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Book Club Kits: The Lemonade War

Alamance County Public Libraries offer Book Club Kits for check out to area book clubs. Each kit contains 10 copies of a book and a reading guide.

Cover Image

Jacqueline Davies

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Book Summary

For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.

Fourth-grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent.

Discussion Questions

  • Have you ever felt competitive with someone you are close to, like a sibling or a good friend? What was the competition about? What did you do? How was it resolved?

  • Evan is so angry with his sister he can barely stand it! Has Jessie consciously done anything to harm her brother? Explain the root of Evan's anger.

  • Jacqueline Davies chose to create Evan and Jessie as characters who don't fit the stereotype of boys and girls, in terms of both their academic strengths and challenges and their social strengths and challenges. Do you think that such stereotypes (girls as intuitive but not good at math, boys as good at math but not so good at reading people's feelings) get in the way at your school?

  • Even though Jessie and Evan are having a hard time with each other, they don't want their mom to know. Can you explain why they are so careful not to show her they are quarreling? Have you ever felt like this?

  • Evan is pretty sure that Scott Spencer stole the lemonade money he "borrowed" from Jessie. Why doesn't Evan confront Scott? Why doesn't he ask for his money back?

  • How do Evan and Jessie finally resolve the conflict — both their lemonade war and their personal war?

  • Both children have to admit that they've done mean things to each other before they can move on. Have you ever done something out of anger that you wish you hadn't? How did this play out?