A Puzzle in a Mystery in a MG Story

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think a lot of young readers would enjoy this book. Apparently, many do. That's why I had it in my classroom library.

Having said that, I didn't really like it. I mean, some--enough to call it 3 stars. But not a lot.

Mainly, I find the plot mostly pointless. Many little things happen that might or might not be related to the central mystery, and the reader tries to fit them all into some coherent story, discovering at the end that most of it is just random and not actually related. For the most part, the kids do very little to solve the mystery other than to write down the strange events occurring around them. They are on to something--but they solve the mystery through some cosmic coincidences that feel more like deus ex machina than genuine effort on their part.

I think it might be fun to read, depending on the reader, but I fear it is ultimately unsatisfying. Like too many books for children or middle grade readers, the protagonists (who I actually like here, fwiw) are not driving the plot. Calder and Petra do attempt some things, and they have a good action sequence right at the end, but it doesn't feel like anything is resolved because of their efforts. It's more like they're present when things happen, they're pointed in the right direction, and events play out without them having any effect. Except for the very end, when they take action, they're just a couple kids wondering what's going on around them. (A Wrinkle in Time, which I loved when I first read it, is in this category. The children do almost nothing--they're just carted from one marvel to another, taking almost no action at all. When I reread it, I was very disappointed. I was also older, so...)

(Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is like that, too. Meggie gets carted around like a purse, doing almost nothing, though the story is about her. Very passive.)

Those who like these books should continue to do so. Didn't work for me.

The illustrations are very nice, though. Thumbs up.

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