Pieces and Players

Blue Balliett continues to fascinate me with her plotlines involving a variety of fine arts: paintings, poetry, etc. Love how she creates protagonists who are pre-teens/growing into teenagers who are outside of the popular group of kids. Each teen is uniquely portrayed with their own talents, but working together, they become a force of nature. Each teen contributes to the unity of the whole group. Kids who might otherwise be cast aside have found their own group to become a "second family". The adults are portrayed as respectful and even awed by the talents of these teens and will often let them have free rein to do their investigating. Love the series.