Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord

I've read two books by Cynthia Lord and enjoyed both of them. I read Rules several years ago, and last week, I read Half a Chance. 

Lucy is the main character in this novel. She is a budding photographer who has just moved to a lake in New Hampshire. Her father is a photographer who travels frequently for his job. Right before he leaves town, he tells her about a photo contest that he is judging when he gets back. Lucy wants to enter this contest but she wants to do so anonymously so her father judges her pictures by their merit, not because they are hers. 

I like how the contest makes the reader think about right and wrong. Lucy wants to the win the money to help her neighbor, but is it okay to do the wrong thing for a good reason? This book has the characters making many judgment calls which would bring up great discussion points in a classroom.

I also like the list of topics for the pictures Lucy needs to take as I would love to see how my students would interpret this list. 

One character is dealing with his grandmother losing her memory. Lord handles this with grace and realism. 

She has joined the ranks of authors whose books I will buy just because they wrote them. 

Read to a child today to help them know how to solve problems.