The plot line is absorbing and intricate, and as with each of her previous books, Balliett introduces many concepts involving art, math and literature. We learn the myth of the Minotaur, that half-man, half-bull who ate humans. We learn more about pentominoes, Calder’s particular love, and explore the meaning of patterns of five. We see how words can go beyond our senses:
"Black, black, black went a drip someplace to his right. He’d never realized how much the word fit what it sounded like: the flatness, the no-color, of dark water on dark stone. Black, black, black. "
The change in the initially prickly relationship between Petra and Tommy is handled well and realistically, based as it is on their mutual feelings for Calder. Unless they can overcome their differences, they don’t stand a chance of finding him. With the stakes so high, this is very clear to both of them.
The ending is very satisfactory, wrapping up all the separate pieces. We’re also introduced to another interesting character who, I suspect (and hope), will become part of the team in the next book in the series.
Most wonderfully, though, I came away from my reading of this book with a desire to explore Alexander Calder’s work more fully. I wanted to see for myself the beauty of his mobiles. I wanted to play the Calder Game: design my own mobiles on paper, balancing ideas, things, concepts in ways they have never been balanced before.
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