Staff Pick
This charming middle-grade novel is a mystery surrounding art and family with some history thrown in, too. I love quirky Theodora and her assortment of friends that help her figure out what is under the egg. Recommended By Jennifer H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets
Chasing Vermeer in this clever middle grade debut.
When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather's painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. That's great news for Theo, who's struggling to hang onto her family's two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather's legacy of $463. There's just one problem: Theo's grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen.
With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city and her grandfather that she never knew. To solve the mystery, she'll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time.
Review
"Fans of Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer and Elise Broach's Masterpiece will enjoy this art caper." School Library Journal
About the Author
In writing Under the Egg, Laura Marx Fitzgerald drew on her study of art history at Harvard and Cambridge Universities. She lives in Brooklyn, and this is her middle grade debut.