Make Lemonade (Make Lemonade, #1)

Make Lemonade (Make Lemonade #1)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60  ·  rating details  ·  4,397 ratings  ·  668 reviews
An award-winning novel about growing up and making choices

Viginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who is determined to go to college--she just needs the money to get there.

When she answers a babysitting ad, LaVaughn meets Jolly, a seventeen-year-old single mother with two kids by different fathers....more
Paperback, 200 pages
Published May 2nd 2006 by Henry Holt and Company (first published May 15th 1993)
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The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee BenderTwilight by Stephenie MeyerGreen Eggs and Ham by Dr. SeussThe Cupcake Queen by Heather HeplerMake Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Food on the Cover
5th out of 337 books — 223 voters
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Jami
This was a very powerful book for me. It's a novel told in a free verse style, and I wondered if that would bother me. I soon realized, though, that the verse style made the story more powerful. Even though it reads very easily as a novel, it allowed the author to place subtle emphasis on certain words and phrases. I loved it!

Make Lemonade is the story of 14-year-old LaVaughn who befriends Jolly, 17-year-old mother of two, when she answers Jolly's ad for a babysitter. It's easy for her to judge...more
Sarah
Fourteen-year-old LaVaughn answers an ad for an after-school babysitting job that turns out to be life-changing. She cares for the two young children of 17-year-old Jolly, who works second shift at a factory and whose life is a mess. When Jolly gets fired, LaVaughn babysits for free during Jolly's job search. The book is beautiful to read with a poetic style that defies rules and expectations, and tells a provoking story that challenges the reader's assumptions about poverty, teen pregnancy, and...more
Joy Lee
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

LaVaughn needed a part-time job, something she could do after school to help earn money for college. Jolly needed a babysitter, someone she could trust with two kids while she worked the evening shift.
It didn't matter that LaVaughn was fourteen, �only three years younger than Jolly. It didn't matter that Jolly didn't have a husband �or a mom and dad�, because LaVaughn gives Jolly and her two babies more love and understanding than should be possible for...more
Joy H.
Apr 08, 2009 Joy H. marked it as to-read
This book, _Make Lemonade_ was described in a "BookPage" review as "a journey of discovering how to turn life's lemons into lemonade".

There are now 3 books in the "Make Lemonade" trilogy. The sequel to _Make Lemonade_ is _True Believer_. The third book is _This Full House_.

The is a first-person narrative. I enjoy that voice.

The books are written in free verse poetry which the author describes as "prose in funny-shaped lines" (BookPage review, March 2009).
Anney Ryan
I love this! Another one from my YA Lit class. It's a highly accessible story about two teenage girls growing up in a rough neighborhood. One babysits the other's two young babies, to make money for college. It's written in the style of urban poetry. The story tells about daily life, and offers little originality in the topic matter, but it still manages to be really interesting. It asks deep questions about socio-economics, in ways that kids can grapple with them.
Bri
Jun 12, 2008 Bri rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All of my friends at school
Recommended to Bri by: Ms.Cook
Shelves: best-of-the-best
This book is about how a mom(Jolly) who's seventeen and has two kids, is helped by thirteen-year-old LaVaughn, and she turns out to be one of the most important assets in Jolly's life. This book kind of tells you about the things that Jolly went through, but it's mostly talking about the life-changing events that went on in Jolly's household.
This book was very serious, and I'm not the serious type, but I have to say, this book was great. It's very focused on the topic that the book is about. A...more
Bricks
"'I counted 17 ladies and girls on the bus.
And I thought of all the blood.
That's a lot of blood. You know?'"

I love that because that’s what I think every time I see a group of girls. I think of how much blood they bleed and how much more there’s to come. If I pour all their blood they bleed into a pool, would it overspill? Do they smell their blood after they catch their blood?
I wouldn’t have thought this woman pictured it like me.
It’s good to write things people think but don’t ever say...more
Cambrai
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Rating: ****
Bookshelves: ENGL 420
Status: Read in October
Review: Similar to Toni Morrison’s Recitife, Wolff deliberately does not outright tell us the race of the two main characters, LaVaughn and Jolly, although by my racial assumptions I assumed them both to be black. LaVaughn’s driving spirit also drove the novel—written in prose and therefore a quicker read—as she grows from working as a babysitter to family friend who can encourage a teenage mother of tw...more
Maggie
This book is the most realistic book ever. It's about a girl name LaVaughn and she is in High School and is looking for a job. Her friends work as maids and gets paid for a good amount. Well, Jolly a 17 year old single mother with 2 childs. LaVaughn wants to make it to college and succeed and she would need the money to do so. Her mother keeps her alert about homework and grades that LaVaughn needs to make it to college. She's been failing testes not enough sleep coming home late so her mother w...more
Silverina La Mees
I suddenly remembered reading these books but I couldn't remember the titles. I could remember something about lemons and a full house and it took me a few minutes searching on Amazon and Google before I found it.
This book... was lovely. These books ... were lovely.
First things first. When a book is written in a special style (for example, "Fade", "Wake" and "Gone" with short sentences and a writing style that just hooks you up - not to mention the plot, of course) I am instantly alert and all...more
Genesis
As i read this book i realized that one must never give up. One must reach out for there dreams & goals. In this book the main character La Vaughn whos a younf teenage girl whos 14 years old is saving up money to pay for her collage. She got the money by working, she did anything possible to recieve that money she needed. An example of a job she did was babysitting. She believed that she had a better way to earn money other then babysitting but she stuck to the job as much she hated the plac...more
Isabella Blackwell
What do you do when life gives you lemons? Make lemonade. Award Winning author, Virginia Euwer Wolff, makes this exact point in her intriguing novel “Make Lemonade”. This book is a must read for young girls (and boys) learning to make the right choices for a good life in the future.

