Thursday, February 06, 2014

Half A Chance (2014)

Half A Chance. Cynthia Lord. 2014. Scholastic. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I really enjoyed Cynthia Lord's new novel, Half A Chance. Lucy and her family have just moved to New Hampshire. It is summer. Lucy is new and nervous about finding friends. She meets Nate and his family on her first night there. Lucy and Nate and Emily become friends quickly. But one of Nate's friends isn't so happy to see him spending time with Lucy: Megan. And if the truth is admitted, Lucy does seem to monopolize Nate's time with this new and exciting photography contest. Lucy and Nate have teamed up on this scavenger hunt and are trying to take amazing photos. Lucy is contemplating entering the contest even though her father is the judge of the contest.

Half A Chance is a very nature-friendly book. The kids are always, always outside and doing something. One of the stories in the book has them observing loons (and recording their observations and sending them off to a society).

What I enjoyed even more than the photography or the bird-watching was the focus on family and friendship. I really liked Nate's family. I loved his Grandma Lilah. I thought the handling of her dementia was nicely done. It was honest and bittersweet.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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