If you like puzzles, coincidences, and art, Chasing Vermeer is the book for you, as it’s full of all three. I’ve always liked secret codes and puzzles, so I was hooked from the very beginning, which is a good sign with books. The book starts out when the same anonymous letter is delivered to three different people. The deliveries all happen on the same night, in the same neighborhood, and the letter asks each person to help solve a crime that “has wronged one of the world’s greatest painters.” The painter referred to is Johannes Vermeer, a famous artist from the sixteen hundreds, and the writer of the letter believes that many paintings attributed to him were actually painted by different people. I’ve only read one other book that mentioned art scandals, but the topic intrigued me, and I knew I was going to like this book. Things get stranger when one of the main characters, Petra, finds a book called Lo!, which is full of strange happenings and coincidences. She shares it with the other main character, Calder. Soon the two eleven-year-olds are finding coincidences and unexplainable happenings everywhere, especially things related to Lo! and Johannes Vermeer. So, when a priceless Vermeer painting disappears, they know only they will be able to recover it. This book has challenged the way I think about things. One example of this is its portrayal of coincidences and their relation to the story. The characters treat coincidences with about as much relevance as facts, and I found this surprising, because I don’t believe in coincidences. Nor do I believe that everything that happens is supposed to happen. I like to think that what I do is what I do because of my choices, not fate’s, so I had a hard time understanding why they would think that way. But I like thinking in new ways, and this book is full of new ways to see things. What’s interesting is that Blue Balliett, the author, seems to be suggesting that the coincidences in the book are meant to be, but they aren’t necessarily important to the storyline. So you might notice themes that repeat themselves, and you might think they’re important, but nothing comes of them. It’s sort of like some of the clues don’t matter—still, they’re there, and that’s what matters. Not many books work that way, where some things are just there because, and that’s what I love most about it! Just like some things seem to be clues but aren’t, other things that don’t seem important are often vital to the storyline. I sometimes had to reread certain parts to make sure I understood what was going on, because it’s a very complex story, even if it has fairly simple language. While this story is unpredictable, it is not unbelievable. When a book is so unbelievable it could never happen, I find it hard to identify with the characters. Petra and Calder are realistically rendered, and I could easily understand them and their ways of thinking. Petra loves to write, like me, and Calder likes puzzles and codes, and he daydreams a lot, which I have to admit I do frequently! Both are intrigued by the patterns of coincidence, as many people are. Altogether, this is a very believable yet complicated story, and I’m not sure I’ll ever read anything quite like it again. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Scholastic Corporation, 2004. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #161: Come Up with an Annoying Habit and Write about a World where this Is a Good Thing
Come up with an annoying habit and write about a world where this is a good thing! Maybe you don’t like it when people pick their noses. Why not write about a world where all the cool kids pick their noses!
Farewell to Manzanar, Reviewed my Margaret, 13
Farewell to Manzanar, a memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, is a compelling and insightful look into the past. In 1941, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated into ten internment camps. The author, one of the people placed in the camps, tells of the times of hardship and discrimination during World War II. Grappling with issues ranging from loyalty between countries to food and housing to family separation, this book will give you a look into how a large family facing hard times perseveres through it and gets back to where they once were before they were knocked down. When people think of World War II, most think of the Holocaust and the discrimination and oppression of Jews. They think of how Germany’s cruel leader tortured innocent people. But most people won’t think of the hatred Americans felt towards the Japanese after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. And not only the hatred they felt towards Japanese people living in Japan, but hatred towards Japanese Americans, too. Because of the bombing, the United States government considered every Japanese resident of the United States suspicious. The government moved their very own Japanese citizens, people contributing to their country, into camps out of fear that these Japanese Americans were working with Japan. The amount of discrimination the Japanese Americans faced before and after evacuating was astronomical. Most people never think about this. But after reading Houston’s book, everyone will see, buried in history, the injustice that Japanese Americans faced throughout this era. This book made me see the harsh reality of the world. Even years after the camps were shut down, people still looked down on the Japanese. They thought they were strange and kept their children away from them. It was hard for Jeanne to make friends in high school and hard for her to embrace her culture. For me, as someone who is of a different culture than most of the United States population, it angers me to see these actions of hatred towards the Japanese. This book should forever serve as a reminder to the nation to never do this again, to never lock someone up or suspect someone solely based on their race. Through seeing how this rash action driven by fear affected so many children and families in a bad way, everyone should learn to never judge a book by its cover. Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
