Chasing+Vermeer

==|| [|**ART ADVENTURES**] Master these two challenges by calling upon your art smarts: * **Make a Masterpiece Match:** Calling all super sleuths! Use clues to link paintings to the artists behind them.
 * **Report for the Hyde Park Times:** Pick a painting. Fill in the blanks. See the surprising article you've created! (Try the printable version [PDF] with a friend!)
 * || [[image:http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/images/pattern_puzzles.gif width="167" height="105" caption="Pattern Puzzles Game" link="http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/games/patternpuzzles_game.htm"]] || **[|PATTERN PUZZLES]** Can you crack the code? Follow the clues to unlock a secret message. || || [[image:http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/images/pentominoes.jpg width="167" height="126" caption="Pentominoes Game" link="http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/games/pentominoes_game.htm"]] || **[|PLAY PENTOMINOES]** Can you fit the pentomino pieces together to form a solid rectangle? There are thousands of ways to complete the puzzle. For practice, give it a try with these printable pentominoes [PDF]. || || [[image:http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/images/flash_board.jpg width="167" height="109" caption="Flash Board Game" link="http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/games/flashboard_game.htm"]] || **[|FLASH BOARD]** Piece together words and images to post real-time messages for fellow Blue Balliett fans. || || [[image:http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/images/pentomino_fortunes.jpg width="168" height="106" caption="Pentomino Fortunes Game" link="http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/popups/pentomino_fortunes.htm"]] || **[|PENTOMINO FORTUNES]** When Calder has a question, he turns to his pentomino pieces to reveal the answer. Think of a question and see where the pentominoes lead //you//. || || ==

Synopsis
In this art mystery, two sixth graders, Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay, are intertwined in the story by a series of unknown coincidences. These events continue, drawing them ever deeper into the theft of a [|Johannes Vermeer] painting, //[|A Lady Writing]//, en route from the [|National Gallery of Art] (in [|Washington D.C.]) to Chicago. The mathematical puzzle known as the [|pentomino] plays a great role in the book, as well as emphasizing the admittedly empty spaces in accounts of the Vermeer's life.

Code
As stated in the preface, throughout the book there is a code hidden in the illustrations. The code involves images of [|pentominoes] and a particular animal. To decode the code you must count the number of frogs in every other illustration, as well as find the hidden pentomino. Once you have collected these facts you may use the same code presented in the story (on page 57 of the American Version) that Calder and Petra use in the book. **When decoded, the message reads "Water is good."** The book also uses this same code as a narrative device which, in turn, becomes a clue to the illustration puzzle.

Frogs
On almost every page through the book there is a little frog that is hidden under the main word(s). If examined closely, you may be able to read the frog. But, only in the close up views.

Mrs.Sharpe
An old woman who is thought to be the lead of the investigation of the stolen painting. She is considered in the book "LO!", and is a relative of the author of this book. She becomes friends with Calder and Petra, and soon leads them to a very deep mystery.

Awards
//Chasing Vermeer// received much critical acclaim following its release. It was the [|Book Sense] Book of the Year Award winner, as well as the recipient of an [|Edgar Award] and an [|Agatha Award]. //[|Parents' Choice Foundation]// and //[|Child Magazine]// both gave it honors, and it was a [|Booklist] editor's choice, and was listed in the "Top 10 Youth Mysteries." A //[|New York Times]// notable title, it also won the //[|Chicago Tribune]// Prize for Young Adult fiction."Suspenseful, exciting, charming and even unexpectedly moving." -The New York Times Book Review. "A Da Vinci Code for tweens." - Newsweek.  Alternate cover, contrasting the Helquist illustrations with the Vermeer painting, A Lady Writing//. You have to use the code key to crack the code for the letter hints.//

Trivia
[|The Wright 3]//, was released in 2006. A third book titled "[|The Calder Game]" was released in April 2008.
 * A sequel,
 * [|Warner Brothers] recently acquired the rights to a film version of the book. IMDb Pro has the project listed as "In Development." Brad Pitt is attached as producer. The status was last updated on 30 May 2008. It will be coming out sometime in 2011.