As a high school English teacher for the last 28 years, I can tell you that

if you have questions, that means you are engaged, that you care about the

characters, that you are invested in the story! Nothing is too scary,

nothing is gory or violent, but I DID shed a few tears in one scene. But more

importantly, I laughed and I rolled my eyes and I smiled at some of the

interactions between the two main characters. I recognized my own young son in

some of the comments, I saw my dad in others, and I saw myself in

parts of the mom.

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Vanished In Vista Point relates the exploits of Hank Boyd, his new friend

Hannah Simmons, and Hank’s bloodhound Chaucer. Hank and Hannah are teens about to enter high school--one of the most terrifying junctures in a child’s young life-- and they’re spending the summer, as the title tells us, solving a mystery.  Though only fourteen, Hank is already the host of an investigative podcast called Forensic 411 (one of the neatest tricks Skeen uses in the book is starting each chapter with a factoid from a Forensic 411 episode, usually on a subject we’re about to see in the story). As with any Teen/YA hero

worth their weight, he’s considered unique by his contemporaries, as in he’s not very popular with the other kids. In particular, his arch-enemy, Dillon Buckley, (a long line of Buckley’s fill the villain role here) bullies Hank mercilessly, often to the point of cruelty. Complicating Hank’s story further is the fact that he lives with his single mother and grandfather, who suffers from dementia. His father is not in the picture and his mother has not been forthcoming even about his father’s identity. which is also cruel, in its own way) And, typically for a fourteen-year-old boy, Hank’s not emotionally equipped to tell her how he feels about it all.  Luckily for Hank, Hannah Simmons moves in down the street, and, coincidentally, onto a property where a mysterious disappearance happened

thirty-five years before. Thus precipitating the main elements of the story: the blossoming of Hank and Hannah’s friendship, and the beginning of the mystery they’ll team up (with Chaucer) to solve.  The story is told from Hank’s POV and he’s an eminently likeable character, partly because he is an interesting kid, even with all the usual ticks that can make any boy in early adolescence annoying. But mainly I think it’s because Skeen’s writing is so infectious. She ably presents Hank with all the aforementioned complications, but also made him darkly funny and sarcastic . She made him fun to ride along with. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s really smart and works hard at his love in life, which is crime investigation. There are scenes that might not be appropriate for younger children (the violence in parts, and scenes where our heroes break the law might raise the hackles of some parents), but in general it’s the more mature

themes that adds a richness to the story. (the unknown father; the potentially dating mother; mixed-race characters; and most prominently, the complexity and utter confusion of boy/girl relationships at the age of fourteen) All this together equals an interesting mystery and enjoyable read.
-P.J.Owen

I love books on crime and the heroes who solve the mystery. I especially liked this one

because the heroes were young teens. They made adult and smart decisions in solving this

crime. Didn't want to set it down. Bravo
D. Virtue

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