Author: Jacqueline Davies
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
I know an ice-cold cup of lemonade is perhaps not the go-to beverage of choice in the month of November, but I’ve wanted to try this series for a long time – and then this month’s review theme can be “Beverage Entrepreneurs.” The Lemonade War is the first in the six-book series by author Jacqueline Davies and is intended for children ages 8-12.
When older brother Evan learns on summer break that his super-smart younger sister is skipping a grade and will be in the same class as him, he isn’t too happy about it. He won’t admit that though, so instead, in his anger and embarrassment, he challenges Jessie to see which of them can raise $100 from selling cups of lemonade in their neighborhood. The competition keeps escalating until they are soon buying out the grocery store’s supply and recruiting friends to open other stands as “franchises.” When the contest changes to winner-takes-all of the profits, the sibling rivalry becomes serious business.
I thought this was a great read, and I liked all the small details from the author too. There are simple definitions for different business terms at the start of each chapter, and there are hidden math problems for kids too – for instance, if each can of lemonade produces 64 ounces and Jessie puts eight ounces in the cup for the customer, how many customers can she serve. Even though the contest doesn’t bring out the best in Evan and Jessie, I found their relationship otherwise to be really kind, and I look forward to reading about more of their adventures in the rest of the series.
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