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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Normally, I'm not a big fan of mystery books, but this book was an exception. I think one of the only reasons I picked it up and read it at all is because the book takes place in Hyde Park, Chicago. But definitely an OK mystery book.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reread of an old favorite, made even more fun this time by the fact that I had recently finished a book about an actual forger of Vermeer works! And on the day I finished Chasing Vermeer, the weekly newsletter from my son's school reported that one of their classes is reading this book as part of a mystery unit. Lo! So many coincidences... or are they? Worthy of Charles Fort's attention, perhaps? :) For those who have no idea what I am talking about, read the book and you will see! It's a delightful read for all ages! And I even cracked the picture code this time around!!!
Not my favorite, but I'm not the intended audience. I can see how this would appeal to middleschoolers.
A very clever mystery focused on art and puzzles. Good for elementary and middle grade. Great illustrations by Brett Helquist (of Series of Unfortunate Events fame) with hidden puzzles in them.
The little girl I was babysitting for read this last month and I couldn't stop thinking about it!!!! So nostalgic to reread. So cute. I love Chicago.
Eh, it was okay. I didn't really connect with this book in any way, which obviously impacted my enjoyment of it. I didn't like that As a mystery novel, it was a great disappointment because the author didn't even give us reader a chance to discover the mystery for ourselves, or to connect the dots after reading the book.
Though this book had a lot of potential, the Balliett's writing skills fizzled and came up short. She neither satisfied me with an intriguing mystery, nor a very compelling narrative.
Spoiler
so much of the action was based on 'vaguely supernatural' intuitions like the pentominoes and the Lo! book.Spoiler
Wrapping up the mystery in a couple of the ending pages was also a big no-no from me.Though this book had a lot of potential, the Balliett's writing skills fizzled and came up short. She neither satisfied me with an intriguing mystery, nor a very compelling narrative.
This was a pretty fun read-aloud to my 2nd grader. It inspired us to look up Vermeer's paintings and to make a set of pentominoes.