Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

Chasing Vermeer 
by Blue Balliett
Illustrated by Brett Helquist

Publisher:  Scholastic Books

Format: Paperback  

Copyright: 2004

Pages: 254

Genre: Children's mystery (with added woo)
Source: own book

From the back of the book ...

A MASTERPIECE ... VANISHED!
When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the tow find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one – neighbors, parents, teachers – is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, they must rely on their intuition, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of Vermeer. Can the decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled? 

This isn't actually the best description of story really, but it will have to do. Chasing Vermeer is commonly used in 6th grade ELA classes (the main characters are in 6th grade and are both turning twelve) - the bit about students delving deeply into language and vocabulary specific to mysteries and problem solving, making predictions, uncovering connections, and developing strategies for solving problems. Just for comparison, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin and The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart and Carson Ellis are also recommended books. I am wondering about whether it really belongs in that company or not.

See - I am super torn here. There are some elements of the story that I really enjoyed. The
pentominoes - both as a visual puzzle and as the key for Calder's code. The fact that you had to actually solve the code to read the letters exchanged between Calder and Tommy. The puzzle hidden in the illustrations (I solved that one too). All of that was lots of fun. I love the deep investment in that and this is nice introduction to the concepts of cryptography (though that word isn't used) and visual problem solving.

A Lady Writing

The art history stuff was also interesting, but I think there could have been a bit more. Not an info dump - they talked about reading about Vermeer, but very little was actually discussed - the mostly talked about the lack of information about Vermeer's life. However, it should be enough to get some students interested in learning more. That is good. And the Art Institute of Chicago is defiantly awesome, though I was rather offended by Petra's take on some of the paintings.

The Geographer

On the down side - I absolutely abhor this trendy idea 'common sense' is better than actual knowledge, that experts don't know anything and that there is something wrong with working hard to gain understanding in a field of research, be it science, art history or literature. It just makes me want to scream.  Petra's wishing they would would spend more time learning about things that people don't know about and stop having to learn 'stuff everyone already knows' (sorry I can't find the exact quote - but she muses in this vein several times) - ARGH! Because without spending time trying to understand things that 'people know about' and learning from the past you have no context to tell what is important, what isn't important or even what really is new. You have no basis for serious judgements. I see this same attitude in many of my college students - their almost unshakable attitude that their evaluation of an issue is equally as valid as everyone else's even though it is often based on a total lack of knowledge - and the idea that they can get away without having to spend time gathering a basic knowledge framework to test ideas with.

And this is so schizophrenic! In the story Petra and Calder spent lots of their time trying to collect information in order to solve their puzzle, but instead of it becoming clear in the novel that knowledge is useful and research important, the book suddenly devotes itself to woo.

The whole amazing coincidence thing started to really get on my nerves rather early and towards the end of the book it got to the point things were becoming full scale supernatural. That, I hated. This was an excellent mystery/puzzle. You don't solve mysteries with zap feelings and chains of increasingly unbelievable coincidences! So when all of the excellent hard work and puzzle solving was dropped in favor of mysticism, I felt really let down. What the heck kind of message is the book sending?

Yes - I read tons of stuff like this when I was a kid too,
but you can't create a useful worldview out of it!

The Charles Fort stuff (he is real, sigh) starting out kind of interesting but as the woo started taking over it annoyed me more and more.  Yes we should all pay attention to the things around us, try to turn concepts on their head to see if we can learn something new, and we should spend more time actually thinking about things. That is good, but then when we get into "Depending on how you looked at things, your world could change completely" stuff - I start to say Whoa!  The value of pi does not change to 3 just because you change your perspective, you can't decided that certain historic events didn't happen just because you don't like the implications, and gravity doesn't become optional on Tuesdays for you if you 'enlighten' your mind. People can and do take this stuff way too far - like that women who insisted that she could live just off of light - (psst - lady, you are not a plant!). 

Ford reportedly completely misunderstood the scientific method and thought that scientific findings were just matters of opinion. Just because you personally don't understand how something works doesn't mean that nobody does. Somethings you really do have to spend a lifetime working on to really come to grips with (theoretical physics for example). Ford, on the other hand, merely seems to have inspired cult followings. I have no idea of Ford was trying to come to grips with - you can look him up in Wikipedia. Apparently...
 
He claimed to be an "intermediatist," one who believes nothing is real and nothing is unreal, that "all phenomena are approximations one way or the other between realness and unrealness."

