Make Lemonade (Point Signature (Scholastic)) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Virginia Euwer Wolff (Author) "I am telling you this just the way it went with all the details I remember as they were, and including the parts I'm not..." (more)
Key Phrases: lemon seeds, Day Care, Steam Class, Home Care Helper (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"Radiant with hope, this keenly observed and poignant novel is a stellar addition to YA literature," said PW in a starred review, praising Wolff's use of "meltingly lyric blank verse" to tell of two inner-city teenage girls struggling toward better lives. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059048141X
• ISBN-13: 978-0590481410
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #501,850 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Krista (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Amanda (Brewster,NY) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MAKE LEMONADE, April 12, 2002

By	A Customer - See all my reviews

In the novel Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwe Wolff, is a terrific book that tells about a fourteen year old girl named LaVaughn who helps a teen mom get back on her feet. LaVaughn is a hardworking and an A student who is determined to get into a scholarship to a good college so she can get as far away as she can from this town and get a respectable job. Jolly is a teenage mother with two children who is barely making the money for her rent and is in desparate need of a baby sitter. LaVaughn, deciding she needs all the money she can get if not to recieve a scholarship to college willingly takes the sitting job. Soon after jolly gets layed off from her job and can't pay LaVaughn anymore. Read on and see how LaVaughn helps Jolly take control of her life once again.
Some aspects of the books that i enjoyed reading was how descriptive the writer was about Jolly's house. The author would go on about the cockraoches crawling all over the walls and the gunk stuck in between the floor panels that no one would dare touch and try to clean up. This was told in such great detail that while I was readng this book I had a complete picture of Jolly's house. Another aspect that I liked about the book was LaVaughn's perserverance. LaVaughn keeps above average grades, baby-sits, and on top of that helps her mother around the house. All while she is doing this she keeps a strong hold of things and never gives up. I, personaly think she is a very good role model. I also liked how real the hardships of Jolly and LaVaughn had to face. The author mentioned things like Jolly not having enough money for diapers anymore and how vermins were living in her house like there were suppose to be there. I liked this because if they didn't have problems to face then there would be no point to this book at all. On the other hand i also disliked how there needed to have at least one more element to have to overcome. Lastly I disliked LaVaughns mother's attitude towards Jolly. LaVaughn's mother thought that Jolly was an irrespnsible and clueless mother. I think she was being to quick to judge someone she doesn't even know. I would reccamend this book to children wholike short but heartfelt books on family ties.