Masterpiece by Elise Broach

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Masterpiece is a delightful tale of a friendship formed between an unlikely pair: James, an 11 year boy and Marvin, a young beetle who lives in the kitchen cupboard of James' New York City apartment. For James' birthday, he receives an ink set from his father, which springs the book into action. Marvin finds the ink and uses it to create a scene that James' parents mistake for his. The museum wants to use his talent to stage a heist, but when things go wrong, Marvin is the only one who notices. Marvin has to brave a world he's never seen, communicate messages to people who don't understand him, and save millions of dollars worth of artwork, all while not getting stepped on or squashed.

This book highlights family life, both that of James and Marvin. Their families are different, but each learns how much he values his family. The friendship that develops between the two pleasantly evolves, despite the differences between them. They have to learn to work together in order to solve the mystery of who stole the art from the museum.


My favorite quotes from the book:

A little danger was worth it just to mix things up, to add some surprise to life. -- Masterpiece

Who could have imagined that the world would be such a complicated, interesting place? When you saw different parts of the world, you saw different parts of yourself. And when you stayed home, where it was safe, those parts of yourself also stayed hidden. --Masterpiece

A great friendship was like a great work of art. It took time and attention, and a spark of something that was impossible to describe. It was a happy, lucky accident, finding some kindred part of yourself in a total stranger. --Masterpiece



View all my reviews