Behind the Canvas

bibliophile - "...'Synergy, my dear girl. It occurs with paint and canvas but more so with people. Therein lies the wonder of friendship. Two small insignificant beings can suddenly master the world--or at least their own troubles--when they care enough for each other.'" Friendship is the key to overcome any darkness. Meet Claudia, a shy student, who's friends are paint and canvas. One day in a field trip, Claudia sees a boy with the "most awesome blue eyes" in an odd painting and starts introducing herself... however once Claudia had her opportunity to talk to another student, it looked like Claudia was hallucinating... making her seem crazy to her classmates... but in reality... Claudia saw what she saw... After actually meeting Pim (the boy with the nice blue eyes), Granny Custos (an original Artisti) invites Pim and Claudia... Pim tells Granny Custos his gruesome adventure about how Nee Gezicht cursed Pim after "spilling paint all over her dress," so in order to save Pim to be free from Nee Gezicht, Claudia must set out in an adventure... behind the canvas of each painting to steal the staff and to defeat the "Sightless one." Her weakness is that she is afraid of dying... and with the help of Granny's advice and "magic," they can help save the painted world and of course Pim... to actually eat food and be fill, and to actually sleep... After many betrayals that Claudia thought Pim said...they finally mend their friendship and with the help of the one and only Cash... they are set to defeat this horrible witch... Although many past judgements were stated about Pim, it shows that you should believe about what will happen and what is going on as the present and not focus on the past... After many traveling and actually meeting the witch... things become to pace a bit faster and weaves into this intricate web... I love how the author chose different and real paintings to describe each scenery... Also one bonus... there were footnotes on the bottom of the page which provided a lot of background history and information which gives a bit more "oomph" to the book... not only you get a taste of fantasy... you also get a taste of the history of each painting... Like who knew about the Rembrandt Van Rijn... and Rembrandt is a significant character in this book... I feel like I learned so much in one sitting... while going on this adventure with Claudia and Pim... What the author wrote is an amazing tale... once your inside a painting... everything that is in the painting becomes real... it's so amazing.. I can relate because I love art... and acrylic painting has been a specialty... and once you start painting... you're just hypnotized by the different shades and texture that you can do to paint in a canvas... I feel like it's basically about looking behind every story.. .because although things might look right... you still need to look behind the real picture... This heartwarming story will seriously bring a smile to your face... and you might even shed a few tears... (tears of joy/sadness)... I certainly did not see the ending about Pim and Claudia's future happening after the war... but overall this quick read is amazing... Aspiring artists, readers, and anybody who wants inspiration to not give up... this book is perfect for you... Enjoy!! :) Also... you might not see this coming... but nail polish remover is really helpful!!! :D

October 15, 2015
Claudia Miravista, a lonely sixth-grader who loves creating and viewing artwork, becomes involved in an unusual task: rescuing a boy named Pim from a mysterious land behind the world's art canvases. At the local art museum, Claudia's classmates laugh at her when she tells them that she saw a blue-eyed boy staring out from a painting of three Dutch gentlemen. However, the observant art curator realizes that Claudia has a special gift, and he ensures that Claudia meets his wise, ancient grandmother. Granny Custos gives Claudia a bit of esoteric information and a quest, helping Claudia travel into Pim's world. From the start, dangers lurk at every turn, as Claudia becomes physically entangled with famous paintings such as Rubens' Saint George and the Dragon and Ernst's Fireside Angel. How powerful is the evil Nee Gezicht, and is Pim trustworthy? There are moments of extreme silliness, as when the Mona Lisa reveals an unexpected "loogie-hocking surfer chick" persona. The cinematic, cliffhanger adventure concludes in a way that only the most naive readers--and Claudia--will not expect; character development throughout is given less attention than action and art. Readers will find themselves searching out art-history textbooks or the Internet for visuals to accompany the descriptions of art and art movements. Numerous footnotes from a fictional Dr. Burkhardt's art-history book are both informative and funny. Plenty of vivid, painterly action scenes carry the day. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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December 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-Aiming to do for art history what Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series (Disney-Hyperion) has done for Greek mythology, Vance's novel follows its 12-year-old protagonist, a budding artist named Claudia Miravista, into a world where famous artists and art iconography come to life as dynamic, idiosyncratic characters. When she unexpectedly spots a living boy, Pim, peering out from the background of a painting at the local museum, Claudia is unexpectedly drawn into both a friendship and an interdimensional conflict, which requires her to join Pim in a mysterious realm built by the imaginations of every major artist since the Renaissance. Initially bogged down by a great deal of explanatory setup (necessary to make such an abstract conceit stick), Vance's story flares to life when Claudia crosses into the canvas for the first time. Soon, she's trading gossip with the Mona Lisa, befriending one of C.M. Coolidge's poker-playing dogs, and running from a particularly frightening Max Ernst creation-all to free Pim from the clutches of an evil artist-witch named Nee Gezicht. Helped along by tongue-in-cheek footnotes from a fictional art encyclopedia, adventurous readers will end up learning a great deal about art history along the way. VERDICT A conventional misfit-turned-hero tale elevated by an inspired concept.-Abigail Garnett, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015
Grades 5-8 Claudia Miravista has always been a loner, so she doesn't mind being the only student without a partner for the class project at the art museum. She relates to paintings better, anyway, and she even has a one-sided conversation with a boy in the painting she is studying. But she's startled to see him in another painting, especially when he starts talking back. Trapped in a world of paint and canvas for centuries by an evil witch, the boy begs Claudia to help him escape. She doesn't think twice about rescuing her only real friend, but first she needs to find a way into his world. This well-paced mystery offers a pleasing protagonist and a very unusual setting. Vance cleverly injects the story with a bevy of secondary characters, many of whom readers will recognize from European paintings and popular art, and humorous footnotes from a fictional art-history textbook balance the tension. Themes of trust and loyalty figure prominently in this story, which explores what it means to be a true friend.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)