Look, Loons!

My family, specifically my mother and her siblings, loves loons.  Every year we go camping by a lake in the Adirondacks and every year someone will say, "I think I heard a loon."  And then everyone will rush to the lake hoping to get a glimpse of this amazing creature.   So at this point we have the loon t-shirts (loonatic), loon stuffed animals, and, of course, a loon call.

This year I will have to bring Cynthia Lord's half a chance to add to the collection.  Lucy's family moves to a lake house in New Hampshire and, of course, that lake has loons.  The next door neighbor Grandma Lilah is the head of the loon patrol (I can just see my family forming a loon patrol on our next camping trip) and records the daily comings and goings of the loons.

But half a chance is really about Lucy and her photography.  Lucy's father is a professional photographer and Lucy always wonders if her work will every be good enough to even come close to what her father does. Lucy befriends the neighbors, Noah and Emily, and together they work on completing a photo contest Lucy's father is judging.  If Lucy enters a fake name, maybe her father will finally recognize her talent...or she'll know once and for all that she isn't good enough.

For the contest, they need to submit one photo that best shows a list of words/phrases.  I'm feeling inspired to do that photo contest myself (maybe that's my next instagram project).  The words are, "your name, design, three feet, secret, collection, skip, holding on, sticky, journey, beyond reach, heading home, at the shore, exit, left behind, lines, a closer look, wonder, unexpected, on its own, a new day, at the crossroads, out of place, texture, hope, now and then, lost."

Taking a chance (even half a chance)...that's kids stuff.