The Vanishing Point - Hardcover

Bonners, Susan

4.25

8 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374380813 ISBN 13: 9780374380816

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2005

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A mysterious painting is uncovered

Kate Harris has always spent the summer with her family on her grandparents’ farm. But this year she is going to be at the beach with the Langs, family friends Kate hasn’t seen since she was a baby. She is worried that she won’t get along with the Langs’ daughter, Alison. Yet she has never seen the ocean and there is something about it that intrigues her.
Exploring the new town helps divert Kate’s attention from her homesickness, as do the drawing lessons she and Alison take at the Art Association. Then Kate and Alison go to an auction, and Kate impulsively bids on a soot-covered painting. Uncovering the artwork underneath and solving the mystery of its origins and prior ownership requires some determined detective work that takes Kate on an unexpected journey. In understated prose, Susan Bonners has crafted an insightful
story about a first summer away from home and those first steps from childhood into young adulthood.

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About the Author:

Susan Bonners is the author and illustrator of many books, including Edwina Victorious and The Silver Balloon, recipient of the Christopher Award. She lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-7–Kate Harris is unhappy living in the midst of chaos: her father is having serious surgery; she is the surprise child with much older sisters leading exciting lives. She is sent to spend the summer with her mother's best friend, who has a daughter nearly Kate's age. Kate is a quiet, reflective person who excels in art but seems unable to please her father or to feel as though she fits in anywhere. During the course of the visit, the girls get to know one another, have the usual spats, and spend a great deal of time in art class. Much of the novel repeats the lessons learned there, with the title referring to perspective. Drawings show the various aspects of ways of seeing things. Kate begins to change her perspective on a number of personal issues as well. A subplot concerning her purchase of a sooty old painting and the discovery of its artist take up much of her time. Not much really happens and the extremely self-contained narrator is a bit hard to warm up to, but characterization is generally good. Metaphors are not too obvious and enhance the story. The information on art, as well as the mystery about Kate's painting, adds some interest to this quiet novel.–B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY
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