Editing Chasing Vermeer (section)

{{Short description|2004 book written by Blue Balliett and illustrated by Brett Helquist}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox book
| name         = '''Chasing Vermeer'''
| author       = [[Blue Balliett]]
| language     = English
| country      = US
| genre        = [[Young adult fiction]], [[Mystery fiction|mystery]]
| publisher    = [[Scholastic Press]]
| isbn         = 0-439-37294-1
| translator   = John Adams
| image        = Chasing Vermeer cover.jpeg
| caption      = First US edition cover
| cover_artist = [[Brett Helquist]]
| release_date = June 1, 2004<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439372941/ref=dp_proddesc_1?ie=UTF8&n=283155|title=Product Details|publisher=Amazon.com|access-date=February 5, 2011}}</ref>
| media_type   = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages        = 272
| dewey        = [Fic] 21
| congress     = PZ7.B2128 Ch 2004
| oclc         = 51172514
| preceded_by  =
| followed_by  = [[The Wright 3]]
}}

'''''Chasing Vermeer''''' is a 2004 [[children's literature|children's]] art [[mystery fiction|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. After a famous [[Johannes Vermeer]] painting, ''A Lady Writing'', is stolen ''en route'' to the [[Art Institute of Chicago]], Calder and Petra work together to try to recover it. The thief publishes many advertisements in the newspaper, explaining that he will give the painting back if the community can discover which paintings under Vermeer's name were really painted by him. This causes Petra, Calder, and the rest of Hyde Park to examine art more closely. Themes of art, chance, coincidence, deception, and problem-solving are apparent.

The novel was written for Balliett's classroom intended to deal with real-world issues. Balliett values children's ideas and wrote the book specifically to highlight that. ''Chasing Vermeer'' has won several awards, including the [[Edgar Award|Edgar]] and the [[Agatha Award|Agatha]]. In 2006, the sequel entitled ''[[The Wright 3]]'' was published, followed by ''[[The Calder Game]]'' in 2008.