Calder Pillay

Calder is an eleven-year-old boy who attends the University School in Hyde Park near Chicago. He is what the narrator calls a Hybrid kid with his dad being from India and his mom from Canada. Their home is quiet and orderly. As an only child Calder often wishes his parents paid less attention to him. Calder is a smart, somewhat odd, boy who loves pentominoes and anything related to math and patterns. As the story progresses, he uses the patterns and clues he he believes his pentominoes give him to guide his and Petra's search for The Lady Writing, a painting by Johannes Vermeer.

As the story begins, Calder is an awkward and somewhat shy boy whose best friend, Tommy, has recently moved to New York City and left him alone without an ally. He frequently notices Petra, a girl who lives on his street and is...