The Einsteins of Vista Point
by Ben GutersonPublished by: Christy Ottaviano Books on April 12, 2022
Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery, Contemporary
Pages: 272
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:
After the tragic loss of their sister, Zack and his siblings band together to investigate a Morse Code-inspired mystery in this stunning novel about grief and resilience.
When Zack’s younger sister dies in a tragic accident, his family moves to a small town in the Northwest to try and heal from all the pain. Eleven-year-old Zack blames himself for his sister’s death, and he struggles to find any comfort in his new surroundings. Vista Point is home to many mysterious landmarks: The great domed Tower casts inscrutable shadows, and what is the cryptic message in its ceiling medallion? There are several hidden watering holes and even a secret cave in the woods with messages written on its walls. Zack, at first, feels lost in Vista Point. Until he meets Ann, a girl who lives in the area and shows Zack all the special places to be discovered. But there’s something that seems a bit strange about Ann—and perhaps a secret she is keeping from him.
With emotional depth, an unforgettable setting, and a winning cast of characters, this masterful novel thoughtfully explores the grieving process, and how a season of pain can evolve into a summer of healing.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Middle grade that deals with grief, loss, and healing.
- A contemporary story about family bonding and coming together.
- A peaceful, small town setting harboring a low-key mystery.
- Positive sibling bonds.
Many thanks to Christy Ottaviano Books and TBR and Beyond Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished product and may differ from the final version.
The Winterhouse series is a hugely popular series at my library. Kids can’t seem to get enough of it, and our copy goes out regularly. While I’ve never read it myself, when I saw that the author had a new book coming out, I figured that I should definitely check it out! So here we are.
The Einsteins of Vista Point is a heartwarming story about a family working together to heal after the loss of a sibling, mixed with touching sibling bonds and a small mystery.
I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would, mostly because I had expected a mystery and this really felt more like a general fiction contemporary book. The mystery was so painfully obvious that I guessed it almost immediately and was kind of bummed to find that I had called everything right away. I think readers who go in expecting more contemporary and less mystery will really enjoy this book, though. The setting is fantastic, the characters are great, and the interactions between family members are funny and uplifting!
The Einsteins of Vista Point is set in a picturesque small town setting that will feel immediately familiar to rural readers.
Vista Point has a history. Not always a pleasant one, either. The town has its secrets, which the Einsteins are slowly learning about as the past comes back to haunt them. But then again, what small town would be complete without its history and secrets?
I really liked the descriptions of Vista Point. It seems like such a quiet, idyllic place to live! I definitely felt flashbacks to my own childhood as the Einsteins explored the woods and went swimming in a random pond they found. For urban readers, this book may be a bit eye-opening as to what life is like in small towns, but as a small town native, born and raised, I thought Guterson hit the nail on the head with this setting! Plus, the descriptions just make you feel like you’re there.
Also, the Tower sounds absolutely amazing and I’m jealous that we don’t have one. Don’t know what the Tower is? Guess you’ll just have to read it to find out. 😉
“I won’t, either,” Zack said. “Our secret.”
Secret. It was the word that remained echoing in his head the rest of the afternoon, all the more so because—as glad as he’d been to see Ann a second time—he felt certain there was some secret she was keeping from him.
What this book does really well is weave a solid story of a family healing from grief and loss.
As I’ve said, the mystery was pretty obvious. What I loved most about this book, though, is this family! The Einsteins lost their youngest member, who was hit by a car just under a year before this book starts. The family is still reeling from this loss. In fact, it’s the reason they’ve moved to Vista Point to begin with (which I didn’t fully understand the reasoning here, but I doubt middle grade readers will care).
The family members each experience grief in a different way, which makes sense. For Zack, his grief comes with a healthy layer of guilt, because he was supposed to be watching his sister when she ran after a kitten into the road. So he finds it harder to move on. His siblings are there for him, though. I loved how much the family supports each other as they’re working through their grief together.
Readers will likely fall in love with the Einsteins. Not only is there a lot of them, each with their own unique personality, but they’re also very loving and supportive of each other.
Considering how many middle grade books have a tendency of simply killing off parents or making them conveniently absent, it’s always nice to read a book where the parents are not only present and active in their children’s lives but also extremely supportive! Not only are they present, but Zack’s parents are adorable and share inside jokes with their kids.
There were some moments where I was kind of confused, where Zack said something and nobody in his family believed him or thought he was lying, even though there was no indication that he had a history of lying or stretching the truth. There were times when I was a bit confused about the interactions simply because the siblings would occasionally lash out at weird moments that didn’t make sense to me (although, I guess that fits with dealing with grief).
Still, despite that, I mostly enjoyed the sibling interactions. They joke between themselves and occasionally drive each other crazy (as siblings are wont to do), but at the end of the day, they’ve got each others’ backs. I was just absolutely in love with how close-knit the Einsteins are!
“Do you know that when you’re outside and you’re just breathing all regular,” Miriam said, “you’re inhaling little tiny bugs? Which means you’re not a complete vegetarian.”
If readers go in expecting a mystery book, they’re likely to be disappointed. The mystery feels like a minor part of this story, and the resolution is obvious and easy to guess from the beginning of the book.
This isn’t really anything wrong with the book, per se. It’s more about managing expectations. I went in expecting the mystery to dominate the book, had been excited for that, and it simply wasn’t the case. The majority of this book read more like contemporary general fiction, which is perfectly fine . . . if you’re into that genre. I’m really not. Which meant there were large portions of the book that felt like they were slow or dragging, because I tend to be less interested in contemporary fiction.
As for the mystery itself, I guessed it almost immediately. I thought that surely that couldn’t be the resolution, because it was so obvious, but it was. I will say that I think kids may not be able to guess it quite as easily, unless they maybe read a ton of mystery and are used to the tropes and good at solving things.
About Ben Guterson
Ben Gutersonis the author ofWinterhouse, an Edgar Award and Agatha Award finalist as well as anIndie Next List Pick, and its sequels,The Secrets of WinterhouseandThe Winterhouse Mysteries. TheWinterhouse trilogy is available in ten languages worldwide. Ben and his family live in the foothills ofthe Cascades east of Seattle, and you can visit him online at benguterson.com.
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