From School Library Journal
Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
What is art? Balliett's newest book asks listeners to ponder that question and whether Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House is art. While Petra, Calder, and Tommy work to answer that question and to save the house from destruction, they slowly build a friendship, and a team. Ellen Reilly's reading is solid; her narrator is clear and builds the pace from the startling beginning through the mysterious happenings. Her character voices are distinct; although her male voices tend to sound forced, her female voices sound real. An occasional change in the production's balance doesn't distract but does break the flow of the narrative. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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