I LOVE books with twists and turns and gasp aloud moments and there are plenty of those in A Strange thing Happened at Cherry Hall.
Here are some text quotes which will give you an idea about the plot of this book:
The day the painting was stolen from the museum was the warmest day that Maple Lake had had so far that year. The sun beamed down on the garden. That heat and goldenness radiated into Agatha’s burrow.
The stolen painting was called Untitled. Literally. That was its name. Its name was its lack of name.
The girl didn’t speak like most of the kids he knew from school. And there was a lilting quality to her voice. It reminded Rami of something from an old movie. It was then that Rami noticed the girl’s feet. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. Which would’ve been strange enough on its own, but upon second glance, it was obvious that her feet were not touching the floor. She was floating. Barely. But she was floating. Rami screamed.
So who is this girl? How is she connected with this theft? How can Rami prove his mother is not involved? Why did someone take this fairly obscure painting? Who is the artist? Is there a way Rami and his new friend Veda can talk to her? The museum director is acting suspiciously - is she the thief? And how is a turtle part of this intriguing story?
Listen to an audio sample here. This review from Ms Yingling has plenty of plot details.
Publisher blurb: A painting has been stolen…! When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft? Agatha the turtle knows—she has been watching from the garden. But she can’t exactly tell anyone…can she? Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery? The clues are all around them, but they’ll have to be brave enough to really look.
Colby Sharp has talked about this book SO enthusiastically and last year he read it as a class read aloud. Sadly, here in Australia it is way too expensive for your school library BUT I am certain a paperback will appear soon.
I loved the little observations by Jasmine Warga:
(He also frequently wondered if things would be better for him socially if his name ended with a y instead of an i.)
She had that accent that most rich people do, where it’s impossible to know where they are originally from, but you know that they are fancy and well educated.
Talking with Veda sometimes felt like drinking straight out of a hose—it all came at you very fast, at full blast. But he was finding it was pretty nice to be in the splash zone.
A slowly unfurling delight. Kirkus Star review
"Warga’s lighthearted mystery [is] tempered by witty banter, a touch of whimsy, and just enough suspense to make it a page-turner." — Horn Book Magazine
Other books about art theft and thieves:
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