Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord

Lucy has moved to a new town on a lake in New Hampshire.  She and her mom will be living there alone for a few months while her dad, a famous photographer, is doing a photo shoot in another state. Lucy is also a photographer and when she hears about a photo contest her dad is judging, she decides to secretly enter.  After her dad leaves, she quickly becomes friends with the boy next door, Nate, who is visiting his grandmother for the summer.  Together they get involved in helping Nate's grandmother keep track of the loons for a bird preservation group. She tells Nate about the contest and he decides to help her find things to photograph. As Lucy and Nate search for good pictures, and keep track of the loons, Lucy takes a great picture that Nate finds offensive.  Lucy has to decide if winning the photography contest is worth risking her friendship with Nate. This is kind of a melancholy book, but I got really caught up in it.  It explores very complex relationships and difficult ethical questions.  The author spends a lot of space talking about different photo compositions and techniques, which slows down the action a little, but might be interesting to someone who is into photography. This isn't a book for a reluctant reader, but is a good choice for child who is a little more mature and tired of fluffier stuff. (218p)