Amazon.com
In the classic tradition of E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, debut author Blue Balliett introduces readers to another pair of precocious kids on an artful quest full of patterns, puzzles, and the power of blue M&Ms. Eleven year old Petra and Calder may be in the same sixth grade class, but they barely know each other. It's only after a near collision during a museum field trip that they discover their shared worship of art, their teacher Ms. Hussey, and the blue candy that doesn't melt in your hands. Their burgeoning friendship is strengthened when a creative thief steals a valuable Vermeer painting en route to Chicago, their home town. When the thief leaves a trail of public clues via the newspaper, Petra and Calder decide to try and recover the painting themselves. But tracking down the Vermeer isn't easy, as Calder and Petra try to figure out what a set of pentominos (mathematical puzzle pieces), a mysterious book about unexplainable phenomena and a suddenly very nervous Ms. Hussey have to do with a centuries old artwork. When the thief ups the ante by declaring that he or she may very well destroy the painting, the two friends know they have to make the pieces of the puzzle fit before it's too late!

Already being heralded as The DaVinci Code for kids, Chasing Vermeer will have middle grade readers scrutinizing art books as they try to solve the mystery along with Calder and Petra. In an added bonus, artist Brett Helquist has also hidden a secret pentomino message in several of the book's illustrations for readers to decode. An auspicious and wonderfully satisfying debut that will leave no young detective clueless. --Jennifer Hubert
Book Description

	About Pentominoes and About This Story	xi
	About the Artwork: A Challenge to the Reader	xiii
Chapter 1	Three Deliveries	1
Chapter 2	The Letter is Dead	6
Chapter 3	Lost in the Art	18
Chapter 4	Picasso's Lie	35
Chapter 5	Worms, Snakes, and Periwinkles	43
Chapter 6	The Geographer's Box	50
Chapter 7	The Man on the Wall	61
Chapter 8	A Halloween Surprise	76
Chapter 9	The Blue Ones	81
Chapter 10	Inside the Puzzle	90
Chapter 11	Nightmare	99
Chapter 12	Tea at Four	112
Chapter 13	X the Experts	127
Chapter 14	Flashing Lights	134
Chapter 15	Murder and Hot Chocolate	144
Chapter 16	A Morning in the Dark	154
Chapter 17	What Happens Now?	167
Chapter 18	A Bad Fall	174
Chapter 19	The Shock on the Stairs	188
Chapter 20	A Maniac	198
Chapter 21	Looking and Seeing	205
Chapter 22	Twelves	214
Chapter 23	Help!	226
Chapter 24	The Pieces	236