Wright 3 by Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist (Illustrator)

From Barnes & Noble

When last seen, young Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay were attempting to retrieve a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece; now the stars of Chasing Vermeer are using all their super-sleuth powers to solve mysteries connected with a modern Chicago architectural landmark. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House is dire need of restoration, but the work can't be properly completed until a series of mysterious incidents are explained. Tales of ghosts, hidden treasures, and coded messages highlight this entertaining tale.

From the Publisher

Spring semester at the Lab School in Hyde Park finds Petra and Calder drawn into another mystery when unexplainable accidents and ghostly happenings throw a spotlight on Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and it's up to the two junior sleuths to piece together the clues. Stir in the return of Calder's friend Tommy (which creates a tense triangle), H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, 3D pentominoes, and the hunt for a coded message left behind by Wright, and the kids become tangled in a dangerous web in which life and art intermingle with death, deception, and surprise.

Child Magazine

As she did in her bestselling debut novel, Chasing Vermeer, Balliett adds a new twist to the mystery genre, lacing her suspenseful yarn with puzzles, codes, and thought-provoking connections to art, architecture, and mathematics. Brainy, eccentric sixth-graders Petra and Calder return, this time teaming up with Calder's friend, Tommy, to help save a 1910 Frank Lloyd Wright house slated for demolition (hence the book's title). Their "minds fizzing with ideas," the curious trio uncovers layer upon layer of enigma: freak accidents, unexplained lights and noises, uncanny coincidences, and the discovery of a talisman once owned by Wright himself. Helquist, illustrator of the Lemony Snicket series, provides additional mystery, challenging young readers to find hidden images in his just-eerie-enough illustrations. (Ages 8 to 12)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2006

Erin Pelletier - Children's Literature

Readers will be happy to see the return of Blue Balliet's memorable characters from her debut novel, Chasing Vermeer. Calder and Petra find architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House the source of their next great mystery and adventure. With the help of Tommy, an old classmate of Calder's who moves back to Hyde Park, the threesome team sort through clues, coincidences, and conspiracies as they struggle to save the Robie House from demolition. Their struggle involves triangles, invisible men, codes from Frank Lloyd Wright himself, and ghost voices. As in Blue Balliet's last book, this book will keep you reading caught up in the many strange and frightening circumstances facing the characters. Hard feelings between Petra and Tommy add to the tension of the story. The history of the Robie House, a masterpiece built for children with art, glass windows, and treasures to be found, is woven beautifully throughout the book. The Robie House's past is haunting, full of tragedy and secrets, but Petra, Calder, and Tommy bring the Robie House into a new light. This second book with Petra and Calder, and the effort to save another important piece of artwork, will not disappoint readers. 2006, Scholastic Press, Ages 8 to 12.

Patricia J. Morrow - VOYA

Tommy, who went missing in Chasing Vermeer (Scholastic, 2004/VOYA December 2004), has moved back to his old neighborhood in Chicago and things have changed. His best friend, Calder, has a new friend, a girl named Petra, and exciting things happened while Tommy was gone. Miss Hussey, the sixth grade teacher, seems a little strange, but the students all pay attention to her. The announcement that the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, right down the street, is to be dismantled and displayed in different museums becomes the lynchpin for another exciting art adventure. Although Tommy tries to be friends with Calder and Petra, his resentment frequently puts him on a solo path and also causes problems between Calder and Petra. Each character has a distinct personality and approach to problem solving. Petra finds a copy of the Invisible Man that has a strange relationship to the goings on; Tommy-who lives next to the house-unearths a fish-shaped object on the grounds where he should not have been. Calder's pentominoes seem to be giving him messages. There are lights in the house. As the mystery develops and more resources are needed to save the house, Tommy, Petra, and Calder's complimentary abilities move toward solutions and success. While learning about the Robie House, they develop their art appreciation, a sense of history, civic responsibility, take some risks, and eventually all become friends. This installment is a worthy follow-up and provides a wonderful opportunity for young readers to think about buildings as art. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7to 9). 2006, Scholastic, 320p., Ages 11 to 15.

