Lemons

Lemons

Juvenile fiction
"Bigfoot.
It's the very first thing I see when we pull into town. A
gargantuan wooden statue of the hairy beast, stuck right smack in the
middle of the square, like he's the mayor or President Ford or someone
really important like that.
'Where are we, anyway?' I asked the social worker who came to
get me all the way down in San Francisco."
Lemonade (Lem) Liberty Witt, almost 11-year-old protagonist of
Melissa Savage's Lemon, is headed toward her new at least temporary
home. Her beloved mother has died of cancer. Now, even though her
teacher has offered to take her in, she is losing her school, friends,
and community. Rules have to be followed. And her mother's father
whom she has never met before has been located.
Willow Creek is nothing like San Francisco. It's much tinier
and more rural. Its claim to fame is that's the world's capital of a
hairy, legendary beast. In fact Lem's newly discovered grandfather is
the proprietor of a tourist oriented Bigfoot Paraphanalia store. The
more than slightly strange boy who hangs around her house is Tobin,
the official investigator of "Bigfoot Detectives Inc. Handling all
your Bigfoot needs since 1974" (Recall the story is set during the
Ford presidency).
Lem is sure she'll blow that Popsicle stand and go home the
first opportunity she gets. But Charlie tries really hard to meet her
needs. Tobin has some good qualities under his outward
obnoxiousness. And this is the community where her mother grew up and
people remember her as a child and teen.
Perhaps when the social worker returns the decision she must
make won't be the slam dunk she anticipates.
Kids and parents alike will enjoy this lively and sweet without
soppy narrative.
On a personal note, I think I've solved my glasses dilemma. I have to
get glasses to see boards or PowerPoints and not flunk grad school
which I'll start inshallah next year. I agree with the kids I
shouldn't get something pricey. Adult preppie/country club set is not
what I'm going for. But blah or something that will make me look
proper, conservative, boring, generic...I wouldn't be seen alive in.
I want something that makes me happy to wear and elicits comments like
wow and cool from the people who I hang with. It's a lot to ask of
glasses. So I wasn't exactly optimistic. But today I tried on a pair
of sunglasses with red plastic heart shaped frames and thought I
looked cute. I surveyed everyone I saw at UMaine and got all two
thumbs ups. So now I'm excited to get glasses that won't cost a
fortune.
A great big shout out goes out to everyone who participated in my
unscientific study.
jules hathaway


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