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Autumn 2005 Review:

  The Wright 3

Blue Balliet

Scholastic Press

© 2006

        Calder and Petra saved a historical painting last summer, but now Tommy's back in school and tension is high between the Wright 3. It's the end of the school year and the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Robie House in Hyde Park, has been claimed as a hazard to the environment and people. Tommy lives right next to the house in an apartment with his mom and his pet fish, Goldman. Only one week is left in school, tension and weird looks follow Tommy everywhere he goes, especially from Calder and Petra. Before Tommy moved, Calder and Petra were becoming friends, but Tommy refused to become friends with Petra, after all there was no use, he wouldn't be moving back to Hyde Park, or so he thought.
        Ms. Hussey explained to her students one day how important the Robie House was to their community. She called the destruction of the house a "murder" and Tommy agreed. What would make their neighborhood special without the house? What could they do to convince the press and the university that the could not wreck the Robie House? The students devised a plan and decided on this, they would take famous paintings, rip them up, and make a speech while standing in front of the Robie House. Their plot made people look at things differently, but it didn't convince all.
        Finally school was over and Calder was still trying to show Tommy that Petra wasn't that bad, and that he should give her a chance. It took Tommy a while, but eventually he trusted Petra, and they called themselves the Wright 3. Their job was to save the Robie House with all the clues they had. One night Tommy was looking out his window at the Robie House, he had just lost the fish talisman that he had found in the garden behind the house. Someone had broken into his apartment and stolen it, now someone was breaking into the Robie House. Over the next few weeks, the Wright 3 established a plan to break into the house, and catch the intruders. Their plan worked to and extent, but they had to revise when they were caught.
        I really enjoyed this book, it was full of twists and turns. Although, I did have a hard time finishing it because there were a lot of connections with the book before this one, Chasing Vermeer. I would recommend this book for middle school students because it shows that we can make a difference too.
 
~ Ashley Aldan, 7th grade, Boardman Center Middle School

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