About This Book

View the Video Read-Aloud with Blue Balliett

When Calder Pillay travels with his father to a remote village in England, he finds a mix of mazes and mystery... including an unexpected Alexander Calder sculpture in the town square. Calder is strangely drawn to the sculpture, while other people have less-than-friendly feelings towards it. Both the boy and the sculpture seem to be out of place... and then, on the same night, they disappear!

Calder's friends Petra and Tommy must fly out to help his father find him. But this mystery has more twists and turns than a Calder mobile... with more at stake than first meets the eye.

Praise for The Calder Game

"...potent messages about observation, imagination, and connections...what's fascinating is how she weaves in the kids' attraction to puzzles, words, and found objects as she moves them through literal and figurative mazes. Balliet again offers readers new ways to think." — Booklist, starred review

"Acclaimed for her sophisticated juggling of art concepts, mystery, philosophy and storytelling, Balliett outdoes herself with this ambitious novel. Motivated readers will treasure this provocative title." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

"…this mystery is every bit as intricate, engaging, and delightful as Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3…" — School Library Journal

About the Authors or Illustrators

Blue Balliett

Blue Balliett grew up in New York City and studied art history at Brown University. Balliett and her family now live in Chicago. She taught at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools before becoming a full-time writer.

Read more >