The Frame-Up
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
When Sargent Singer discovers that the paintings in his father’s gallery are alive, he is pulled into a captivating world behind the frame that he never knew existed.
Filled with shady characters, devious plots, and a grand art heist, this inventive mystery-adventure celebrates art and artists and is perfect for fans of Night at the Museum and Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer.
There’s one important rule at the Beaverbrook Gallery—don’t let anyone know the paintings are alive. Mona Dunn, forever frozen at thirteen when her portrait was painted by William Orpen, has just broken that rule. Luckily twelve-year-old Sargent Singer, an aspiring artist himself, is more interested in learning about the vast and intriguing world behind the frame than he is in sharing her secret.
And when Mona and Sargent suspect shady dealings are happening behind the scenes at the gallery, they set out to find the culprit. They must find a way to save the gallery—and each other—before they are lost forever.
With an imaginative setting, lots of intrigue, and a thoroughly engaging cast of characters, The Frame-Up will captivate readers of Jacqueline West’s The Books of Elsewhere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While 12-year-old budding artist Sargent Singer (his name is an homage to artist John Singer Sargent) spends the summer with his father, the executive director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Canada, he discovers a secret. After the subject of one portrait, 13-year-old Mona Dunn, sticks her tongue out at him, he learns that the figures in the gallery's "world-class" paintings can come to life and can speak and travel between frames. Sargent forms a close friendship with Mona, but the most powerful relationship proves to be the nuanced, raw one between Sargent and his estranged father as they repair damage caused by divorce and distance. MacKnight (It's a Mystery, Pig Face!) gives sly nods to similar uses of the living art idea, including those in the Harry Potter series and Night at the Museum. Explanations of art concepts and works can bog the narrative down a bit, but the gradual pacing and slow-building tension will help readers navigate the complexities of the central mysteries about disappearing art, a forgery scheme, and Sargent's father's work. Despite some uneven moments, this fantasy, supported by an inventive cast of characters, offers a compelling portrait of art and life. Ages 8 12.
