Reviews

Gr 4-7-Sixth-graders Calder and Petra and Calder's friend, Tommy, form an uneasy triangle, trying to work out how they can all be close friends and trust each other. The trio get caught up in an effort to save Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, when their teacher, Miss Hussey, explains that the architectural masterpiece has fallen into disrepair and will be divided into four parts and sold to museums. Miss Hussey asks her students a difficult question: "Can a house be art?" The special abilities of Petra (writing and organizing), Calder (geometry and codes) and Tommy (finding and collecting) help the friends in piecing together information about the tragic history of Robie House. Blue Balliett packs this story (Scholastic, 2006) full of information about art, architecture, literature, geometry, codes, talismans, film, and community activism. Middle school listeners will enjoy the intrigue, suspense, and danger that the triumvirate experience, but might miss some of the details. The "Author's Note" at the end explains what is factual and what details were changed to accommodate the story. Ellen Reilly reads in a breezy style with great tempo, easily distinguishing between the characters and adding suspense to the story. Fans of E.L. Konigsburg's A View from Saturday (Atheneum, 1996) as well as Wendelin Van Draanen's Sammy Keyes series will enjoy this mystery.-Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.