''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 ''Chasing Vermeer'' is a 2004 children's art mystery novel written by Blue Balliett and illustrated by Brett Helquist. Set in Hyde Park, Chicago near the University of Chicago, the novel follows two children, Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee. A ...

''. Some underlying themes include the art of

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

pentomino A pentomino (or 5-omino) is a polyomino of order 5; that is, a polygon in the Plane (geometry), plane made of 5 equal-sized squares connected edge to edge. The term is derived from the Greek word for '5' and "domino". When rotation symmetry, rota ...

es, and the freedom of public art. Calder, Petra, and Tommy next appeared in Balliett’s book ''Pieces and Players'', published in 2015.

Plot overview

Calder Pillay travels with his father to

Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census recorded a parish population of 3,521, up from t ...

and becomes interested in an unexpected

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

(who coincidentally is his namesake) in the town square. On the same night, both Calder and the sculpture disappear. His friends Petra and Tommy fly to England to aid his father in finding him.

Critical reception

''The Calder Game'' received mainly positive reviews. ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'' called it "every bit as intricate, engaging, and delightful" as its two precursors and praised the structure of the novel. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' was positive and wrote that it was "an ambitious novel". BookPage's Alice Cary praised the pacing and intriguing questions. The website Kidsreads.com claimed that ''The Calder Game'' is "Balliett's best work of fiction yet". However, ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' felt that ''The Calder Game'' "falls short of ''

'' brilliance" and it was marred by a "problematic construction and too many tidy dei ex machinis".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder Game, The 2008 American novels Novels set in Oxfordshire 2008 children's books Children's books set in Oxfordshire