This empowering story was honored as “Top of the List” on Booklist.com. It was also named as a School Library Journal’s Best Book. In addition, the American Library Association tags it as “A best book for young adu...more
Lbshurtleff
Lavaughn is going to go to college. That’s her goal, it’s always been her goal and she knows she’s going to get there. But college is expensive and Lavaughn needs money. Thus, Lavaughn’s introduction to Jolly. Jolly is a teenage mother of two, who lives in a dumpy and filthy apartment and works afternoons at the nearest factory. But in order to keep her job, Jolly needs a babysitter. Lavaughn answers Jolly’s advertisement and is thrown into the middle of Jolly’s hard and lonely life. Jolly doesn...more
Jaylene
Rating: 3.5/5
Fourteen-year-old Verna LaVaughn finds an urgent post on her school’s bulletin board. BABYSITTER NEEDED BAD. Unlike her friends who sign up for housecleaning, LaVaughn takes one of the tabs below the post and goes to do her new job at a terrible, worn-down apartment with two children and a 17-year-old mom, Jolly. The place smells and there are “leaking liquids” everywhere, but LaVaughn does not give up, and she does not know why herself.
After several struggles that range from La...more
Christine Kim
Make Lemonade Book Review

LaVaughn is an ambitious girl with high hopes and dreams of going to college. She studies hard in school, gets good grades, and does her best to earn money for college. However, LaVaughn ends up babysitting Jolly’s two kids, and Jolly is a single mom who is 17 years old, struggling fiercely with life. LaVaughn is determined to show Jolly and her kids that life isn’t always sour and that a world full of sweet delights still exists. The time the four people spend with eac...more
Richard
Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: Virginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who is determined to go to college--she just needs the money to get there. When she answers a babysitting ad, LaVaughn meets Jolly, a seventeen-year-old single mother with two kids by different fathers. As she helps Jolly make lemonade out of the lemons her life has given her, LaVaughn learns some lessons outside the classroom. With two kids h...more
Adrianne
Make Lemonade follows the story of LaVaughn, a 14-yr old determined to go to college. She gets a babysitting job in order to begin saving for her education. However she ends up with a lot more than she bargained for when she meets Jolly and her 2 children. This novel is written in free-verse.

I generally enjoy reading Virginia Wolff and I especially enjoyed this novel of hers. She brought to light a dilemma that I think a lot of young adults experience: the decision to attend a university, and i...more
Adrienne Steinhorst
This novel was not what I had expected. The verse format is refreshing and keeps the book moving (it is a quick read) in a forward direction. The reader is able to see a lot more emotion and action in this novel because of the format. I found that I was very emotionally invested in the characters by the end of the novel.

This book is about a girl named LaVaughn whose main goal is to go to college. She is working and studying to 'escape' where she lives and to move up to a better life. One powerf...more
Megan Horrocks
I loved this book! It was sad to see the helplessness of the situation, but amazing to see the resilience of LaVaughn. She is a young teenager who takes a babysitting job to pay for college. She wants Jolly's two kids, Jilly and Jeremy. Jolly is a seventeen year old single mother and she gets fired from her job because she wouldn't let her boss take advantage of her. It's sad to see the helplessness of Jolly's situation and her fear and inability to help herself. LaVaughn sticks with her because...more
Samantha T
Last month, I finished reading Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Make Lemonade is a story of a young babysitter (Verna) who begins to babysit to save money for college. But the children she babysits belong to a single mother who can’t really spell and her future seems hopeless; that was until Verna lent her hand. This story was truly inspirational. So much that I would reread it in my spare time.

Verna is a middle schooler who always grew up lacking money and Jolly is a single mother who is...more
Amanda Childs
WHOLE CLASS READING

When LaVaughn accepts a babysitting job for teen mom Jolly, she sees it as a way to make some money to save for college. But as Jolly struggles to make ends meet, gets sexually harassed at work, and fails to pay LaVaughn or the rent on time, LaVaughn starts to realize that her role in Jolly's life may be more complex, and important than she first realized. Slowly the two teens work together to mover forward in life, moving them in different, but positive directions. Told in ve...more
Monica!
Some books use free verse and I want to bang my head against a wall and shriek "WHY?! Why are regular sentences not good enough for you?!"

This wasn't one of those books.

