andalee, Petra’s mom
Xavier Glitts, Calder’s friend’s dad
Fred Steadman, Calder’s friend’s dad
The book is probably for 8+ year old kids who enjoy good mysteries. This is also part of a series and there are other books like The Calder Game and The Wright 3. I find the book similar to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries but with a more complex plot. I like that it has paintings and secret codes hidden in plain words. In the end, the last clue brings everything together.
This is a realistic fiction book and a very good art comedy. The painting that was stolen was A Lady Writing by the artist Vermeer. If you didn’t know this already, this is a real painting by the famous artist Johannes Vermeer. Some other famous painters mentioned in the story are Leonardo Da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh. It’s interesting that Calder plays with pentominoes, which are 12 tiles with 5 squares on them. Pentominoes help Calder think, and they help me think, too. I recommend buying pentominoes because they are a fun learning experience and are easy to use.
My favorite part of the book was when Calder pretended to be concussed, and he solved the mystery. If I wrote this book, I would have the plot based on the theft of The Mona Lisa instead because it is famous, and it would’ve been more intriguing. And the main characters’ names would be Lisa and Norman!
With all this said, I would really like to read the book again and would highly recommend reading the Chasing Vermeer series.