FROM OUR EDITORS

When last seen, young Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay were attempting to retrieve a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece; now the stars of Chasing Vermeer are using all their super-sleuth powers to solve mysteries connected with a modern Chicago architectural landmark. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House is dire need of restoration, but the work can't be properly completed until a series of mysterious incidents are explained. Tales of ghosts, hidden treasures, and coded messages highlight this entertaining tale.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Spring semester at the Lab School in Hyde Park finds Petra and Calder drawn into another mystery when unexplainable accidents and ghostly happenings throw a spotlight on Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and it's up to the two junior sleuths to piece together the clues. Stir in the return of Calder's friend Tommy (which creates a tense triangle), H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, 3D pentominoes, and the hunt for a coded message left behind by Wright, and the kids become tangled in a dangerous web in which life and art intermingle with death, deception, and surprise.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Erin Pelletier

Readers will be happy to see the return of Blue Balliet's memorable characters from her debut novel, Chasing Vermeer. Calder and Petra find architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House the source of their next great mystery and adventure. With the help of Tommy, an old classmate of Calder's who moves back to Hyde Park, the threesome team sort through clues, coincidences, and conspiracies as they struggle to save the Robie House from demolition. Their struggle involves triangles, invisible men, codes from Frank Lloyd Wright himself, and ghost voices. As in Blue Balliet's last book, this book will keep you reading caught up in the many strange and frightening circumstances facing the characters. Hard feelings between Petra and Tommy add to the tension of the story. The history of the Robie House, a masterpiece built for children with art, glass windows, and treasures to be found, is woven beautifully throughout the book. The Robie House's past is haunting, full of tragedy and secrets, but Petra, Calder, and Tommy bring the Robie House into a new light. This second book with Petra and Calder, and the effort to save another important piece of artwork, will not disappoint readers. 2006, Scholastic Press, Ages 8 to 12.

VOYA - Patricia J. Morrow

Tommy, who went missing in Chasing Vermeer (Scholastic, 2004/VOYA December 2004), has moved back to his old neighborhood in Chicago and things have changed. His best friend, Calder, has a new friend, a girl named Petra, and exciting things happened while Tommy was gone. Miss Hussey, the sixth grade teacher, seems a little strange, but the students all pay attention to her. The announcement that the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, right down the street, is to be dismantled and displayed in different museums becomes the lynchpin for another exciting art adventure. Although Tommy tries to be friends with Calder and Petra, his resentment frequently puts him on a solo path and also causes problems between Calder and Petra. Each character has a distinct personality and approach to problem solving. Petra finds a copy of the Invisible Man that has a strange relationship to the goings on; Tommy-who lives next to the house-unearths a fish-shaped object on the grounds where he should not have been. Calder's pentominoes seem to be giving him messages. There are lights in the house. As the mystery develops and more resources are needed to save the house, Tommy, Petra, and Calder's complimentary abilities move toward solutions and success. While learning about the Robie House, they develop their art appreciation, a sense of history, civic responsibility, take some risks, and eventually all become friends. This installment is a worthy follow-up and provides a wonderful opportunity for young readers to think about buildings as art. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7to 9). 2006, Scholastic, 320p., Ages 11 to 15.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-With her distinct style, Balliett returns to Chicago and the detective work of Calder and Petra, sixth graders at the University School. This time they are joined by Tommy, Calder's former best friend who had moved away for a year. In this architectural mystery, destruction threatens Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and the Wright 3, as the protagonists call themselves, piece together the puzzle that will lead to the building's rescue. While friction initially mars the three-sided friendship, Petra, Calder, and Tommy soon appreciate their individual roles in solving the mystery. Egged on by their unconventional teacher, the Wright 3 utilize Calder's geometric brain, Petra's writing and observing skills, and Tommy's uncanny findings to research and investigate the cryptic messages that Robie House seems to send in its own defense. Balliett elegantly wraps factual information on the building into a dreamy, Debussy sort of mystery in which seemingly random connections in everyday life uncover the hidden enigmas of Robie House and Wright himself. Balliett's atmospheric writing encourages readers to make their own journeys of discovery into art and architecture, creating a mystery subgenre that is as unique as it is compelling. While the book is not perfect-the final chapters jerk rather than flow, and the Wright 3's transition from awkward tolerance to a tightly knit cadre is nothing out of the ordinary-the mystery itself and the perfectly realized setting make this an essential purchase.-Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The determined sleuths from Balliett's fine first novel, Chasing Vermeer (2004), return in another artful mystery, centered on one of Chicago's architectural treasures. As sixth grade wanes, the vibrant Ms. Hussey reveals heartbreaking news: Because of the extraordinary costs of maintenance and repair, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, a city icon since 1910, will be dismantled in sections and donated to four museums. While the class's spirited campaign to save the building ends with the school year, the passionately curious Petra and Calder press on, abetted by Calder's good friend Tommy, just back from a traumatic year away. The shifting third-person narrative effectively captures the children's tense struggle to transform from duo to trio, and transmits their shared delight in puzzling, excavating and thinking deeply, creating a similarly heightened alertness in the reader. The "Wright 3" take increasingly bold risks to recover a stolen, priceless jade fish (Wright's own lost talisman) and save the Robie House. Many of the elements that made Chasing Vermeer such a success reappear here, from the culturally rich setting, to Calder's pentominoes (now three-dimensional), to Helquist's intriguing illustrations (not seen in their final state). Another tour de force blending art, math, philosophy, history and literature. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)