The Lemonade War

Davis, J. (2007). The lemonade war. (Llewellyn, C. illus.). Houghton Mifflin Company. eISBN 9780547529875

Primary genre: realistic fiction

Other elements: family, friendship

Intended reader age: 9 and up

Synopsis:

When Evan learns that his younger sister, Jesse, is going be moved into his fourth grade class he is not as happy as she is. As summer comes to a close, and the dreaded year approaches, the formerly close siblings become embroiled in war to one up the other. Previously, when the weather turned especially warm they would have a lemonade stand together. This year, they set up rival stands and agree to a contest to see who make one hundred dollars before the end of summer. What started out as a simple competition soon turns into a dirty battle as they attempt to outdo the other.

Review:

I ordered this book through my iTunes account and read it as an electronic version. I wanted to find a tween book that I could enjoy while waiting in lines at Disneyland. I do wish that I had chosen to read this one as the book version. There were some illustrations and charts that did not read very easily on my phone.

I greatly enjoy stories that give readers a different perspective on the same story. In The Lemonade War we experience the same story through the eyes of Jesse and Evan. It starts with Evan’s perception then switches back and forth between the two siblings. It is only in the initial set-up that we see the same sequence of events through both children’s eyes. I loved when Evan saw his sister acting sassy and laughing at him but it really turned out that she had a fly by her head she was swatting away and she was laughing at something a little kid had done.

The different perceptions do not stop there either. Evan does not fully explain why he is upset until the very end of story. Readers are given a chance to build their own perceptions about why he would be upset with his sister joining his class and many of those perceptions do come from the comments of his friends. It turns out though that he is not worried about what she will do to embarrass him but what he will do to embarrass himself. The originally perceived selfish reason turns out to be noble and giving.

Davis ended up turing this into a series. There are three other books: The Lemonade Crime, The Bell Bandit, and The Candy Smash. The one thing I found to complain about with the book was how the whole Scott stealing issue was handled; it was ignored. To my understanding The Lemonade Crime kind of resolves that issue, at least giving the characters the chance to confront him.