The Lemonade Crime

Davies, Jacqueline. The Lemonade Crime. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2011.  

Recommended: Grades 3-5

In the Lemonade Wars Evan and Jessie operated lemonade stands, and the deal was winner take all. However, Evan thinking he was being sly stole Jessie’s money, but he met his comeuppance, because when he went to swim at a friend’s house, ALL of the money was stolen. When one of their classmates brags about his new X-box 20/20, they are certain they have found the thief.  When they accuse him, he becomes defensive and angry. So they decide to hold court on the playground with each person assuming the role of a person in the courtroom.  As the trial progresses, the reader is introduced to trial proceedings even down to the act of perjury. As in The Lemonade Wars, each chapter opens with a vocabulary word related to the courtroom.

This is an enjoyable read for middle grade students. There is right balance of humor and tension. The author does leave one issue unresolved so that the reader is motivated to read the sequel. These appear to be “high end” series books.

The Lemonade War

Davies,   Jacqueline.  The Lemonade War.  NY: Sandpiper, 1997.  Suggested Grade Level: 3-4

Soon-to-be fourth grader, Evan Treski has just received the worst news of the summer. His younger sister, Jessie will be skipping third grade and him in fourth grade and in his class! Nothing could be more horrifying. The two decide to face off in a lemonade war – they each open a lemonade stand, and the winner, the one making the most money by the end of the summer will take all.  The strengths of each are clearly seen, i.e. Evan is people-smart, and he is good at emotions and getting people to work together. Jessie, on the other hand, is mathematically and linguistically smart – she’d not at all good with emotions. Tensions mount and underhanded schemes occur, and all of Evan’s money disappears while he is swimming; but the children are convinced they know who did it. The readers are advised at this point to stay tuned for the second novel.

Davies has presented a creative look at sibling rivalry without dragging her readers through the mud or tearing their hearts out.  Things do become intense between Jessie and Evan, but they are also resolved. For the most part the children work out the own problems, but there are adults looming in the background ready to step in. One of the neatest things about this book which teachers should appreciate is the business-related vocabulary word listed at the beginning of each chapter, broken into syllables, spelled phonetically with diacritical marks – a ready-made vocab list! 

No Talking

Clements, Andrew.  No Talking.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007.

The fifth graders are the most troublesome class at Laketon Elementary. The students are too sophisticated for cooties. Instead the fling, epithets such as annoying or “immature” and do so very loudly. In fact to restore order, the principal often walks about talking over a red bull horn. The ring leaders the latest fifth grade brouhaha are David and Laura. It all begins because of Ghandi. In preparing a report, Dave discovers that Ghandi spent one day each day in total silence, decides he has been talking too much.  He likes Ghandi’s challenge, but fails miserably when he insults a girl, Lyndsey, in the lunch room one day, when he said, “If you had to shut for five minutes I bet the top of your head would explode (10).”   As a result of that insult, Dave and Lyndsey lead their classmates in a battle of no words, i.e. it is against the rules to say any more than three words in a row. They set a designated time and set out to see just who the fifth grade blabber mouths are. There are twists and turns before a touching a surprising end.

Clements is endearing himself to a generation of readers with his school stories. He has created believable characters and interesting situations. The adults aren’t perfect, but are not created in such a way that children reading the story will lose respect for adults. Dave has created an awkward situation with his three word rule and seeks to help solve it.  Overall I enjoyed reading the book finding engaging and largely inoffensive.

Welcome to YDALKOOB!  If  you write the name of the blog backwards, you will see the word booklady.  It is my plan to review several children's, young adult, or even an occasional adult title each week.  One of my passions is literature and I thought I would begin blogging about it in review fashion.  Feel free to debate with me if you hate the titles I have chosen. God bless you!