THE LEMONADE CLUB

Very best friends Traci and Marilyn are in Miss Wichelman’s warm, friendly and inspiring fifth-grade classroom led by an encouraging teacher whose daily motto is to make lemonade out of life’s sour lemons. Marilyn is given one of life’s worst lemons, leukemia, and enters a course of chemotherapy complete with its sickening side effects and the loss of her hair. Through it all, Traci and her family remain supportive as only best friends can. But it is Miss Wichelman’s personal connection with cancer, her special friendship with both girls in and outside of school and her secret dreams of finishing medical school that lead the way to a classroom full of shaved heads and happy reunions when Marilyn returns from a long absence. Once again, Polacco works from a true episode, this time in her daughter’s friend’s life, to build a heartwarming and touchingly gentle story of serious childhood illness and its hopeful, positive outcome through compassionate peer loyalty. Her signature expressive illustrations of children and adults’ sadness, relief and gladness rendered in pencils and markers complete this sentimental yet poignant story that will surely trigger a few tears for some and empathetic understanding for all. (Picture book. 7-12)