Masterpiece is a middle grade children’s adventure novel written by Elise Broach, illustrated by Kelly Murphy, and originally published in 2008. The book follows the budding friendship of Marvin, an artistically talented beetle, and James, an eleven-year-old boy, as they team up to solve the mystery of a drawing stolen from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Masterpiece has received critical acclaim, winning the 2008 Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year award in children’s fiction and the E. B. White Read Aloud Award in 2009. This study guide follows the 2010 First Square Fish Edition of the book, published in the United States.

Plot Summary

Marvin is a beetle living in the walls of a cupboard in a New York City apartment occupied by the Pompaday family, which includes Mr. Pompaday, Mrs. Pompaday, James, and James’s little half-brother William. James is Mrs. Pompaday’s eleven-year-old son from a previous marriage. Marvin lives with his immediate family, Mama and Papa, and shares a wall with a large extended beetle family.

For his birthday, James receives a pen and ink set from his father, Karl. James’s birthday party is a disaster, catering more toward Mrs. Pompaday’s clients’ children than James’s friends. Marvin, feeling sorry for James, creates a picture for James with the pen and ink set, which leads to Marvin and James to becoming friends. When his parents discover the drawing, James lies and tells them he created it. Karl takes James to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to show him the drawings in the gallery. They run into Karl’s old friend, Denny, and Christina, who works as a curator for the museum. When Christina sees Marvin’s drawing, she invites James to copy one of the museum’s drawings, Albrecht Dürer’s Fortitude. James has Marvin successfully copy the drawing, leading Christina to reveal her plans to stage a robbery of the work.

Christina and Denny explain that Albrecht Dürer created four drawings based on the virtues: Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance, and Justice. All besides Fortitude have been stolen, including Justice, which was stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art the prior year. Christina believes that someone is trying to collect all four. She works with the FBI to stage a theft of Marvin’s Fortitude replica in hopes of tracking down the other Virtues. According to Denny and Christina, on the day of the staged robbery, the fake Fortitude will be hanging in the museum while the real one is safe in storage. However, when the day arrives, Marvin realizes it’s the real version. Marvin cannot communicate with James, so he stays behind with the drawing as it’s stolen.

The FBI officer posing as thief follows the plan, stealing the drawing and attaching a tracking device to its matting before handing it off to connections in the black market. Marvin sticks with the drawing as it’s handed off between people in the underground art world. Finally, the drawing ends up in the hands of a voice Marvin recognizes: Denny. At first, Marvin believes this means the drawing will be saved, but he quickly realizes that Denny is the true thief and has arranged the mix-up to obtain the drawing for himself. Denny even makes sure to detach the tracking device before taking the drawing back to his temporary New York residence.

Once they’re in Denny’s study, Marvin realizes that Denny has the other three Virtues and has now completed his collection, just as Christina predicted. Thinking quickly, Marvin detaches an address label from Denny’s newspaper and secures it to his small beetle body. Marvin overhears Denny on the phone with Christina, who is upset because the drawings were mixed up. Denny tells Christina that he’s on his way back to the museum, feigning surprise at the mixed-up drawings. Marvin attaches himself to Denny’s jacket, bringing the address label with him as they return to the museum.

In Christina’s office Marvin reunites with James. They go to the hallway where they can communicate non-verbally without being seen. Marvin shows James the address label and eventually convinces James to visit the location. James leaves the museum and goes to Denny’s apartment, where the two break in with the help of a paperclip. Marvin helps James find the drawings, which are stashed in a briefcase in the closet. James calls his dad to tell him but doesn’t receive an answer. He calls Christina’s office, where Denny picks up. Not knowing Denny is the thief, James excitedly tells Denny about finding the drawings, and Denny tells James he’s on his way. Marvin directs James’s attention to the initials on the briefcase, finally communicating to James that Denny is the thief.

James steals the briefcase and leaves the apartment, running quickly back to the museum. He finds his dad and Christina in Christina’s office and tells them he found the drawings. James explains where he found them, and Christina recognizes the briefcase as Denny’s. Christina calls the authorities to tell them what’s going on. Karl takes James home.

The authorities are unable to find Denny, who is still on the run. Marvin and James continue their friendship, and even get to visit the museum exhibit with the four Dürer drawings reunited. On their way out, James breaks his hand, which frees him of having to lie about the drawings Marvin makes. Karl and Christina continue to see each other. Marvin’s family creates a studio in their home, so he has space to work on his own drawings.