3.5 stars. I mean, it was okay, but not great. For school.

And Cynthia Lord does it again! I have no idea how she writes like this! Her stories are always sweet and sad and beautiful all at the same time. The characters were wonderfully realistic, especially Lucy herself. Her jealousy, her want to prove herself to her father, everything. I really almost cried in parts. I definitely recommend this book to anyone, young or old.

Lucy's father is a photographer who suffers from Pa Ingalls Syndrome-- he doesn't like to stay in one place for very long, so he leaves Lucy and her mother in New Hampshire while he flies off to Arizona to shoot pictures of endangered bugs. Lucy manages missing her father by taking pictures of her own. When she meets Nate, she is glad to have a friend (the girls she meets are a little snotty), and is glad when his grandmother invites her to be on Loon Patrol and keep notes on the endangered loon...

I quite liked this book and I won it at a school competition after me and my best friend dressed up as fluffy the three headed dog from harry potter and won a prize for cutting holes in a cardboard box and holding up an extra dog head made of old tights (:good times

My mother-in-law's photography hobby led her to tipping a canoe in a quagmire of lilypads and sending her expensive camera to the bottom of the lake. I've had my own adventures where my scared dog tipped the canoe jumping out, then tried to drown my husband by wrapping his body around his shoulders and head. Lucy Emery, the new kid, is not a klutz and while she takes pictures in a kayak and brings her dog with on one trip she is a cautious girl that doesn't have any disasters like me. She assimi...

Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord is one of the best books because it involves taking an adventure, having fun, and starting a new life in a new place. It reminds me of when I left elementary school and came to middle school, it was strange because I didn't know that many people but as the days went by, I had fun and became friends with lots of people. This relates to Lucy's position because at first she didn't know anyone on the lake but when she met Nate they soon became good friends.Lucy, her mom...

Wow! Half a Chance is just an outstanding book- a true work of art. Beautiful, fun, and full of truths and new thoughts, (not to mention the best ending EVER!) Half a Chance will keep you wanting to turn the page and yet never wanting to get closer to the last page! Lucy has just moved to an old house on the New Hampshire lake, and her dad, a famous photographer, has just left for another business trip. Wanting to prove herself to her dad, she secretly enters a photography contest that he is jud...

This is a great summer read for a 10 or 11 year-old girl, especially someone who may not be ready for more mature content. My family used to go to a lake like this one every Summer with two or three other families, and I remember that there was a certain magic to those trips that rendered invisible all of the differences between us kids. For two weeks, it didn't matter if you were a boy or a girl, or if you were the oldest or the youngest--you were best friends with everyone else there. I think

*ARC received from publisher in exchange for an honest review*This review originally appeared on www.bookishserendipity.comOne of the things on my book wish list was more middle grade novels about goal-oriented children—kid writers, bloggers, entrepreneurs, activists, etcetera. One of the main reasons that I was interested in this novel was because I love the idea of a novel featuring a kid photographer. So many different possibilities there!That being said, Lucy was sweet and friendly and overa...

What a lovely little read about summers, photography, new friendships, missing, birds, family and respecting our subjects. The language is accessible, the arc simple but the gentle way Lord tackles loneliness and vulnerability and love hits a chord. I liked this one a lot. Many of you will enjoy it.

I read rules by Cynthia Lord and loved it but this book was good but not as good as Rules. I still really liked this book though.

Lovely story. Worthy selection for the Red Dot Older readers awards. I think my Grade 6s will love this one. A story about finding your place and coping with change. On the surface Lucy's story is about her first summer at her new home - bird watching, getting to know her new neighbours, taking photographs. The photo competition that her father is judging works as a clever narrative device as the mechanisms of visual story-telling bleed into the themes of Lord's novel. It's clever and subtle and...

“Don’t ever choose the people who don’t matter over the ones who do.”✅

"Half a Chance" is a book that is about a Lucy who loved photography very much, partially to do with her father being a professional photographer that traveled all over the world. Lucy never believed that her pictures were good enough to compare with her father. She really wanted to show everyone she was good enough so she decided she needed a way of knowing for sure. When Lucy meets a boy named Nate that is visiting his grandmother next door that's suffering from memory loss in her old age. Eve...

I quite liked this book and I borrowed it from my best friend when she won it in a school competition after we dressed up as fluffy the three headed dog from Harry Potter and won a prize for cutting holes in a cardboard box and making an extra head with old tights :)good times

You can tell that Cynthia Lord was a teacher because she knows how to write honestly about kids and their motives and emotions. Get tissues for the end. I read every word, but the last two chapters were a little blurry through the tears. A special and remarkable book that I cannot wait to pass into kids' hands. I already have a few names in mind:)

4.5 stars.A beautifully written, introspective, realistic middle-grade about a girl, Lucy, who moves to a New Hampshire lake house and befriends a boy visiting for the summer and his grandmother who seems to be suffering from the early stages of dementia. There are so many layers to this story: Lucy and Nate's family looking after the lake's loons; Lucy's relationship with her famous photographer father, who spends most of the book away on assignment and who Lucy aspires to impress with her own

Half a Chance is one of the ten Virginia Reader's Choice novels. Things I like about this novel: it's appropriate for all students at my middle school. There isn't any foul language or content and it's easy to read so it would be suitable for reluctant readers. Lucy, the main character, is likable and the plot is simple yet complex. Things I didn't like about this novel: it's very slow to start. There's a lot of talk about photography but there aren't any pictures which I think would add to the

Lucy and her parents move a lot, and their newest home is a lakeside cabin in New Hampshire. One of the first people she meets is Nate, whose family is staying in the cabin next door for the summer. He's happy to show her around, and she's glad to accept ... with camera in hand. Photography contests and finding the story. Pink kayaks and mountain views. Tremolos and loonsong lessons. Business trips and bad days. I did like this story (wish I could bump to 3.5 stars), but the tensions and pettine...