Alan Review

The Wright 3 by Blue Bakkuett is an absorbing mystery involving American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago design, the Robie House. Because of a teacher's concern about destroying works of art, three classmates endeavor to save the house. Sleuths will enjoy unraveling the historical, mathematical, and criminal clues needed to solve the mystery. The author has definitely plotted this novel well, while providing characters that are delineated well. One does not want to stop reading the book! Besides providing an interesting historical fiction story, the reader will gain a great deal of information about Wright and his buildings.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-With her distinct style, Balliett returns to Chicago and the detective work of Calder and Petra, sixth graders at the University School. This time they are joined by Tommy, Calder's former best friend who had moved away for a year. In this architectural mystery, destruction threatens Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and the Wright 3, as the protagonists call themselves, piece together the puzzle that will lead to the building's rescue. While friction initially mars the three-sided friendship, Petra, Calder, and Tommy soon appreciate their individual roles in solving the mystery. Egged on by their unconventional teacher, the Wright 3 utilize Calder's geometric brain, Petra's writing and observing skills, and Tommy's uncanny findings to research and investigate the cryptic messages that Robie House seems to send in its own defense. Balliett elegantly wraps factual information on the building into a dreamy, Debussy sort of mystery in which seemingly random connections in everyday life uncover the hidden enigmas of Robie House and Wright himself. Balliett's atmospheric writing encourages readers to make their own journeys of discovery into art and architecture, creating a mystery subgenre that is as unique as it is compelling. While the book is not perfect-the final chapters jerk rather than flow, and the Wright 3's transition from awkward tolerance to a tightly knit cadre is nothing out of the ordinary-the mystery itself and the perfectly realized setting make this an essential purchase.-Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The determined sleuths from Balliett's fine first novel, Chasing Vermeer (2004), return in another artful mystery, centered on one of Chicago's architectural treasures. As sixth grade wanes, the vibrant Ms. Hussey reveals heartbreaking news: Because of the extraordinary costs of maintenance and repair, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, a city icon since 1910, will be dismantled in sections and donated to four museums. While the class's spirited campaign to save the building ends with the school year, the passionately curious Petra and Calder press on, abetted by Calder's good friend Tommy, just back from a traumatic year away. The shifting third-person narrative effectively captures the children's tense struggle to transform from duo to trio, and transmits their shared delight in puzzling, excavating and thinking deeply, creating a similarly heightened alertness in the reader. The "Wright 3" take increasingly bold risks to recover a stolen, priceless jade fish (Wright's own lost talisman) and save the Robie House. Many of the elements that made Chasing Vermeer such a success reappear here, from the culturally rich setting, to Calder's pentominoes (now three-dimensional), to Helquist's intriguing illustrations (not seen in their final state). Another tour de force blending art, math, philosophy, history and literature. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)

Product Details

• ISBN: 0439693683
  
• ISBN-13: 9780439693684
• Format: Paperback, 352pp
• Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
• Pub. Date: June 2007
• Edition Description: Reprint
• Sales Rank: 6,980
• Age Range: 9 to 12

• Table of Contents
• Interviews & Essays
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Interviews & Essays

What do you want readers to come away with when they read The Wright 3?

BB: I want readers to come away with a sense of the mysteries and possibilities that surround us, even in our everyday lives. I love to read books that grab my attention and make me think, "Who knows? Why not?" I hope my books do this. Plus, I want readers of all ages to feel inspired about their ability to make intuitive, intelligent connections, and to think their way through tough problems and challenges. I'm thrilled when I hear from kids that my books make them feel more confident as thinkers and doers.

Had you always planned to write this sequel? How did the novel come to be?

BB:When I wrote Chasing Vermeer, I wasn't thinking about a sequel at all. But after the book was finished, I found that Petra and Calder weren't disappearing from my mind. I wanted to give them a completely different kind of art challenge to work on, and so I began scribbling down ideas about a piece of art that you could walk into, a piece of art that wasn't in a museum. That was the beginning of The Wright 3.

Who do you think this book will appeal to? Do you have a certain audience in mind when you write?

BB:I am always thinking about how kids see things, and that's only natural considering I've spent the last 25 years with kids, both as a mom of three and as a teacher. My audience is kids, probably independent readers of 10 and up, but I also think my books are for thinkers of all ages. I was so interested to see that in Italy there is both an adult edition of Chasing Vermeer (no illustrations) and a kids' edition that includes Brett Helquist's artwork. Both have sold well.

