Half a Chance

December 9, 2013
Lucy Emery has a passion for taking pictures, just like her photographer father. Unlike him, the 12-year-old doesn’t crave living in new places “the way other people crave staying put.” Now he’s moved Lucy and her mother from Massachusetts to a lakeside cottage in New Hampshire, and even before the family has settled, he’s off again on another assignment. Lonesome and eager to prove her skill with a camera, Lucy enters a photography contest that will be judged by her father. The shots she takes of her new environment eloquently track her most significant events over the summer, which include keeping endangered loons safe from harm, finding a friend in next-door neighbor Nate, and sharing his sadness over his grandmother’s slipping memory. Filled with moments of discovery, wonder, and sorrow, Lord’s story captures Lucy’s artistic sensibility and photographer’s eye, as well as her compassion for both animals and people. Through Lucy’s thoughts and actions, Lord (Rules) elegantly conveys how complex stories can be told through moments frozen in time. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary.

Starred review from December 15, 2013
As deceptively quiet in tone as its New Hampshire lakeside setting, this affecting book affirms the power of art as it tackles profound issues of loss, memory, aging, belonging and the inevitability of change. Twelve-year-old narrator Lucy has moved again, and her famous nature-photographer father, whose attention she seeks, is traveling again. She meets boy-next-door Nate, whose grandmother Lilah is descending into dementia. This may be Lilah's last summer at the lake; her family struggles with her care and the impending changes. When Lucy discovers that her father is judging a kids' photography contest, she decides to enter, spending the summer taking pictures and tracking the loon population with Nate. Lucy takes a picture of Lilah that captures the old woman's terrible panic. She knows Nate would not want her to submit the photo; her father, however, would value the truth it captures. As Lucy's dad has taught her, "Even in the midst of horrible things, there are little bits of wonder, and all of it's true." Both the loons and photography become metaphors for the mutability of life and the importance of savoring captured moments. Nate and Lucy's sweet budding romance will appeal to preteens. With winning results, Lord brings the same sensitivity to the subject of dementia that she brought to autism in her Newbery Honor book, Rules (2006). (Fiction. 8-12)

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Starred review from February 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Twelve-year old Lucy and her parents have moved from an apartment in Boston to a lakeside cottage in New Hampshire, and her father, a prominent nature photographer, is immediately off to Arizona for a photo shoot. Her apprehension over fitting in at a new school is temporarily allayed when she is welcomed by Nate, whose family is spending the summer with his grandmother in the house next door. Kayaking, hiking, and loon-monitoring with Nate, Lucy chronicles their experiences using her own budding talent for photography. When she learns that his Grandma Lilah's failing health is keeping her from observing her beloved loon family up close, she and Nate devise a plan to rent a motorized raft to take her out on the lake. Their plan, however, involves a deception-Lucy will use Nate's name to enter a photo contest to be judged by her father. Newbery Honor winner Lord (Rules, Scholastic, 2006) has combined vivid, cinematic description with deft characterization and handles several important issues with sensitivity, nuance, and great skill. Lucy grapples with ambivalent feelings toward her self-centered father, rivalry in the face of new friendships, and an ethical dilemma in her decision to enter the contest and to use, against Nate's will, a photo which captures his grandmother's dementia. Readers will be absorbed in the well-paced plot, sympathize with the concerns of a likable protagonist, learn a bit about photography, and consider the impetus of using one's creative talent for good or ill. A deeply enjoyable read.-Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
Grades 4-6 Lucy and her parents have no sooner moved to their new home, idyllically located on a New England lake, than her professional-photographer father is off on a work trip for the summer. As he leaves, Lucy learns from him about a photo contest for kids and decides to spend the summer working on winning it. As the days and weeks pass, Lucy makes friends with the boy next door, learns to kayak, joins in the community's watch of nesting loons, and stays focused on taking photos that fulfill her father's advice to make sure the picture implies a story. Lucy seems like a blandly average preteen character, but she comes into focus when she makes a concerted effort to help her elderly neighbor, whose awareness of the world around her is beginning to slip away with the onset of some kind of dementia, to see and enjoy what she loved in the past. Like in the author's award-winning Rules (2006), the theme of self-discovery is offered here through a quietly disclosed character.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
When twelve-year-old Lucy enters a photography contest, she must decide whether to submit a picture of her new friend Nate's grandmother, whose life has become punctuated with moments of dementia and confusion. Nate is horrified by his grandmother's panicked expression, but Lucy knows it's an amazing picture. The story is moving, and readers will find themselves caught up in sensitive Lucy's honest and thoughtful narration.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2014
When twelve-year-old Lucy enters a photography contest, she must decide whether or not to send in her very best photo -- a picture of her new friend Nate's grandmother, whose life has become punctuated with moments of dementia and confusion. Nate is horrified by his grandmother's panicked expression in Lucy's photo, but Lucy knows it's an amazing picture that could likely help her win; plus, she plans to use the prize money to help Grandma Lilah. (She wants to rent a pontoon boat to take the elderly woman out onto the lake to see her beloved loons.) To add to Lucy's ethical quandaries, Nate has agreed to let her enter the competition using his name -- the contest judge happens to be Lucy's famous-photographer dad. Lord's New Hampshire lake setting is conveyed through plenty of concrete details, as are Lucy's concerns about moving there (it's her family's third move) and making new friends ("Practicemade it familiarNever easy"). Most heartfelt is Lucy's constant need to please her often-absent father -- she's a gifted photographer but always hears her dad's voice in her head, pointing out why her pictures aren't good enough. Though the book's messages about friendship, absence, and death aren't subtle, the story is moving, and readers will find themselves caught up in sensitive Lucy's honest and thoughtful narration. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from August 1, 2014
Gr 4-8-Lucy's father is a photographer and often away. She and her mother are left to set up their new home on a lake where she is befriended by Nate and his grandmother who help her become familiar with lake life. Through it all, Lucy uses own photographic talents to frame the world in which she lives, seeking unique perspectives and the contrasts. When Lucy discovers her father will be judging a photography contest, she decides to enter without his knowledge, having much to prove to him and herself. Still, as she peers through her lens she gains an unexpected insight. In this tender, evocative book listeners learn about beginnings, endings, and catching that perfect moment in time. Maria Cabezas performs the first-person narrative in a youthful voice, drawing listeners in and making every word count. This is an exceptional presentation that leaves kids feeling enclosed in one of those perfect moments Lucy seeks.-"Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA"

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.