The Vanishing Point — Susan Bonners

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.