Chasing Vermeer

For this week I read the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. This book is a good read for a middle school level kid. The story goes that a famous painting by Vermeer called A Lady Writing gets stolen and the thief is trying to convince the community through letters sent that he stole it for the good of society. The thief warns about ruining the masterpiece of the "wronged" isn't fixed and that some of Vermeer's paintings weren't really painted by him. He continues on the idea that if those that aren't true Vermeer's don't have their labels changed, then he will destroy the painting.
Two children in the early middle school years become fascinated with the mystery and head out to solve the puzzle. They slowly start putting pieces together to solve the mystery and learn how everyone in the puzzle is involved. They become friends through the process and continue to solve things step by step. Overall, Calder and Petra find different aspects that seem very much so like coincidences and begin to realize those "coincidences" all lead into the clues to solve the puzzle.
A fantastic read for middle school kids who can relate to the ages of the two main characters, and really gets the students brains to begin critical thinking.

Wonder Struck

This week for my blog I read the book Wonder Struck, by Brian Selznick. First off, this book was fantastic. Never before have I read a 600+ page book so quickly. The book contains two stories that take place approximately 40 years apart and become intertwined. They parallel each other so well that it's almost like reading one story. The coolest part of the book is although the story of Ben, a young boy searching for his father, is told in the traditional sense, using words, the other story is of a girl named Rose who is missing something in her life, but her story takes place through pictures.

The book overall probably has more picture pages than word pages, but the pages that tell of Ben are so descriptive that the pictures aren't necessary. I really enjoyed this book. I feel it would be a good book for a middle school student who is struggling at home with a missing father. Many families now a days are broken, and Ben's story helps to encourage those who are alone at home.

The story also goes into the culture of children with special needs because Ben was born deaf in one ear, and quickly in the book Ben is struck by lightning and goes deaf all together. You quickly learn in the story that Rose is also deaf. The two stories from the beginning are obviously going to intertwine at some point, the fun part is guessing in what way the stories will do so.

I really enjoyed this book and highly suggest it to all.

From the Miexed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

This week I read From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg and it is a fabulous read for the middle school aged child. The story goes that a young 11 year old girl who is a great planner and manages to talk her younger brother Jamie, her very rich brother Jamie, into running away from home with her to go live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art so that thing around home will change.

While at the museum they learn the tricks of avoiding the security officers between the hours that they come and go and kick everyone out of the museum. The biggest piece of the whole book though revolves around a statue that looks like an Angel. Many believe that the statue was crafted by Michelangelo and that the museum got the statue for a fantastic deal. Claudia spends the majority of her time trying to figure out whether or not Michelangelo crafted the statue and she becomes consumed in thought with what is going on with the statue.

Overall the book would be fantastic for the middle school student because it teaches some of the most common grammar mistakes through interesting conversations. Jamie, who is nine, makes many common grammar mistakes and Claudia take the time every time he screws up to fix his grammar.

An absolutely fantastic book and and a must read for children.