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Reviewed by:
  • Lemons by Melissa Savage
  • Elizabeth Bush
Savage, Melissa Lemons. Crown, 2017 [320p]
Library ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-0013-3 $19.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-0012-6 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-0014-0 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys         Ad Gr. 3-5

Ten-year-old Lemonade Liberty Witt is wrenched out of her happy San Francisco life by the death of her mother and her uprooting to live with her grandfather. Charlie, who was estranged from Lem's mother, is quiet but welcoming, steadily sprucing up his home with thoughtful comforts for his granddaughter and encouraging her to mingle with the neighbors. Life in Willow Creek, CA—the Bigfoot Capital of the World—does not move at Lem's speed, though, and Tobin Sky, self-appointed Bigfoot investigator, is not the agemate she'd choose for a friend. Nonetheless, the pickings for companionship and entertainment are pretty slim in 1970s Willow Creek, and soon Lem is Tobin's assistant, answering calls from neighbors who report Bigfoot sightings in their yards and farms. These might be bogus reports, concocted by well-meaning adults to keep Tobin's mind off his father, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who made it back to the States but not to Willow Creek; then again, the reports may be true, and as more evidence accrues, even a respected scientist takes note of the discoveries. The cryptozoology plot works smoothly with Lem and Tobin's respective dramas, and although the happy ending for Tobin's family is unconvincingly fortuitous, middle-grades readers will be satisfied with the [End Page 425] outcomes. Many may be less thrilled, however, with the syrupy dialogues between wise adults and achy-breaky kids, which feel largely inspired by bumper stickers and motivational posters. While the lemons-into-lemonade metaphor is served here with a bit too much sugar, it's apt and accessible for young readers.

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