I actually really liked the structure. Way to be all poetic, author!

I've heard iffy things about the other books in the series--especially book three--so I probably won't continue past Make Lemonade. But pretending it's a stand-alone, I thought it was very well done. You don't get too much detail about any of the characters, whic...more
Aviann
REQUIRED BOOK

Make Lemonade recounts fourteen-year old La Vaughn's experiences babysitting for seventeen-year old Jolly. La Vaughn initially takes the job in order to add money to her college fund, however as time progresses La Vaughn returns frequently to help Jolly without pay. By babysitting for Jolly, La Vaughn realizes again the importance of attending college. Jolly is mother of two young children and struggles to keep a job and home. Everything in her home is dirty and unkept. La Vaughn th...more
Johanna
***REQUIRED***
This is the story of two young girls, LaVaughn (14) and Jolly (17). Jolly, a single mother with two young kids, hires LaVaughn to take care of her kids while she works. LaVaughn, whose mother is always pushing her to make sure she goes to college, babysits to earn money, but soon, she's not just in it for the money - when Jolly loses her job, LaVaughn helps her to get back on her feet, to turn her life around, and take care of her children as best she can.

Although the race of the c...more
Kessia Robinson
Fourteen-year-old LaVaugn lives in a poor area and doesn't like it. She doesn't like how unsafe the streets are--how she has to watch where she goes and when. She doesn't like the cracks in the walls and the sidewalks. She wants to go to college and is working, getting good grades, and scrimping to get there so she can have a different life. Then she starts babysitting for Jolly, a woman with two children out of wedlock--two year old Jeremy and baby Jilly--works a day job to care for them, and l...more
Rebecca
REQUIRED BOOK CATEGORY
Make Lemonade tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who takes a job babysitting for seventeen-year-old single mother of two children Jolly. While LaVaughn has goals to go to college and leave the run-down part of town they all live in, Jolly is a high school drop-out who is barely surviving life. Told from LaVaughn’s perspective in a rather post-modern narrative style, we see LaVaughn’s internal struggle as she decides how to balance her goals with helping this poo...more
Ryan Palmer
REQUIRED
LaVaughn lives in a low income neighborhood. However, she is very smart and very determined to make it to college. She takes a job as a baby sitter to Jolly, who is 17 and has two kids, Jeremy and Jilly an no husband. LaVaughn struggles to keep up with things, but does so pretty well. Then, Jolly loses her job. It throws everything into a spiral. Eventhough LaVaughn knows she won't be paid, she continues to help out Jolly, who is just 3 or 4 years older than her. Eventually she convinces...more
Rebekah
The style of this book was interesting. Short lines, presumably because Verna LaVaughn didn't use as complex a sentence structure. (the desctiption used is free verse) The experiences of Jolly were too hard to comprehend. It was interesting to pair a character like Verna who most american's would see as the having the hardest life, is faced with helping someone for whom life is better and yet still a great deal worse. I wonder what life will be like for Jeremy and Jilly. Can we imagine a better...more
Sarah Brutsch
I struggled with this book. The free verse isn't difficult and actually goes by quickly, but it's a hard, hard book full of hard topics. LaVaughn, a 14-year-old girl, takes up a babysitting job for Jolly, a 17-year-old unmarried mother of two, who is in the world's saddest situation. While LaVaughn is trying to prepare for college, she sees Jolly's life, the exact life she is trying to avoid, and struggles to help Jolly overcome her own challenges and make a better life for herself and kids. I c...more
Jeffrey Sosa
Make Lemonade is about a young girl, 14 year old LaVaughn, and her life after picking up a job as a babysitter to earn money for college. It explores the concept of personal growth, perceptions of other people’s situations, and how one can influence others for good or bad. LaVaughn learns to balance her own life while also helping out the family she tends for; mainly helping Jolly and teaching her how she can have a better life. Overall, I like the book for its story and ability to portray the s...more
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The Ultimate Teen...: Make Lemonade - Virginia Euwer Wolff 5 6 Jun 06, 2013 05:33pm  
Mrs. Gallagher's ...: Liz Woldring's Book Review 1 2 May 01, 2013 06:46pm  
Make Lemonade 3 47 Jul 09, 2012 07:22pm  
What's The Name o...: 14-year-old girl babysits for 17-year-old mother [s] 4 57 Dec 02, 2011 02:21am  
Make Lemonade (Paperback)
Make Lemonade (Hardcover)
Make Lemonade
Make Lemonade (Paperback)
Wenn dir das Leben eine Zitrone gibt, mach Limonade draus. (Paperback)

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On August 25th, Virginia Euwer Wolff was born in Portland, Oregon. Her family lived on an apple and pear orchard near Mount Hood. Her father died when she was five years old and she admits her childhood was pretty messed up, but she held things together with her violin. She graduated from Smith College. She raised a son and daughter before going back to teaching high school English.
She was almost...more
More about Virginia Euwer Wolff...
True Believer (Make Lemonade, #2) The Mozart Season Bat 6 This Full House (Make Lemonade, #3) Probably Still Nick Swansen

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