The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
What a great book! I happened to pick this up and skim the back to settle a debate between two reading buddies who couldn’t agree on a book, (thus prompting me to pick one for them) and ended up reading it myself after school!
This is the story about two siblings in the few days before school begins. We learn through dialogue that the main characters, Evan and Jessie, have had their father leave them and their mother is often absent choosing instead to focus on work. Evan, the older sibling is going into grade 4 and often struggles with school. However his younger sister Jesse is skipping third grade and going straight to fourth as she is extremely bright. This leaves Evan feeling poorly about himself, prompting the argument which starts “the lemonade war”.
An amazing story of siblings fighting and reconciling, of dealing with problems head on, and bonding together this would be a welcome addition in any classroom. A bonus, the author Jacqueline Davies has teacher resources, such as discussion questions and curriculum ties (US only unfortunately) and more right on her website: Jacqueline Davies .
I would highly recommend this to a grade 3 read aloud group, or as an easier reader for book groups/literature circles. Overall it gets a 4/5 from me!
Until next time~