Blue Balliett (born 1955 in New York) is an American author, who lives with her husband, three children, a grandson, and a cat. She is best known for her award-winning novel for children, '' Chasing Vermeer''. She was born Elizabeth Balliett, but her family started calling her Blue shortly after her birth. ''Chasing Vermeer'', released by Scholastic Press in 2004, is her best-known and most highly praised book. Illustrated by

Brett Helquist Brett L. Helquist (born November 1965) is an American illustrator best known for his work in the children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events''. As such, his illustrations for that series have appeared in multiple media, including the bo ...

, it concerns the fictitious theft of a painting by 17th-century

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

artist

Jan Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

. The book was a bestseller and won a number of accolades and awards, including the 2005 Edgar Award in the Best Juvenile category. In addition, she was awarded the Agatha Award in 2004 in the category Best Children's or Young Adult. A sequel, '' The Wright 3'', was released in April, 2006, and a third, ''

The Calder Game ''The Calder Game'' is a children's novel written by Blue Balliett and illustrated by Brett Helquist, published in 2008. It is the sequel to '' The Wright 3'', which in turn is the sequel to '' Chasing Vermeer''. Some underlying themes includ ...

'', was published two years later, in April 2008. ''The Danger Box'' was published in August 2010. Her next book, '' Hold Fast'' was published in 2013. Soon after, in 2015, Balliett published ''Pieces and Players''. ''Out of the Wild Night'' was published in 2018. Balliett has also published two oral histories involving Nantucket ghost stories in the 1980s, which have been consolidated into one book, "Nantucket Ghosts" released by Down East Books in 2006. Before releasing Chasing Vermeer, she taught third grade at the

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab or Lab Schools and abbreviated as UCLS though the high school is nicknamed U-High) is a private, co-educational day Pre-K and K-12 school in Chicago, Illinois. It is affiliated with ...

. During her tenure, she coordinated with NASA astronaut and

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

alumnus John M. Grunsfeld (S.M., '84, Ph.D., '88) to send her pupils' literature and creative artwork into space during a routine

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

mission on the Columbia space shuttle."Alumnus will travel with Lab Schools’ project to Hubble Space Telescope"
''University of Chicago Chronicle'' Vol. 21 No. 10, Feb. 21, 2002.

References

External links

Official Web Site
Scholastic {{DEFAULTSORT:Balliett, Blue 1955 births Living people American children's writers Edgar Award winners Writers from New York City Writers from Chicago Agatha Award winners American women children's writers American women novelists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Illinois