Elise Broach
Hardcover | Pages: 292 pages Rating: 3.92 | 7809 Users | 848 Reviews
List Out Of Books Masterpiece
| Title | : | Masterpiece |
| Author | : | Elise Broach |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 292 pages |
| Published | : | September 30th 2008 by Henry Holt & Company (first published September 2008) |
| Categories | : | Mystery. Fantasy. Childrens. Middle Grade. Fiction. Art |
Narration During Books Masterpiece
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.Be Specific About Books Supposing Masterpiece
| Original Title: | Masterpiece |
| ISBN: | 0805082700 (ISBN13: 9780805082708) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers (2009), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2010), Iowa Children's Choice Award Nominee (2012), Bluestem Book Award Nominee (2016), Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Nominee (2012) |
Rating Out Of Books Masterpiece
Ratings: 3.92 From 7809 Users | 848 ReviewsDiscuss Out Of Books Masterpiece
From jacket flap: "Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James lives with his mother, stepfather, and baby brother 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're caught up in an art heist at the MetropolitanMasterpiece is the story of a boy and his beetle. Eleven year old James lives with his mom, stepdad and baby brother in an apartment on the Upper West Side of NYC; Marvin the beetle lives in the wall behind their kitchen sink. Through remarkable circumstances, James and Marvin end up as friends helping to foil a great art heist. This great read aloud gives us peeks into several worlds: that Roald Dahl world of clever children with adults who don't always pay attention; the beetle world in which
If I were leaning toward recommending to a child a mystery/unlikely friendship story that also features a healthy dose of art history, I will allow my eyes to scan a few shelves past 'J Fic Balliett' and go for this one instead. It's a difficult premise to pull off--a beetle the size of a grain of rice befriends an 11-year old boy and they are both drawn into an art-theft intrigue involving Albrecht Durer (sorry for the missing umlaut)--and the author does it charmingly. I only wish that Durer
The most important things in a friendship didn't have to be said out loud. Did you think that beetles were unpleasant little creatures whose only talent was to steal scraps of food, scare your mom and - supposedly - survive a nuclear apocalypse? Well, think again, because Marvin the beetle has one very special talent: he is an illustrator. That's right: he can draw miniatures with incredible talent, and this unusual ability will catapult him and his human friend James into an incredible
The book had an interesting main character. His name was Marvin and he is a beetle. He is a nice, kind, and helpful little creature. He wanted to help one a boy by painting a picture for him. Little did he know but that picture will lead him to a mystery. It was a pretty fast read and I do recommend it for artist lovers and mystery lovers. But it was not the best mystery book I have read, and I have read a lot.
Very nice mystery with some interesting themes neatly woven into the story. Two youngsters, one a human named James and the other a beetle named Marvin join forces to prevent an art theft. Along the way they become friends, overcoming Marvin's inability to speak or write human. Both learn a lot about themselves and their abilities and form a lasting friendship.
This is a delightful book. The first few chapters were lacking in originality (similar to The Borrowers and Stuart Little), but the author moved beyond that into something creative. I read Terry Pratchett's books about tiny beings, and they were so blatantly derivative of The Borrowers that I couldn't even enjoy them; not the case here. (I also decided that there are some situations that just come naturally when you're talking about tiny creatures in a world of humans. Just as human parents warn
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