True Believer (Make Lemonade, Book 2) [Paperback]

Virginia Euwer Wolff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

LaVaughn is fifteen now, and she's still fiercely determined to go to college. But that's the only thing she's sure about. Loyalty to her father bubbles up as her mother grows closer to a new man. The two girls she used to do everything with have chosen a path LaVaughn wants no part of. And then there's Jody. LaVaughn can't believe how gorgeous he is...or how confusing. He acts like he's in love with her, but is he?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At 15, LaVaughn already knows that life is hard and that getting ahead takes a strong mind and an even stronger will. Surrounded by poverty and violence, she strives every day not to be just another inner-city statistic: "My hope is strong like an athlete. Every morning when we walk through the metal detectors to get into school ... it is an important day of dues-paying so I can go to college and be out of here." Last year when she babysat for Jolly, a young unwed mother, she saw firsthand how an unplanned pregnancy can diminish options. So she ignores the boys, studies hard, and hopes it will all be enough to get her into college. Then Jody moves back into the neighborhood. Once LaVaughn's childhood friend, Jody is now "suddenly beautiful... He could be in movies the way the parts of his face go together." If LaVaughn's choices were difficult before Jody, now they're almost impossible. What LaVaughn doesn't know is that Jody has difficult decisions of his own to make--decisions that could turn her carefully ordered world upside down.

The second novel in a proposed trilogy, True Believer picks up where the acclaimed Make Lemonade left off. Virginia Euwer Wolff's verse-prose is as sumptuous as ever, and her descriptions of LaVaughn's day-to-day life and feelings are sympathetic and achingly real. Readers will be eager to see where LaVaughn's choices take her in Wolff's next installment. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

"Eight years after the publication of her groundbreaking Make Lemonade, Wolff surpasses herself with this sequel," said PW in our Best Books citation. "In delving into LaVaughn's life, the author unmasks the secret thoughts adolescents hold sacred and lets her readers know they are not alone." Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689852886
• ISBN-13: 978-0689852886
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Homelessness & Poverty
  • #66 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Social Issues > Violence
  • #76 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Religions > Fiction > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INSPIRING AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN!, November 21, 2001

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: True Believer (Make Lemonade Trilogy) (Hardcover)

This is a story about growing up in poverty and the challenges of peer pressure, boys, school, gangs, drugs and a world that is not always kind. Many of those pressures appear in any girl's life, but it becomes even more challenging when financial resources are virtually non-existent, and the social stigma of poverty and a poor neighbourhood environment are major obstacles to overcome.

The character of La Vaughn is strong, vivid and dramatically portrayed. The message given in this book is to hold on to your dreams, work hard, get an eduation, believe in yourself and realize that one is only limited in attaining their goals by self-imposed restrictions. It may take time to achieve those goals, but nothing is impossible. This book is beautifully written and highly recommended reading for any girl who feels there may be a little of La Vaughn living somewhere deep inside her.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the possibility of a possibility, March 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: True Believer (Make Lemonade Trilogy) (Hardcover)

This book picks up the story of LaVaughn where "Make Lemonade" left off. It is written in the same free verse or open verse as Make Lemonade was.

It's a story of LaVaughn's struggle to rise above the past. It's chock full of symbolism. LaVaughn is a bird trying to free itself from the nest. She is a jellyfish that learns to adapt and "go on living when the odds are against it." She is a "Grammar Build Up" student who wants to learn how to properly use the word "whom."

She is a dichotomy among her friends. The boy she wants doesn't want her. She laughs to the boy who is interested in her. Her girlfriends "found" Jesus, whereas LaVaughn is seeking Jesus in her life. She looks to see God in the details while her friends don't want to look at the details becouse they are afraid of finding the devil.

In the end, LaVaughn celebrates her 16th birthday and is still looking forward to attending college, maybe becoming a nurse. She says, "I believe in the possibility of a possibility."

This is the kind of story you can cheer for. A book that has some hope in the future. It reminds me of "A Hope in the Unseen" by Suskind. I'll five it five stars and eagerly await the final tome to complete this trilogy.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!, November 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: True Believer (Make Lemonade Trilogy) (Hardcover)

I didn't much care for "Make Lemonade", but "True Believer" is one heck of a great read! I could not put it down! There is just so much about this book that reads true-to-life, it's hard for me to site examples. LaVaughn is now a real person to me, a complex young woman struggling to find herself in a very confusing time and place. Her waxing and waning relationship with her two best friends, and her (hopeful) beginning of romance with Jody, the handsome boy-next-door are perfectly tragic-comedic! And I just love the name of the religious group LaVaughn's friends join to maintain their virginity---Cross Your Legs for Jesus. Such warmth and humor and heartbreakingly realistic writing make this a book teens and young adults can easily relate to. And congratulations to Wolff for winning the National Book Award---this book deserves the honor.