Chasing Vermeer

By: Blue Balliett

Narrated by: Ellen Reilly

Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

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 two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth they must draw on their powers of intuition, their skills at problem solving, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?

©2004 Elizabeth Balliett Klein (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Thick with devilish red herrings, this smart, playful story never stops challenging (and exhilarating) the audience." (Publishers Wekly)
"Puzzles, codes, letters, number and wordplay, a bit of danger, a vivid sense of place, and a wealth of quirky characters enrich the exciting, fast-paced story that's sure to be relished by mystery lovers." (School Library Journal)
"Art, intrigue, and plenty of twists and turns make this art mystery a great read." (Kirkus Reviews)

Great mystery and adventure

This is a wonderful story for mystery lovers of all ages. I encourage you to also purchase the book as the images spell out a code. How fun is that!?

Underrated middle-grade mystery

I had fun reading / listening to this along with my 10 year old son. Would recommend for kids who are problem solvers!

Children taught to risk lives

Not sure of the story is entirely safe for kids. Toward the end, one of the 11 year old heroes abandons the other to a criminal, and then she abandons her four sleeping younger siblings in the house so she can look for the criminal, instead of calling the police. It’s a good story, and well written, but much like Harry Potter, the heroes in this story often put themselves and others at risk by not sharing information with their parents or teacher or police.

Decent book

This book is a good book with a couple of flaws. It takes a while for the story to get going but it’s satisfying.

Offensive accent used for Indian character

The author uses an accent for a character who is Indian which feels offensive, dated and unnecessary. It is much more of a caricature than any other performance. I downloaded this book for use in my classroom and felt the need to stop and address this, as I could not let the implicit message that this was acceptable become normalized.

Great book!

I did not like how the book was split up into 4 sections, and was not by chapter.

Riveting!!

I have a book group of 3rd graders in the middle of intense reading and discussion. They more read the book. They delved into the story in deep reading, comparing, predicting, finding patterns, debating the characters' action. What more could I ask?

Pronunciation switches up

I liked the story but the narrator switches up the pronunciation of one of the character's names which was distracting.

Excellent 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

A great book

I thought it was great book, And although the narrator does change up one of the characters names a couple of times the overall plot was excellent.

Mysteries Puzzles Coincidence

A fun book filled with art, mystery, and easily overlooked coincidences. When two children decide not to overlook but to pay attention, they find themselves living within the puzzle and in turn seeing more clearly than most around them.

My 10 year old and I enjoyed the twists and turns and the historical tidbits about Vermeer and art along the way. One slight mark down on performance for the narrator sporadically pronouncing Petra’s name wrong. It was somewhat irritating, the audible equivalent to an ugly typo. Unless perhaps it was an intentional clue!