Chasing Vermeer

Blue Balliett (author)

Brett Helquist (illustrations)

Scholastic, USA: 2004; 254pp

ISBN: 0439372941

Genres: crime, mystery, realistic fiction

Issues: giftedness, friendship, identity

Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are in Grade Six at the University School that sits on the edge of the campus of the University of Chicago. Their teacher, Ms. Hussey, is a remarkable woman who likes to surprise her students into investigating the basis of conventional thinking.

When she challenges her class to research the value of the letter as a form of communication, and what makes something a work of art, Petra and Calder find themselves unwittingly drawn into a rather disturbing mystery. Why does Petra keep dreaming of a lady in a yellow jacket? And why does the thief who has stolen Vermeer's A Lady Writing feel that there are lies surrounding the works of the great painter? What lies? And is the thief truly a ‘concerned art lover' or is this an elaborate hoax? Inspired by a book of strange occurrences that Petra finds, the two children use their not inconsiderable brain power and intuition to decipher a series of vague clues in order to rescue a valuable painting.

This is a very thought-provoking book and one that will appeal to more sophisticated. Petra and Calder are gifted children who have a different perspective on the world to their peers. They are drawn together by their differences and, as much as anything, the book is about the comfort of having a like mind with whom to share ideas. The black and white illustrations also carry a hidden message that gives hints as to the perpetrator of the theft of the painting, and Calder's love of pentominoes will encourage readers to explore those mathematical shapes for themselves. Blue Balliett manages to weave together numerous ideas without losing the strong narrative line.

An interesting and unusual novel, this will definitely appeal to gifted readers.