Make or Break Spring — Janet McNaughton

In the spring of 1945, fifteen-year-old Evelyn McCallum finds herself competing with her best friend, Peter Tilley, and Stan Dawe, the handsome golden boy of her school, for the scholarship that bears her father's name. Although missing in action since 1942, Ev clings to the hope that her father might somehow still be alive. As the war ends in Europe, in her final year of high school, Ev's life begins to alter in ways that will change her forever.