Masterpiece
Author(s): Elise Broach
A New York Times bestselling middle grade mystery novel full of adventure, friendship, and stolen art.
Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy. After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But James can't go through with the plan without Marvin's help. And that's where things get really complicated (and interesting!). This fast-paced mystery will have young readers on the edge of their seats as they root for boy and beetle.
In Shakespeare's Secret Elise Broach showed her keen ability to weave storytelling with history and suspense, and Masterpiece is yet another example of her talent. This time around it's an irresistible miniature world, fascinating art history, all wrapped up in a special friendship— something for everyone to enjoy.
Masterpiece is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Review(s):
“Inventive ... Broach ... packs this fast-moving story with perennially seductive themes: hidden lives and secret friendships, miniature worlds lost to disbelievers ... Broach and Kelly show readers something new.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Delightful intricacies of beetle life ... blend seamlessly with the suspenseful caper as well as the sentimental story of a complicated-but-rewarding friendship ... Murphy's charming pen-and-ink drawings populate the short chapters of this funny, winsome novel.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This marvelous story is sure to be a hit.” —School Library Journal
Long-listed ALA Notable Children's Books (2009), American Library Association Notable Children's Books (2009), Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award Maser List (2010), Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List (2009), Winner Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens, Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, Long-listed Illinois Bluestem Book Award (2015), Long-listed Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award ML (2010), Long-listed Florida Sunshine State YR Award ML (2010), Long-listed CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, Long-listed Iowa Children's Choice Award Master List (2011), Long-listed Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award ML (2009), Long-listed Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year (2009), Long-listed Indiana Read Alouds Too Good to Miss Master List (2011), Winner Kansas State Reading Circle, Long-listed Nebraska Golden Sower Award Master List, Long-listed Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year (2008), American Library Association Notable Children's Books, Winner Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens (2009), Winner ABC E.B. White Read Aloud Award, Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award Maser List, Winner CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI), Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Master List, Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year (2008), Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Master List (2010), Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Award Master List (2012), Winner CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI) (2009), Long-listed Illinois Rebecca Caudill YR Choice Award ML (2012)
ISBN: 9780312608705