Not a terribly useful worldview. It doesn't lead anywhere. To me it simply seems like Ford's mania for collecting reports of unusual events was an utterly massive waste of time and talent. If you want to actually try reading Lo! or his other books- they are here http://www.sacred-texts.com/fort/lo/index.htm

I am not sure how comfortable I am with introducing kids to his stuff, especially considering that it is basically validated by the story.  I am the sort of kid who would have immediately started tracking down his work and trying to come to grips with it.

All the study guides for this book that I have found so far all kind of ignore Fort and the whole nature of reality thing - they concentrate on the art, codes and pentominoes, leaving this kind of lying there like an elephant in the room.

So - seriously conflicted because the cultural tidbits, the puzzles, the art, the codes, the adventure - all of that is really cool!  But - especially the way the book resolved and the epilogue bit really undermines all of the great stuff that came before.  Erk!  I have real issues with presenting this in a book that is presented as a reality based mystery. If nothing else, it is cheating ! Worse then old the Butler did it or pulling a character out of thin air to be the murderer. The module is supposed to allow kids to learn the tropes and language of mystery and instead you get mysticism. Bah humbug!

Update: Just FYI I am not against fantasy or supernatural themes per say - I am against them being the primary component in a book that is being taught as a realistic mystery !

A peak into The Astronauts Club and The Christie Curse

I hope that everyone had a lovely 4th of July - whether or not it included fireworks.

Since I wasn't able to post a non-fiction book last week, I though I would start with one for this weeks Book Beginnings on Friday, hosted by Rose City Reader.

Here is the first bit from the first chapter of The Astronauts Club by Lily Koppel ...

They had endured years of waking up alone, making their kids breakfast, taking them to school and picking them up, fixing dinner and kissing them good night, promising that Daddy was thinking of them all the time. There had been lonely nights when they fell asleep wondering how they were going to get by on their husbands' measly pay for another month. During tours of duty in World War II or Korea or both, their husbands had nearly become mirages. 

This sounds like normal life for most women then or heck - other than the WWII/Korea bit - like now for military wives - establishing how hard it was/is to be a Navy or Air Force (or Army or Marine) wife. Many women had to cope (and still do cope) with their husbands being overseas. Humm... 

I like this bit better - it is the first bit of the Author's Note -and I think it sets the mood for the book better ...

To be an astronaut wife meant tea with Jackie Kennedy, high-society galas, and instant celebrity. It meant smiling perfectly after a makeover by Life magazine, balancing an extravagantly lacquered rocket-style hairdo, and teetering in high heels at the crux of the space age. 

And for a fiction book, here is the first page of The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott ...


If I hadn't been desperate for a job and a new place to live, I might have made a run for it as soon as I got a good look at that sour face. But I was feeling the pinch, and in a sea of want ads seeking waitstaff, topless dancers and telemarketers, this job description was clearly written for me. 

---

For The Friday 56 hosted at Freda's Voice page 56 of The Astronauts Club has ...

The night before the launch, Louise tiptoed out on her front porch and taped a message to the door: THERE WILL BE NO REPORTERS IN THE HOUSE. I WILL HAVE A STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS AFTER THE FLIGHT. All night long she heard reporters creeping across her porch to reading the note. In the special astronaut quarters in Hanger S at the Cape, Alan awoke at 1:10 in the morning and sat down for his special "low residue" launch breakfast, which had been specifically designed by the NASA doctors to ensure no bowel movements in space. Amazingly, it included bacon-wrapped filet mignon, scrambled eggs, OJ, and coffee, sans milk.

Whew - well with this bit we have clearly established that NASA doctors were nuts. Good grief - coffee alone is a mild laxative! I hate to think what these guys would have considered "normal reside"! Eek - I just - wow - mind blown!

From page 56 of we have The Christie Curse ...

The Antiquarian Book and Paper Fair was a new experience for me. I wasn't sure what to expect. So, M. Poirot, I thought, let's see what we can turn up. I anted up for my ten-dollar  ticket and made my way into a room where everyone spoke in hushed tones.

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Have a great weekend !

Some Bedtime Book recomendations from Leopard

My little Leopard, who is six, has re-discovered Mo Willems books. She would like everyone to know that The Pigeon Needs a Bath is a funny book and she loves it. 

We picked up the new Pigeon book last week and have already read it a couple dozen times. She still laughs each time. We have been alternating reading it - I read it to her and then she reads it to me, which is lots of fun. She really likes talking back to the pigeon (like telling the Pigeon 'NO!' when you read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.)


Leopard has also gotten enamored with the Elephant and Piggie books. We checked a few out from the library and she has been reading them to herself over and over. There is much play acting and emoting involved, so it is lots of fun to watch :)

The best part for her are the expressions of the characters. She loves it when a character bats their eyes, sticks out their tongue, or twirls around saying 'La La La!'

