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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Excellent mystery. Math, art, and coincidences. Highly recommended for brainy 4-6 graders.
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
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
Parts of it were more mysterious than others. Loved the art education aspects. My mystery-loving 9yo loved it and wants to learn secret codes now.
I suppose I had too high of expectations for this book. I thought it had a lot of potential as a story but it was quite a let down. I feel as if it was missing all the suspense and thrill of a true mystery story. I found it at times too vague and the ending was unsatisfying, sort of petering out instead of being grand the way I expected. However, I enjoyed the aspect of the hidden codes within the story and the illustrations, and Brett Helquist never fails to impress me with his visual work.
Maybe 3.5. Loved the beginning but got a little less excited about it all by the end.
My students are loving it, though. They are now into art (they had no idea Vermeer was a real person) and pentominoes.
My students are loving it, though. They are now into art (they had no idea Vermeer was a real person) and pentominoes.
Such a cute book! And it dealt with art history which is one of my favorite things! A great mystery for kids!
This book was recommended to me by my favorite 7th grader. The art history major in me cheered to find another cool YA book about art (I vaguely remember one by Konigsburg - From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - that I really liked as a kid).
I just re-read this book because we picked it for our March Family Book Club - I enjoyed it as much this time around as I did the first time!