The Lemonade War

Published in 2007, Jacqueline Davies’s The Lemonade War is the first installment in an award-winning series, which also includes The Lemonade Crime (2011) and The Bell Bandit (2012). The fictional children’s novel follows the Treski siblings as they compete for the most successful lemonade stand. The competition takes place the summer before Jessie Treski, an academically minded student, joins her older brother Evan’s fourth-grade class. The chapters alternate between Jessie and Evan’s perspectives.

Plot Summary

When the Treski family receives a letter explaining that Jessie will skip a grade to be part of Evan’s fourth-grade class in the coming school year, it causes a rift between the otherwise happy siblings. Jessie, who has trouble reading social cues, is confused by Evan’s angry response; meanwhile, Evan fears that having Jessie in his class will cause his peers to draw unfavorable comparisons. Thus, the two siblings enter a lemonade war: Whoever can make the most money after five days will win the siblings’ combined earnings.

Evan and Jessie embark on a learning process. Evan enlists friends and tests out different locations. Jessie pushes past her nervousness and makes a new friend, Megan, who helps her implement different business schemes. Megan gives her profits to Jessie, since Jessie has the idea to donate her earnings to the Animal Rescue League. Jessie’s friendship with Megan only serves to frustrate Evan further, since he has a crush on Megan.

As the war escalates, both Evan and Jessie cross ethical boundaries. Jessie breaks into Evan’s room to check how much money he has earned. When she realizes he is winning, she sabotages his lemonade by adding bugs to it. In turn, Evan breaks into Jessie’s room and steals her money, storing it in an envelope to give back later.

On the final day, Evan goes swimming with his friends. One friend, Scott Spencer, steals Jessie’s money out of Evan’s shorts. When the siblings come together to discuss the conclusion of the war, Jessie is upset at the loss of her money. After a fight and subsequent admission of their true feelings, Jessie and Evan submit a poster to the town Labor Day competition and win Megan’s portion of the money back. The poster details the best business practices that they’ve learned throughout the novel.