Her favorites so far are Watch Me Throw the Ball!, My New Friend is So Fun! and There is a Bird on Your Head! (So far it has been which ever one is the newest, really).

This mother senses many, many more Mo Willems books in our future.  Leopard is already demanding the rest of the Pigeon books. 

 
One last recommendation from Leopard - the Gossie & Friends by Olivier Dunrea. We have read Gossie, Gossie & Gertie, Ollie, and Ollie the Stomper so far and I am under orders to get more of these books as well. They are really cute books that had previously been available only as board books but have recently started showing up in early reader form. They are really cute and have turned into bedtime reading for the past couple of weeks. These books also have room for emoting and giggling.

Note from the Mommy - these books are all geared towards young children (6 and under) so they are very short. My daughter is very visually orientated and for bedtime really seems to like uncluttered clear drawings that have a lot of character. Mo Willem and Olivier Dunrea books are fantastic with this - their characters show a huge range of emotions even though they drawings are quite simple in design. Plus - they are quite cute and there are enough of them out there I am not losing my mind reading the same book over and over and over and over ... at least too much. 

Wondrous Words Wednesday 17

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at the Bermuda Onion where you "can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative!

I have missed doing these!  June just disappeared for me. I have been on a children's book kick lately so I haven't been running into many interesting words for the most part, but just for fun I wanted to do something  ...

All of these are from Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews (not really new words, but fun to play with...)


But it didn't look as if I'd get any peace and quiet in the cottage for a while, with Aunt Phoebe and Mrs. Fenniman arguing about the weather and trying to pout their potions and philters into me. 


philters

1:  a potion credited with magical power

2:  a potion, drug, or charm held to have the power to arouse sexual passion

Origin: late 16th century: from French philtre, via Latin from Greek philtron, from philein 'to love'.

Definitely going with definition one here! 

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At one point, we actually saw Victor Resnick stalking down the street in a disreputable mackinaw that made him look more like a scarecrow than ever. 

mackinaw
A short coat or jacket made of a thick, heavy woolen cloth, typically with a plaid design. Origin: early 19th century: named after Mackinaw City, Michigan, formerly an important trading post.

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I tried to give my voice an authentic quaver calculated to create the impression that Rhapsody was in genuine danger of being beset by the minions of the law, bearing handcuffs, rubber hoses and truncheons. Whatever truncheons were.  

truncheon

1:  a shattered spear or lance (actually that one is new to me)

2:  a : [ obsolete]  club, bludgeon

     b : a staff representing an office or authority; baton  

     c :  a police officer's billy club    <-- that is the one I had in mind

Good grief! This is an auction lot from Christies!
NINE ASSORTED WOOD POLICE TRUNCHEONS
LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY
All of plain turned form and including one with a transfer printed
Royal Coat-of-Arms and another with a branded V.R. cypher.
longest 17in. (43cm.)

So, I already knew what truncheons were - but for some reason the word made this bit of Pirates of Penzance get stuck in my head - so now I am going to inflict it on you too :) ...

Okay - I lied - this is the version from the 80's The Pirate Movie but think that they totally nailed this song. I wish I could find a better clip. Best use of a truncheon that I can think of :)

Top Ten Blogging Confessions

Hosted by the Broke and Bookish the topic for July 8: Top Ten Blogging Confessions

Oh man, I am going to stink at this one, but I haven't played in so long I still want to come up with a list of some sort - though my list probably isn't going to look much like anyone else's. I have only been blogging for 6 months. I am not even sure what counts as a blogging confession (my html is spaced poorly? Dear Apache forgive me for I have sinned. I dropped three closing tags and borked my css ?)

1. I stink at comments. I visit other peoples blogs and read but usually I can't think of anything to say other than - cool! or sorry, not for me. Then I made the mistake of reading another bloggers multiple posts about 'annoying' comments. I know that she was mostly talking about comments from people who clearly haven't really read the post and are only commenting in order to drop a link, but that made me even shyer about leaving comments.

I am even lame at commenting on my own blog. I read all the comments (even the weird spam - what the heck are those? They are so insane!) but usually from my phone or tablet and I have yet to figure out how to comment properly from those - they always end up mangled. I love visitors and comments - I just need to up my game and show it more on the blog.

2. This isn't going to seem like much of a confession, but for context I took graduate courses in English literature for fun while I was getting my Masters degree (in Earth and Environmental Science - long story short my advisory took off to Europe for a year and left me high and dry so I was allowed to 'audit' courses in other departments where I could make a contribution) ... Anyhow - I have not read more than a few paragraphs of Chaucer. Shakespeare - no problem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - fine, Piers Plowman - okay I read it and remember nothing at this point. But Chaucer, no dice. I have a Riverside Chaucer but I have never had the time or energy to tackle it. 

