Make Lemonade (Make Lemonade, Book 1) [Paperback]

Virginia Euwer Wolff (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 2, 2006 | Age Range: 10 and up

An award-winning novel about growing up and making choices

Viginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who is determined to go to college--she just needs the money to get there. When she answers a babysitting ad, LaVaughn meets Jolly, a seventeen-year-old single mother with two kids by different fathers. As she helps Jolly make lemonade out of the lemons her life has given her, LaVaughn learns some lessons outside the classroom.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Poetry is everywhere, as Wolff ( The Mozart Season ) proves by fashioning her novel with meltingly lyric blank verse in the voice of an inner-city 14-year-old. As LaVaughn tells it, "This word COLLEGE is in my house, / and you have to walk around it in the rooms / like furniture." A paying job will be her ticket out of the housing projects, so she agrees to baby-sit the two children of unwed Jolly, 17, in an apartment so wretched "even the roaches are driven up the wall." Jolly is fired from her factory job and her already dire situation gets worse. Through her "Steam" (aka self-esteem) class, LaVaughn decides that it isn't honorable to use Jolly's money to prevent herself becoming like Jolly, so she watches the kids for free while Jolly looks for work. But there are few opportunities for a nearly illiterate dropout, and LaVaughn sees that her unpaid baby-sitting is a form of welfare. Heeding her mother, LaVaughn decides that the older girl has to "take hold." She prods Jolly to go back to school, where the skills she learns not only change her life but save that of her baby. Radiant with hope, this keenly observed and poignant novel is a stellar addition to YA literature. Ages 11-14.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-12-- "This word COLLEGE is in my house,/ and you have to walk around it in the rooms/ like furniture." So LaVaughn, an urban 14-year-old, tries to earn the money she needs to make college a reality. She and her mother are a solid two-person family. When LaVaughn takes a job babysitting for Jolly, an abused, 17-year-old single parent who lives with her two children in squalor, her mother is not sure it's a good idea. How the girl's steady support helps Jolly to bootstrap herself into better times and how Jolly, in turn, helps her young friend to clarify her own values are the subjects of this complex, powerful narrative. The themes of parental love, sexual harassment, abuse, independence, and the value of education are its underpinnings. LaVaughn is a bright, compassionate teen who is a foil for Jolly, whose only brief role model was a foster parent, Gram, who died. The dynamics between the two young women are multidimensional and elastic--absolutely credible. LaVaughn's mother is a complete character, too, and even Jolly's kids become real. The tale is told in natural first-person, and in rhythmic prose arranged in open verse. The poetic form emphasizes the flow of the teenager's language and thought. The form invites readers to drop some preconceptions about novels, and they will find the plot and characters riveting. Make Lemonade is a triumphant, outstanding story. --Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish; Reprint edition (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805080708
• ISBN-13: 978-0805080704
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Babysitting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and tangy August 21, 2000

By Krista

Format:Mass Market Paperback

When I first read this book several years ago, I was bowled over by its power. Since then, I have returned to LaVaughn's story several times. Each time, I experience the same sense of joy and awe at Wolff's ability to tell a story, and to create sympathy without judging.

LaVaughn is an inner city kid trying to make good by earning a college scholarship. Her hardworking, firm-but-loving mom supports her, but urges LaVaughn to put academics first. Jolly, a teenaged mom who has been roughly handled by life, requests a babysitter, and LaVaughn responds.

Wolff makes us question every stereotype we may hold: that teenaged moms brought their problems upon themselves, that people who are out of work are lazy, that every poor person is anxious to accept a handout. None of these preconceived notions is true for Jolly or the other characters in the novel. Yet, while painting every character with a sympathetic brush, Wolff does not release any of them from responsibility. Life works out best, she reminds us, for those that rise above the despair of a hard situation and do something to make it better.

Wolff's free verse style creates strong images of Jolly's life, both stark and joyful: the battered card where she scrawls her desperate plea for help, the filthy floor in her apartment, Jeremy's triumph at being toilet trained, the blooming of a lemon plant that represents the hopes of children despite the harshness of their lives.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome for teens April 12, 2002

By sara

Format:Mass Market Paperback

The novel Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff is about a fourteen girl named LaVaughn who baby-sits for a sixteen-year old girl named Jolly. The book tells about what happens while she baby-sits, about the family and their hardships, and about how the job affects her whole life. The story takes place in LaVaughn's home city, a place where many of the people can barely afford the roof over their heads. The people living here are not in good shape; there are many gangs, drugs, crowded high schools, and low security. Most of the residents are poverty-stricken, single parents, pregnant teens, criminals, or unemployed. The main characters fit some of these descriptions. LaVaughn lives in tiny apartment with her single mother. She attends a crowded high school where there are many gangs, drugs, etc. LaVaughn's father died when he got in between a gang fight that he wasn't even a part of. Jolly a sixteen-year old, single mother of two also has her share of problems; she was left by the men who gave those babies to her, and she can't get a job that pays well enough to support her growing children. She hires LaVaughn to baby-sit after school for her daily. Though sometimes LaVaughn doesn't get her full pay, she gets the love and admiration of the two children Jilly and Jeremy, and the friendship of Jolly.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, because it was not "sugar coated," or glamorized. LaVaughn's life mirrors the plight of many of the people living in this country. I also liked the way that LaVaughn helps Jolly in her time of need, most people would make her pay right away, or they would leave. LaVaughn and her mother share a common relationship that many teens experience with their own parents, no matter if they are rich or poor. LaVaughn and her mother can get in fights or annoy each other, but LaVaughn obeys and respects her mom and they love each other. I also liked the drama and suspense incorporated into this book, it wasn't like a mystery, but the actions left you wanting to see what happened next. I liked how LaVaughn had goals set for herself; she had wanted to go to college since she was in fifth grade, and she started to baby-sit for Jolly in order to get her dream off of the ground and start to save money to pay for her education. One other thing I liked about the book was that LaVaughn was not perfect, and she had to resolve her problems herself, they didn't just magically go away. Some of the characters in this book were easy to relate to, and it was easy to see their points of view, and the hardships of the lives of people who live like this. I would recommend this book to mostly teenage girls who like to see how people's live are different or harder than their own. This book was great, you wont be able to put it down until you finish.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars When life gives you lemons... January 31, 2003

By Amanda

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Virginia Euwer Wolff really hit a homerun with this book. Make Lemonade embodies and captures all of the qualities that a good book should have. It captures many aspects of teenage life, and dwells opon the misfortunes that some may stumble upon. Jolly is a seventeen year old girl who has had a hard life. Left with two children, after a slew of bad boyfriends, she is having a hard time raising her kids, and giving them just their basic needs. LaVaughn is a very smart 15 year old, and is looking for a job. She sees an advertisement at school for a wanted babysitter. In no time at all, LaVaughn is watching Jeremy, and Jilly, Jolly's children. LaVaughn shares a special bond witht hese children, and genuinely cares about them. Yet in life, things go wrong sometimes, and a lot of times there is then nothing that can be done to make it easier. Read Make Lmeonade, by Virginia Euwer Wolff for a look into the life, and heart of a little girl, with big dreams.