You Gotta Read This!
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3/25/2021 0 Comments Lemons by Melissa SavageTitle: Lemons Author: Melissa Savage Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers (2017) ISBN13: 978- 1524700126 Genre: Middle Grade, Action/Adventure, Historical Fiction (Set in the 1970s) Topics/Themes: Healing/Grief from loss of a parent, reconnecting with family, making new friends, living in a new place Diversity Tags: Death of a parent/raised by grandparent Recommended Age Level: 9-12 Awards / Recognitions:
Summary: Ten-year-old Lemonade Liberty Witt, Lem for short, has just lost her mother and is being uprooted from San Francisco to go live with her grandfather, who she has never met, in Willow Creek, California. Unsure of how to make lemonade from such large lemons (the well-known phrase being her namesake), Lemonade inevitably meets the quirky boy next door, Tobin, who is OBSESSED with the local Bigfoot legend and is the self-proclaimed CEO and founder of Bigfoot Detective Inc (which he runs out of the ramshackle garage belonging to Lem’s grandfather). Since Tobin is the first person her own age she befriends, he is able to rope her in to being his (reluctant) assistant, even though she is a bigfoot skeptic. While most of the sightings and reports that Bigfoot Detective Inc receives are from indulging town-folk (such as the retired school teacher who uses it as an excuse to bake and feed cookies to these two kiddos), a few reports begin to come in that are stumping even the adults in town. Before they know it, Lem and Tobin are caught up in a case that impacts them more personally than they could imagine as they both cope with their own unique grief of losing a parent. Professional Review: “The book is well paced, with plenty of humor to balance the heavy themes.” - Taylor Worley, School Library Journal, 2017 “An enjoyable and comforting middle-grade handbook on navigating new experiences and the heartache of losing loved ones early in life. A joyous celebration of cryptozoology, friendship, family love, and coping with loss.” – Kirkus Reviews, 2017 “Savage injects enough humor, mystery, and lively interaction among the characters to give this two-hanky debut a buoyant tone.” – John Peters, Booklist, 2017 Personal Insights: I loved how much this story addressed the emotions of grief and loss in an age appropriate way, which is not surprising given that the author, Melissa Savage, is a child and family therapist. It’s clear that she pulled from a deep base of knowledge and experience from the kids she has worked with in the creation of this story. I was also hooked immediately with this story because, like Tobin, I was OBSESSED with Bigfoot (and other cryptozoological creatures) in middle school. Almost every single free-choice research or report that was assigned I jumped at the chance to dive more into this realm where reality and fantasy begin to blur. So this story held a special place for me because of the deep nostalgic feelings it reawakened and helped me relive some great (and also slightly cringe-y) memories! Readalikes (Summaries found on GoodReads)
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