3. I loved reading the Vulgate Cycle, also known as the the Prose Lancelot, (the Norris J. Lacy translations) but I never finished the fifth book - which is technically the Post-Vulgate stuff. I guess this isn't much of a confession but I was the only one of the students in the class (a graduate class on Arthurian literature) that really got into the Vulgate in the first place. I was sorta the class 'expert' and I didn't want to confess that I lost steam. 

It was such a completely weird read that I was entranced. For example, I found parts of Lancelot's quest hysterical because he would stop for the night, find a hermit, have this long conversation/confession thing followed by warnings, signs and portents - then in the morning Lancelot would ride on through the forest only to find another hermit the next night who already knew everything and then would basically continue the discussion. I called it Herm-net - because they were better connected then the internet. There were lots of things like this - literary mechanics that would be totally unacceptable today (at least when they are being employed this obviously).

4. I will confess that I haven't read any Twilight, Shades of Gray, etc. etc. I have read all of Harry Potter (I started when the second one came out and read all of them right after release.) As for the rest of them - I am not interested. In fact, as far as I can tell I am not interested in lots of the popular stuff - thus I often have no idea what some people are talking about. So far I haven't had much luck finding many other people who read the same sorts of things that I do - I am still looking for my blog niche.

5. This is sounding way too pretentious! So I will also confess that I read lots of children's books. Lots and lots and lots! And not the just Newbery contenders either. Fluffy silly stuff too. It started when I was an undergraduate - right after finals I would go check out a big pile of kids books to read. It was my way of relaxing. I still do it now, though I have to wait until after I finish grading the finals now. I also fall back on children's books when I am writing a paper work - that kills too many brain cells for me to want to read anything deep. I want fun, adventure and humor.

6. I confess that I do not have a deeply thought out philosophical position about did not finish books or the theoretical ethics of reviewing a book you did not finish. Until recently, I never even thought of books as 'DNFs' - i.e. some sort of discrete category - there were just books that I put down and never picked back up for whatever reason. Sometimes I would find them and start again, sometimes I would find them and just put them aside because I was reading something else more interesting by then. Unless I am reading something for work (or class or as some kind of challenge), I won't force myself to finish a book. I simply have too many books that I want to read to turn my fun reading time into torture. Long experience has shown me that if I have some kind of fundamental issue with a book, chances are that reading it to the end usually will not resolve my problem - much more often I have gotten increasingly upset/irritated. And if I put a book down and start something else (I usually read 2-4 things at once) I might not even notice that a book turned into a DNF by default.

I will also confess that as long as a reviewer says that they did not finish a book, I have no problem with them reviewing the book. I have found that the reason they didn't finish might tell me whether or not I am interested in reading a book. A DNF because someone doesn't like info dumps ?  Well, I actually tend to like info dumps so I actually get more interested. A DNF because of graphic violence of certain types - thank you! - because I don't want to read that either so now I know not to pick that book up.

7. I always have a book or two or three with me. Now that I have an e-reader this is much easier on my back !  In high school I would carry around a stack of paperbacks that I was reading - 3 or more at a time, so that I would have something to fit my mood (more or less) and so that I always had something to read when I finished a book. For this reason, I tend to prefer paperback - hardbacks are too heavy and awkward. Now that my wrists have been damaged I can't even comfortably read a hardback in bed.

8. I read while walking places. This used to make me stand out on campus but since everyone else is looking at their phones now, I look normal.  In my defense I have very good peripheral vision so I don't walk into things and I have never run into anyone. Ages ago one of my professors tried messing with me by moving back in forth in my path was was impressed that not only could I dodge him without looking up - I knew who he was as well.

9. I am not even remotely organized about blogging. I have no master plan at all. When I have a spare few minutes and access to a computer (i.e. there isn't a Minecraft quest going on in my house) I try to type something up. If I am bummed at work or waiting on some equipment - I can squeeze in some time there too. I do want to start taking better notes on the books I am reading, but organizationally I doubt much will change anytime in the near future. I am impressed by those of you out there are have spreadsheets and do formal ARC reviews but I am not going to get into that. This is just for fun. 

10. Saying I spend way too much money on books probably doesn't count as much of a confession. The really dumb thing is that for some books I have both electronic and paper copies! Favorite books, books that I reference for work, books that were on sale that seemed like a good idea at the time ... A copy for when you have that sudden need for a comfort read or to look up some quote that is making you nuts.