The Frame-Up

The mystery plot will keep readers guessing until near the end, but they will find other parts of the story even more involving...While Sargent and Mona are vividly portrayed, this chapter book's most memorable element is also its most unusual: the imaginative conviction that art is alive.

A girl in a painting and a boy visiting the gallery she hangs in foil art thieves. ...MacKnight entices with art critique and technique. ...For anyone who's wondered about the people inside the frames.

Readers will delight in the canvas world that exists on the other side of the frame...Not just for art enthusiasts, this middle grade read paints fantasy, humor, and mystery into a satisfying tale about the power of friendship.

Gr 3-6--Inspired by the author's lifelong love of art and the moving portraits in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, this inventive fantasy gives a second life to its painted subjects. For the past 100 years, Mona Dunn has watched the world go by. Like the rest of the pieces at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, she is alive but only allowed to interact with the other painted inhabitants of the gallery. Communicating with the real world is strictly forbidden. These rules keep the gallery's secret safe but make life lonely and boring for the eternally 13-year-old Mona. So boring, that one afternoon she is caught recklessly moving in front of the gallery director's son, Sargent. Sargent's own loneliness prompts him to develop a friendship with Mona. Their mutual insecurity with peers is relatable despite the magical circumstances. Readers will delight in the canvas world that exists on the other side of the frame. Mona's gallery neighbors are equal parts quirky and endearing, while a sinister threat propels the plot forward. The book includes a full-color insert of the masterpieces referenced, which could be a great starting point for readers to imagine stories and worlds of their own. VERDICT Not just for art enthusiasts, this middle grade read paints fantasy, humor, and mystery into a satisfying tale about the power of friendship.--Sophie Kenney, Vernon Area Public Library District, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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. Agent: Lauren Galit, LKG Agency. (June)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.