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Chasing Vermeer
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==Themes== Some of Balliett's "real-world ideas" in ''Chasing Vermeer'' were "Do coincidences mean anything?" and "What is art and what makes it valuable?"<ref>{{cite web|first=Blue|last=Balliett|url=http://www.blueballiettbooks.com/bio.html|title=Blue Balliett: Bio|publisher=Blue Balliett official site|access-date=January 13, 2011}}</ref> Balliett says her "central message" is "kids are powerful thinkers, and their ideas are valuable, and that adults don't have all the answers."<ref name="newsweek">{{cite web|first=Karen|last=Springen|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2008/04/10/going-mobile-with-blue-balliett.html|title=Talking with Blue Balliett|work=Newsweek|date=April 11, 2008|access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref> A book by Rita Soltan entitled ''Reading Raps: A Book Club Guide for Librarians, Kids, and Families'' analyzed ''Chasing Vermeer'''s themes as follows: <blockquote>Deception and problem-solving are central themes in this novel as both the thief and the central adult players use a variety of ways to hide the truth while the children employ a series of mathematical and problem-solving concepts to piece together the clues to the puzzle. In addition, Calder and Petra develop a special friendship and certain respect for the value of art.<ref name="raps">{{cite book|first=Rita|last=Soltan|url=https://archive.org/details/readingrapsbookc0000solt|url-access=registration|quote=Chasing Vermeer .|title=Reading Raps: A Book Club Guide for Librarians, Kids, and Families|chapter=Chasing Vermeer|pages=[https://archive.org/details/readingrapsbookc0000solt/page/20 20]|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|year=2006|isbn=978-1-59158-234-2}}</ref></blockquote> As the thief gains publicity by challenging the community to figure out which paintings claimed to be Vermeer's were indeed painted by him, everyone starts to look at the depth in art. Sondra Eklund, who writes a book review blog, noted that the reader was left with the impression to study Vermeer's paintings and art more closely.<ref name="sonder">{{cite web|first=Sondra|last=Eklund|url=http://www.sonderbooks.com/ChildrensFiction/chasingvermeer.html|title=Sonderbooks Book Review of Chasing Vermeer|publisher=Sonderbooks|date=October 1, 2004|access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> In the book, Ms. Hussey challenges her class to the question, "What is art?" Other themes include chance and coincidence.<ref name="kidsreads"/> During ''Chasing Vermeer'', Charles Fort's book, ''Lo!'', inspires the children to list and pay attention to coincidences as they realize that they are more than what they seem<ref name="sonder" /> and explore the concept that they make up one unexplained pattern.{{cn|date=February 2022}} Balliett stated that she wanted to convey how coincidences were noticeable and felt meaningful, and how they could matter even if they were unexplainable.<ref name="chat" />
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