jc_hall's Full Review: Virginia Euwer Wolff - Make Lemonade
14-year-old LaVaughn is determined to go to college. Where she comes from—a crime-ridden neighbourhood of public housing where bad words are scrawled in the elevators that you don’t want to enter with a stranger—few people make it to college and fewer still stay the course. LaVaughn sees it as a way out--of where they live, and the ticket to a different—better—way of life. But LaVaughn’s mom never lets her forget that College takes hard work and money, and between the two of them, they have a little put by. Still, LaVaughn must get a part-time job to help supplement that meagre amount, and something about that messy note on the school bulletin board, the one ignored by her friends, the one that says: Babysitter Wanted Bad, makes LaVaughn go check it out.
The situation is far from ideal—a single mom, Jolly, barely 17, with two little kids courtesy of two absent dads, in a filthy, roach-infested apartment. Jeremy’s two and toddling around while Jilly’s still a babe in arms. Can LaVaughn cope? More to the point, can she persuade her mom that she can both cope and keep up with her homework and her grades? Yet something about the look on Jolly’s face makes LaVaughn determined to babysit for her. But when Jolly loses her minimum-wage factory job (she fights back when her boss sexually harasses her), the family’s future looks dire. Not one to trust in welfare as she believes her kids will be taken away from her once she gets into the system, and with no family to help her, Jolly is at a complete loss. How will she feed the kids? Even the diapers are running out.
With LaVaughn’s help and determination, Jolly is enrolled in a class for young mothers at LaVaughn’s school where the kids are placed in free daycare. Slowly, she earns her credits and proves herself not just a worthy but heroic mother.
While this story is dedicated to young mothers and is a real eye-opener with respect to how some of these single young moms live with their little ones in atrocious, even horrendous, surroundings, it is very much LaVaughn’s story. It is from LaVaughn’s point of view that we see all that is happening. And it is from LaVaughn that we learn not to judge people like Jolly—people whose history and background we cannot even begin to imagine. LaVaughn’s mother, a strong and capable woman, has a good job and is the active and dedicated leader of the Tenant Council. But while she gives LaVaughn a sense of discipline and purpose, she is quick to judge Jolly and rue her bad influence on her daughter. LaVaughn, on the other hand, shows acceptance, empathy, loyalty and resourcefulness that belie her youth and inexperience.
Many social issues are tackled fearlessly and non-judgmentally in this short novel, including single-parenthood, the importance of education, poverty, crime, ignorance and acceptance, to name but a few. Author Virginia Euwer Wolff has an amazing knack of getting into the hearts and souls of her characters, making them so real the reader knows that they exist somewhere on this earth we share. We admire fatherless LaVaughn and her strong-willed mother. We root for Jolly who, despite all odds stacked against her, reveal strength, tenacity and humour in coping with a world that has all but disowned her. We lose our hearts to young Jeremy who squats in front of his lemon plant, willing it to grow, because we know for a fact that his life will not be easy and yet will be immeasurably less bitter than his mother’s, thanks to her own inner strength and to the help and determination of a very young and remarkable friend.
Beautifully written in spare, free verse-like, prose, multi-award winning Make Lemonade is an unforgettable novel that will open your eyes to poverty and despair, and lift you up with its message of hope and transformation. Highly recommended for teenagers, especially the ones who do not enjoy reading—they will find this an easy and startlingly realistic read.
NB: Virginia Euwer Wolff is the sole author of this novel. Heather Alicia Simms is the actress who narrates the audio CD version of the novel.
An award-winning novel about growing up and making choicesViginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourte...More at HotBookSale
When she answers a babysitting ad, 14-year-old LaVaughn meets Jolly, a 17-year-old single mother with two kids by different fathers. As she helps Joll...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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