The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin

Standalone. ECW Press (October 2013) NetGalley

Sixteen-year-old Pippa Greene never goes anywhere without her camera. She and her best friend/supermodel-in-training Dace long ago mapped out their life plan: Pippa will be the noted fashion photographer, and Dace the cover girl. But ever since last spring, things have changed for Pippa — and her junior year at Spalding High proves to have its own set of challenges. Not only is Vantage Point, the statewide photography competition, in three short weeks, but her mandatory volunteer placement lands her at St. Christopher’s Hospital, a place Pippa never wanted to set foot in again. With humour and pluck, she navigates her new role as a candy striper (watch out for Code Yellows), her changing relationship with her best friend (goodbye Honesty Pact), and — perhaps most stressful of all — her new love interests (yes, love interests plural).

Will Pippa make it to Vantage Point without having a panic attack? Will either one of the guys prove less sketchy than her last boyfriend? Can she and Dace figure out a way to dream big and be best friends? One thing is certain: real life is a lot more complicated than a photograph.

An actual book about a photographer! How many times do you find a YA book like that? Pippa (actual name Philadelphia ~ I know it's an awesome name) is a photographer getting ready for Vantage Point, a competition that can land her for two whole weeks in a photography school in New York. Needless to say she's dying to go because it can be her ticket to a great photography school and it's an opportunity of a lifetime. Then in walks Ben Baxter, a cute new guy to the competition that loves photography just as much as Pippa does. While Pippa thinks he's cute, she has eyes for Dylan McCutter who happens to be volunteering at St. Christopher's where she is forced to volunteer for school. The problem with this particular hospital is that it brings up bad memories of her father and then she gets seized up with fear in a panic attack. Pippa is determined to get through her forced volunteering, find out which boy is right for her, and win the Vantage Point competition all without seriously freaking out and maintaining some calm in her life since her life couldn't handle much more pain.

I've got to say it since I'm sure you noticed - the love triangle. It mentioned it in the summary right away so you know already. I was worried at the beginning of the story because I could see it happening from a mile away but once I got into Pippa's life after a while I could see the story had some depth to it what with her father recently dying of cancer and her panic attacks arising because of his death. That's all very serious stuff and I of course started thinking about how just like that life can change in an instant. You don't know how much time you have left so live your life well and to the fullest. I liked that the story had some soul to it. There are a couple of visits with other patients and we get to see how Pippa reacts to them. Pippa's photography was pretty insightful into all of the mixed up feelings going on with her life. The loss of her dad impacted her greatly and I'm glad it wasn't a brush off type of subject. It was really center stage to an otherwise fast and fun read. Although, obvious things were obvious this was a rather enjoyable read that me think and made me want to read other books with photographers as protagonists.