Make Lemonade

Make Lemonade is a verse novel for young adults, written by Virginia Euwer Wolff and originally published in 1993 by Henry Holt and Company.^[1][2] It is the first book in a trilogy series^[3] consisting of Make Lemonade, True Believer (the second installment), and This Full House (the third installment). These novels are characterized by their free verse style. The trilogy is unified by its protagonist LaVaughn, a fourteen-year-old girl who recounts her experiences and perspective from first-person point of view. All three books have been published as audiobooks read by Heather Alicia Simms.

Make Lemonade has been translated into Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.^[4][5][6]

Synopsis

Reception and Themes

Make Lemonade generated starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and received several awards.^[7] Although praised by many, the novel also raised concerns from organizations, such as schools in New York, that some of the content is inappropriate for middle-school students.^[8] Some of these controversial topics include teenage pregnancy and discussion of sexual harassment. The book was dedicated "for young mothers", which many people consider representative of the book's content and central focus on Jolly, the teenaged mother of two children. The novel discusses her encounters and struggles with topics such as poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancy, parenting, sexual harassment,education, drugs, and isolation from family. The author stated in an interview with The Horn Book Magazine that she kept the format of the novel in free verse partly "...because Make Lemonade is dedicated to young mothers. I wanted young girls in Jolly’s situation, maybe pregnant or with babies, and maybe going back to school, to be able to say, 'I read two chapters!'"^[9] Many people have also speculated on the ethnicity of the characters, although the author denied any intended character ethnicities and claimed that she was "very careful of not having them be any race, any particular ethnicity"^[10]

Awards and Honors

^[11][12]

• American Library Association (ALA) Best Book for Young Adults
• American Library Association (ALA) Notable Children's Book
• Bank Street Child Study Book Award, 1993
• Best Kids' Book of 1993, 1993
• Best YA Novels of All Time, English Journal, November 2005
• Booklist Top of the List winner
• Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book, 1993
• Children's Book of Distinction, 1994
• Golden Kite Award, 1994
• Iowa Teen Award Nominee, 1996-1997
• Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award for YA Fiction, 1994
• Oregon Book Award for Young Readers, 1993
• Parent's Choice Book Award, 1993
• Preiselbar Award, 2000
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1993
• Top of the List, 1993
• YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 1994
• YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults, 2002

References

1. "Make Lemonade (Make Lemonade Trilogy)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
2. "Make lemonade". WorldCat. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
3. "It Should Have Won a Newbery!". ALA. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
4. "Make Lemonade". WorldCat. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
5. "Make Lemonade". Goodreads. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
6. "Wolff, Virginia Euwer". Index Translationum. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
7. "Make Lemonade (Make Lemonade, Book 1)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
8. "Principals union criticizes sexual content of recommended book". Chalkbeat. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
9. Sutton, Roger. "An Interview with Virginia Euwer Wolff". The Horn Book Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
10. Roger, Sutton. "An Interview with Virginia Euwer Wolff". The Horn Book Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
11. "Virginia Euwer Wolff". Retrieved 20 March 2014.
12. Galea, Kerry. "Books R4 Teens Book Review". The University of Texas at Austin College of Education. Retrieved 20 March 2014.