Masterpiece
If you thought E.B. White鈥檚 Charlotte was an artist, wait until you meet Marvin. He鈥檚 the heroic beetle at the center of Masterpiece, Elise Broach鈥檚 new mystery, and if you鈥檙e squirming at the combination of 鈥渉eroic鈥� and 鈥渂eetle鈥� then get a load of Marvin鈥檚 talent.
Marvin鈥檚 a pretty ordinary bug when 鈥淢asterpiece鈥� opens. He spends his days watching the goings-on in the Pompadays鈥� New York City apartment. His main enemies are stiletto heels and insect-averse humans.
But when 11-year-old James Pompaday leaves open his birthday present 鈥� a bottle of ink, gifted to him by his artist father 鈥� Marvin finds himself thrust into a world of forgeries, art heists, and FBI operatives.
Things start out innocently enough when Marvin, drawn to the ink, discovers an artistic talent that rivals that of Albrecht D眉rer, a Renaissance artist known for his detailed miniatures.
James receives credit for Marvin鈥檚 drawing, but not before boy and bug form an unlikely friendship 鈥� and a complex (if unwitting) deception.
The real intrigue begins when a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art asks James to copy a D眉rer piece. It鈥檚 part of a top-secret plan to get a stolen D眉rer back, but in true art-heist fashion, nothing goes as planned.
And though Marvin鈥檚 just a tiny beetle caught in an elaborate web of trickery and danger, he vows to save the masterpiece 鈥� with James鈥檚 help, of course.
With 鈥淢asterpiece,鈥� Broach makes another welcome contribution to the聽 art-mysteries-for-kids genre recently populated by offerings from Blue Balliett (鈥淭he Calder Game,鈥� 鈥�Chasing Vermeer.鈥�)And like聽 any good title of this type,聽 鈥淢asterpiece鈥� will keep readers guessing 鈥� and turning pages. Broach鈥檚 pacing is sublime; you can鈥檛 help speeding on to the next chapter.
But 鈥淢asterpiece鈥� also bridges the gap between the commercial and the literary. Rather than sacrifice character development for intrigue, the story allows both to develop organically. The characters鈥� emotions feel true, their moral dilemmas real.
And the pacing benefits, rather than suffers, from Broach鈥檚 鈥渢ime-out鈥� moments: a philosophical reverie on virtue, the cottony sky at dusk.
In addition, Broach doesn鈥檛 shy away from conversations about art. In a less-capable writer鈥檚 hands, these moments could feel didactic or leaden. Instead, education itself becomes part of the story: the nature of the D眉rer drawings, what they stand for, helps to inform and explain the characters鈥� motivations.
For Marvin, the motivation is twofold 鈥� helping a friend and drawing close to the master he dreams of emulating. Both impulses are thoroughly believable. Marvin isn鈥檛 zany enough (or big enough) to invoke the bugs in Roald Dahl鈥檚 鈥�James and the Giant Peach.鈥� But the best of all human-animal friendships are echoed here: 鈥淐harlotte鈥檚 Web,鈥� 鈥淭he Cricket in Times Square,鈥� even Sterling North鈥檚 鈥淩ascal.鈥�
Which is to say that in spite of his family鈥檚 misgivings (and in spite of strict codes of behavior relating to human-beetle relationships), Marvin is determined to stand by James. In many instances, this means risking the displeasure of his relatives 鈥� not to mention his own life.
It also leads to thrilling moments of suspense 鈥� and laugh-out-loud moments of hilarity. For example, when you鈥檙e a beetle who can neither write nor speak, how do you communicate that you鈥檝e found a stolen painting? And once the painting has been recovered, how do you keep those humans from accidentally putting it back into the hands of the thief?
I won鈥檛 give away the ending here, but I will venture that even skeptical readers will have a hard time not calling Marvin heroic by the end of this tale. Heroic because of his bravery and cunning, sure. But more so because of what Marvin brings out in James 鈥� and what both boy and beetle learn about friendship in the process.
Jenny Sawyer regularly reviews children's literature for the Monitor.
