Tag: art

REVIEW: Art of the Swap by Kristine Asselin and Jen Malone

REVIEW: Art of the Swap by Kristine Asselin and Jen Malone

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Hannah lives at the Elms, a turn-of-the-century (1900s) home that once belonged to the Berwind family. Her father is the caretaker, and they live in the old servant quarters of the mansion. A history buff, Hannah can’t imagine a better place to live.

Margaret Dunlap – Maggie – stayed with her aunt and uncle, the Berwinds, in 1905. They even commissioned a painting of Maggie by a new artist, Mary Cassatt. But the painting was stolen before it could be debuted. A servant was suspected of the theft, but neither he nor the painting were ever found.

At The Elms in Hannah’s time, they have a reproduction of the portrait. The mystery of the original’s disappearance is one of her favorite parts of the history of the house. If only she knew what really happened….

Hannah may get her chance to find out when she and Maggie swap places! Now Hannah is in 1905 trying to track down a missing painting and an art thief. And Maggie is in 2018 trying to figure out an unfamiliar world without anyone finding out what has happened.

Review

This was so fun! Hannah definitely got the better end of this swap. As a lover of history, and of Maggie’s story and The Elms, she is more prepared for her new surroundings. Poor Maggie isn’t ready for the social changes of our time – the language, the freedom for young women, the customs – much less the technology. Watching the girls negotiate their environments was a lot of fun.

This was less of a mystery than I expected. Discovering what happened to the painting played a smaller role than the bigger issues of (1) what to do with Hannah’s discoveries in 1905 and (2) how to get switched back to their own time. I would categorize this as historic fantasy moreso than mystery. This is an asset, though, because I think this will appeal to fans of historic fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

There’s a great girl-power piece to this that I wasn’t expecting but I adored. It took the overall story to a higher level for me than if they had not included it. There are recommended resources in the authors’ notes for readers who want to know more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Aladdin for the opportunity to read an electronic review copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Arts and Thefts by Allison K. Hymas

REVIEW: Arts and Thefts by Allison K. Hymas

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Jeremy, Case and Hack are heading to an art show for the day. Case has entered a painting in the show. Of course his best friends are there to back him up!

But trouble is brewing. Someone stole paint and paintbrushes from another artist. Jeremy’s sometimes-nemesis/sometimes-partner, Becca, is on the case. Even though they worked together once before, Becca is determined to catch Jeremy at something and see him in detention forever. But Jeremy isn’t a thief. Sure, he takes “retrieval” jobs, but it’s always to right wrongs.

Becca and Jeremy realize the thief could use the stolen items to sabotage the art show. If they work together, they could solve the case and protect Case’s painting and the others from the saboteur. Jeremy is a righter-of-wrongs after all. But he can’t let Case or Hack know he’s working with Becca. They would never understand.

Review

In preparation for reading this book, I read the first book, Under Locker and Key, a book that has been on my wishlist since it published. I loved it and gave it 4.5 stars in my (non-blog) reviews. This second book, while different, is just as terrific. Book one is more of a heist/con story (like The Great Greene Heist – which I loved – but with a much smaller crew) while this is a more traditional mystery. The characters are fantastic. Becca and Jeremy like to think they are on opposite sides of the law, but their intentions are similar – to right wrongs.

I loved that this story took place almost entirely over one day at the art show. It gave the story a nice, quick pace. The secondary characters for this one were a lot of fun. I hope there’s going to be a book 3 because I’d love to see how the new characters could factor in. I’m also hoping for more of Case and Hack. I feel like they are going to make a huge contribution to a later story. They have the skills, but we haven’t gotten to see much of them. Yet.

These are some of my favorite middle grade mysteries. I highly recommend both books – and that you watch for more from this series! Many, many thanks to Netgalley and Aladdin for an electronic review copy of this book for review purposes. That pushed me to get the first book off of my TBR list so I could enjoy this one fully.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: The Eagle of Rome by Dan Metcalf

REVIEW: The Eagle of Rome by Dan Metcalf

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

It’s 1928. Lottie Lipton lives at the British Museum with her Uncle Bert who is the Curator of Egyptology there. One day adventurer extraordinaire, Lady Viola, shows up at the museum, announcing she is off to find the Eagle of the Ninth Legion. She’s at the museum to check their library for clues.

Lady Viola is one of Lottie’s idols. But once the reporters are gone, Viola turns from gracious and sophisticated to rude and ruthless. While Lottie would put the missing Eagle into the museum so everyone could enjoy it, Viola wants it so she can sell it to finance her vacations. So Lottie vows to find it first.

Lottie, Uncle Bert and Reg, the museum’s caretaker, will have to solve several logic puzzles if they’re going to beat Lady Viola to the Eagle!

Review

This is a cute, simple book with puzzles embedded into the story (with solutions). Lottie is sweet and values learning and art for the masses. The fast story means we don’t get to know her very well, but she is likable from the start.

The puzzles are fun and appear to be set up so the reader doesn’t see the solution until he/she turns the page (I saw an early electronic arc, so I don’t know what the final version will look like). There are bonus puzzles in the back matter along with vocabulary and facts related to the book.

Good for early elementary elementary classrooms and readers starting to test out short chapter books.

Thanks to Netgalley and Darby Creek Publishing for providing and electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Van Gogh Deception by Deron R. Hicks

REVIEW: The Van Gogh Deception by Deron R. Hicks

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A twelve-year-old boy is found in the National Gallery. No one knows who he is or where he came from. The boy remembers nothing – not his name and nothing about how he got there.

The boy is placed in a temporary foster home. He goes by the name Art because the name “Arthur” is in his coat. He knows a crazy amount of information about famous artists and their paintings, so the family goes back to the Gallery to see if anything trigger’s Art’s memory.

But they have no idea that someone is watching them, determined to find Art before he gets his memory back and foils their plans.

When they make their move on Art, they get his foster sister, Camille, too. Soon the kids are on the run with no idea who to trust or why they are being pursued.

Review

This was awesome! I loved everything. The energy and adventure worked for me. I thought the kids’ responses were realistic (although they seemed a little older than their stated ages) for the story. I loved the QR codes embedded in the story so the reader could SEE the art they were discussing in the story. Such a clever idea!

Art and Camille are a lot of fun. Art is bright and curious and determined. Camille is fiercely loyal. They make a great team, and I’d love to see them take on another mystery together.

I feel like I learned things about the art world while having a great time with a terrific story. This reminded me of FRAMED by James Ponti with the art tie-in, but this has it’s own features to love. I’d definitely give this to FRAMED fans, mystery lovers, and art lovers. This would be a perfect addition to home, school and classroom libraries – and even art classrooms. This is a book I will be telling folks about for the rest of this year!

Thanks to Netgalley and HMH Books for providing an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