Make Lemonade

Virginia Euwer Wolff

1993

Henry Holt and Company

New York

ISBN: 0805080708

Plot Summary:
Jolly is 17 with 2 kids, LaVaughn is 14 and already planning for college. For college she needs money though, so when she spots Jolly's babysitting ad she's immediately hooked. After a few weeks with Jolly's children, she's even more entrenched.
What follows is LaVaughn's daily balancing act with her own life and her speedy immersion into Jolly's life and family. Jolly is a stubborn and tenacious woman, who has obviously never been given anything, and so refuses to expect or to give.
LaVaughn becomes an enormous part of Jolly and her children's world, while Jolly refuses to acknowledge such while still expecting LaVaughn to come on over and babysit every day. LaVaughn's stubbornness matches Jolly's however (she gets it from her mom), and with her persistent help, Jolly begins to get her life together.

Critical Evaluation:

Euwer Wolff employs a distinct style in the narration of LaVaughn, her voice written almost in a kind of informal verse. LaVaughn's poor grammar, her poetic way of re-thinking the stifling world around her, and her acute eye--which can discover the tiniest stain behind the couch even though it's nestled in a sea of others, produces a story that is utterly unique and poignant in its telling.
LaVaughn (and Jolly) shine through, their emotions and reactions always described in a way that manages to authentically convey what it's like to be a 17 year-old single mother and her 14 year-old babysitter.
Euwer Wolff's focus on the daily accidents, weekly homework assignments, and developing emotions effectively describe the fullness of the girls' lives as if the writer and the reader were right there with them.

Reader's Annotation:
LaVaughn's life changes forever after she meets Jilly, Jeremy, and Jolly. But will Jolly accept LaVaugn's help in changing her own life?
Author Information:
Virginia Euwer Wolff was a high school English teacher for years before she turned to writing children's literature at the age of 50. Her novels have won numerous awards (particularly Make Lemonade.) After its success and a stalwart reader base demanding more of LaVaughn and Jolly, Euwer Wolff wrote True Believer and This Full House, transforming Make Lemonade into the first of a trilogy.
Genre:
girl's coming-of-age/ urban culture/ YA fiction
Booktalking Ideas:
*How does knowing Jolly provide LaVaughn with both joy and pain?
*Can Jolly's progression be attributed to the intrusion of LaVaughn into her life?
*Does LaVaughn's mother know best?
Reader Level/Interest Age:
Adolescent (middle school) and Up/ appealing and identifiable to readers of every age.
Challenges:
Though the book's themes are serious and mature, there is no explicit content and it is relentlessly hopeful.
Why include?:
Upon recommendation from a local YA librarian, and the discovery of the book's numerous awards.