The Calder Game

After visiting a special display of Alexander Calder's works with his class, Calder Pillay travels to a small town in England where he finds another one of Calder's art pieces. One evening, both Calder and the statue go missing and the town attempts to put together the few clues they have to figure out if the two Cadlers have dissappeared together or separately. To help solve the mystery, Calder's friends Tommy and Petra join his dad in England and do some sleuthing of their own.

I think this one was my favorite of the series. I am not familiar with the work of Alexander Calder, but I found the ideas so fascinating that I had to find some images of his mobiles. The growth of the characters was very welcome and seemed to round out the books well. After the angsty pre-teen friendship issues in The Wright 3, I was hesitant to read this next installment, but am very happy I did! This one is definitely darker than the others - foul play is suspected and talked about quite a bit in boy Calder's disappearance. ( )

Awesome mystery! Lots of twists and turns in this one, which is third in the mysteries series. It made me want to find out all about Alexander Calder and his art! Calder Pillay accompanies his father to England, where his father is attending a conference in Oxford. They stay at a tiny bed-and-breakfast in Woodstock, just outside of Oxford. The village has received an anonymous gift of a large Alexander Calder sculpture, which has been placed in the town square. Calder (the boy) is fascinated by the red sculpture, titled "Minotaur" but the residents of the village are generally displeased with the gift and they complain about it. Because his name is the same as the sculptor, and because he is an American and an outsider, Calder is also shunned by the people as he wanders around exploring the town's castle, gardens, and giant maze. One night, Calder doesn't come back to the inn as expected, and the same night the sculpture disappears also. Calder's friends Petra and Tommy, supervised by the intrepid Mrs. Sharpe, fly out to help find Calder when his mother falls accidentally and cannot make the trip. Where is Calder, and where is the sculpture, and are the two disappearances related? Lots of puzzles! For 6th grade and up. ( )

Very very good. ( )

The unfortunate things for this series, is that the same kids keep getting caught up in international conspiracies, which is something that would never, ever, happen in real life. Knowing that, it takes away from the overall effect of The Calder Game. It's a strong story, but the fact that these same kids keep getting involved in this stuff makes the book seem less real. ( )

Great story. Slightly unbelievable to me that such young kids could fare so well alone in a foreign country. I really enjoyed learning about Alexander Calder, although, I wasn't real clear on the whole puzzle thing. I think some kids would really like that, though. I wouldn't suggest to a younger child due to the fact that the boy is kidnapped and it might be seen as slightly scary. ( )