An unlikely (but pretty cool) friendship

If you've enjoyed books like Chasing Vermeer (by Blue Balliett), you're also going to like Masterpiece by Elise Broach. James lives in a New York apartment, which is also inhabited by Marvin - a beetle - and his family. James is pretty much ignored by his parents, but Marvin takes a liking to him. When James gets a pen-and-ink set for his 11th birthday, Marvin decides to use it to create a teeny drawing as a birthday present. James loves it, and of course, all the humans think he did it. After a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the little drawing is compared to those of Albrecht Durer, and soon James and Marvin are involved in solving an art heist of some of Durer's works. The mystery's a good one, the life of the beetle family is fun to read, and the way the friendship and communication between the two develop is well written. The pen-and-ink illustrations add a great touch - can you find Marvin?

A Chicago mystery

It's fun (for me, anyway) to read a story based in Chicago, like Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett.  Vermeer was a painter in the 1600s, and Petra and Calder are friends who are trying to solve the mystery of a Vermeer painting that disappeared on its way to the Art Institute.  Several random events are described, as well as a cast of interesting characters, and it's hard to figure out how in the world they'll all fit together (but they do in the end). The book includes chapter illustrations containing a puzzle that relates to the mystery, too.  Some of the clues and patterns the kids discover are pretty cool, but some seem too coincidental.  Even though I wasn't crazy about the ending (kind of weak), I enjoyed going to the computer a few times throughout the book to see more details of the Vermeer paintings described.