Mrs. Fine’s Fourth Grade GATE

This year, we will be reading together at least two books – Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3, both by Blue Balliett.
Blue Balliett started writing Chasing Vermeer six years ago when she was a teacher in Hyde Park, Chicago, while her third-grade students wrote art mysteries.

Chasing Vermeer is a smart detective story set in Hyde Park and centers around two precocious children who are intent upon uncovering the mysterious connection between a suddenly missing Vermeer painting, their extraordinary 6th grade teacher, and their neighbor, Ms. Sharpe. One of Blue’s reasons for writing this book was to encourage children to solve mysteries, draw connections, appreciate art, and think critically.

The Wright 3 - Supersleuths Petra and Calder, along with Calder’s old friend Tommy, are cryptically drawn into another art mystery — this time involving a Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece, the Robie House. But when a well-meaning classroom art restoration project turns into a frightening search for ghosts, hidden treasure, and a coded message left behind by Wright, the three find themselves in a tangled web where life and art intermingle with death and danger. Can the kids pursue justice and escape with their lives?

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