It's amazing how you bring together such seemingly unrelated elements from Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House to Fibonacci numbers to H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man to questions about art. Did you ever worry that the ideas were "too big" for kids?

BB:I never worry about these ideas being too big for kids. My books can be read on a number of levels, just as the world can be seen on a number of levels. And I believe in introducing kids to intriguing ideas like centuries-old number sequences and legends about invisibility, because what you are doing is seeding ideas that can only grow --sometimes many years into the future, but to me this is what education is all about. And I feel that kids aren't given nearly enough exposure to the joys and complexities of the art world. Kids need more access to big ideas and big questions.

Do you have a favorite character? When you were a kid, were you like any of your characters?

BB: I think asking an author about a favorite character is a bit like asking a parent about their favorite child -- each character is special when you are focused on bringing them to life in a book. But if I were to say which character feels most familiar to me, I'd have to say Petra. I've always liked playing around with words and wondering about things that grownups think are impossible. Plus, when I was Petra's age I was shaped a bit like a lima bean and wore glasses.

Read a Sample Chapter

Nickie Randolph's first sight of the town of Yonwood was a white steeple rising out of the pine forest that covered the mountainside. She leaned forward, gazing through the windshield of the car. "Is that it?"

Her aunt Crystal, who was driving, put one hand up to shield her eyes from the rays of the setting sun. "That's it," she said.

"My new home," said Nickie.

"You have to get that notion out of your mind," said Crystal. "It's not going to happen."

I'm going to make it happen, thought Nickie, though she didn't say it out loud. Crystal's mood was already bad enough. "How long till we get there?" she asked.

"We'll be there in twenty minutes, if nothing else gets in our way."

A lot had gotten in their way so far. The Streakline train was closed down because of the Crisis, so they'd had to drive. They'd been on the road for seven hours, though the trip from Philadelphia should have taken no more than five. But long lines at gas stations, detours around pot-holed or snow-covered stretches of highway, and military roadblocks had slowed them down. Crystal didn't like delays. She was a fast-moving, efficient person, and when her way was blocked, she became very tense and spoke with her lips in two hard lines.

They came to the Yonwood exit, and Crystal turned off the highway onto a road that wound uphill. Here the trees grew thick on either side, and so tall that their bare branches met overhead, making a canopy of sticks. Drops of rain began to spatter the car's windshield.

After a while, they came to a sign that said, "Yonwood. Pop. 2,460." The trees thinned out, and the rain fell harder. They passed a few storage sheds, a collapsing barn, and a lumberyard. After that, houses began to appear on the side of the road-small, tired-looking wooden houses, their roofs dripping. Many of them had rockers or couches on the front porch, where people would no doubt be sitting if it weren't the dead of winter.

From a small brick shelter at the side of the road, a policeman stepped out holding a red stop sign. He held it up and waved it at them. Crystal slowed down, stopped, and opened her window. The policeman bent down. He had on a rain jacket with the hood up, and rain dripped off the hood and onto his nose. "Hello, ma'am," he said. "Are you a resident?"

"No," said Crystal. "Is that a problem?"

"Just doing a routine entry check, ma'am," the man said. "Part of our safety program. Had some evidence lately of possible terrorist activity in the woods. Your purpose here?"

"My grandfather has died," Crystal said. "My sister and I have inherited his house. I've come to fix the house up and sell it."

The man glanced at Nickie. "This is your sister?"

"This is my niece," said Crystal. "My sister's daughter."

"And your grandfather's name?" said the man.

"Arthur Green," said Crystal.

"Ah, yes," the policeman said. "A fine gentleman." He smiled. "You be careful while you're here, now. We've had reports indicating there may be agents of the Phalanx Nations traveling alone or in small groups in parts of the area. Have you been spoken to by any suspicious strangers?"

"No," said Crystal. "Just you. You seem very suspicious."

"Ha ha," said the man, not really laughing. "All right, ma'am," he went on. "You may go. Sorry for the delay, but as you know there's a crisis. We're taking every precaution."

He stepped away, and they drove on.

"Terrorists even here?" Nickie said.

"It's nonsense," said Crystal. "Why would a terrorist be wandering around in the woods? Pay no attention."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne Duprau Copyright © 2006 by Jeanne Duprau. Excerpted by permission.
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