The Calder Game
by Blue Balliett

    THE CALDER GAME by Blue Balliett
    Illustrated by:  Brett Helquist
    Category:  Mystery/Thriller
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  5/1/08
    Publisher:  Scholastic
    Reviewed by:  Tasha
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Calder, Tommy, and Petra are back for another art-filled mystery.

    It all starts when they take a field trip to the art museum to see the new exhibit featuring work by Alexander Calder.
    Even though their nasty and fun-sucking teacher tries to make the trip as miserable as possible, the three friends
    manage to find great inspiration and fascination in Alexander Calder’s work.

    Before long, Calder’s dad invites him on a trip to England with him. Calder is super excited about the opportunity and
    learns that the town they’re staying in is home to one of Alexander Calder’s sculptures, The Minotaur. When Calder
    and his dad arrive in the small town, they find that not everyone is as excited about the sculpture as Calder is -- and
    quite a few people want it gone.

    While Calder’s dad is off at his seminars all day, Calder starts exploring the town and even goes to the famous
    Blenheim Palace gardens and maze. This is the ultimate place for Calder as he loves puzzles and mazes. One night,
    though, both Calder and the sculpture go missing…..a coincidence… maybe? When Calder doesn’t show up after a
    couple of nights, his worry-stricken father brings in some back-up, Petra and Tommy. Together they will try and
    solve the mystery of where Calder is and what happened to the sculpture.

    As always, Blue Balliett has created an intricately woven story which takes art, mystery, and friendship and turns it
    into one heck of a book. What’s especially nice about THE CALDER GAME is that you don’t necessarily have to
    have read the other books in the series (CHASING VERMEER and THE WRIGHT 3) to understand what's going
    on; while it would be nice, this story is complete on its own.

    While I really liked this book, I’m not sure it was quite as good as the first, which often happens, but it was still really
    good. I liked all of the twists and turns in the mystery and it was fun trying to figure out what happened. I loved the
    underlying art theme, which made the book very interesting. I definitely think that it takes a certain type of person to
    want to read this book, as there is a lot of art talk, which I love, but others may not. All in all, I really enjoyed THE
    CALDER GAME and look forward to more in the series.

    One last note! The illustrations in this book, while sparse, were incredible. I thought they really added to the story and
    I loved them.