Justice Squeezes Slow, But It Squeezes Exceeding Tight

Back in 2007, I did the math on Jacqueline Davies’s The Lemonade War, and found that the young character who came out best by far in that fictional portrait of business was Scott, the one who stole whatever cash was lying around when no one was looking.

That posting concluded:

It’s a realistic picture of how the world works too often, in the elementary-school years or in business, but who wants the real world in middle-grade? I demand a sequel! Something like Scott Gets Crushed Like a Bike Helmet Under the Tire of Life.

Next month will bring Jackie’s sequel, The Lemonade Crime. Houghton Mifflin says:

Following the laws of our legal system, Evan and Jessie’s fourth-grade class concocts a courtroom on the playground, putting Scott Spencer, alleged thief, on trial. They create a legitimate courtroom—with a judge, witnesses, a jury of their peers—and surprising consequences.

According to an advance review at Goodreads, the theft involves $208 from the lemonade stand. I calculated that Scott came out $213 ahead, but that might include other revenue; I’d have to recheck my figures. Will Scott turn out to have an alibi? Or just an excuse?

Boston 1775 Highlights Tricking the Tallyman

Yesterday at Boston 1775 I wrote about Tricking the Tallyman, a recent story about the first US census written by Jacqueline Davies and illustrated by S. D. Schindler.

It “gets to the core of what it means to live in a democracy: the balance of rights and responsibilities.” And all in a picture book, too.

Cost of The Lemonade War

Jacqueline Davies’s The Lemonade War is, I thought, a surprisingly dark book. Not that it’s truly dark in the “edgy” sense. But in a middle-grade novel about two siblings feuding over lemonade, I wasn’t expecting to find intractable problems that can’t be wrapped up. The book has a nice tight plot, but some situations don’t lend themselves to nice tight plots.

Most striking for me, young Jessie is academically smart enough to skip a grade, but also needs tips from her older brother Evan on interpreting face and body cues. From my adult perspective, it’s clear she’ll still have some tough times at school even though she can handle all the math easily. The Lemonade War is a rare book featuring a kid with those gifts and challenges.

And then there’s the book’s business lesson. I’m not talking about the kid-sized demonstrations of marketing and management concepts that pop up throughout (e.g., joint venture, underselling, crisis management). I’m talking about the bottom line--which in literary terms means ***SPOILERS*** will follow.

I did the math, and here’s how the young lemonade sellers approach the job and what they appear to end up with at the end of the book.

Paul, Jack & Ryan - spend one day helping a buddy sell more lemonade than his pesky little sister

$0.00

Evan - work your tail off selling lemonade, make a bad choice, confess to your sister, share what you’ve learned

$34.05

Jessie - work your tail off selling lemonade, make a bad choice, confess to your brother, share what you’ve learned

$34.06

Megan - be cute enough to attract guys, help the little new girl in your grade, sell lemonade for a couple of days to benefit charity

$104.00

Scott - steal whatever cash you see when you’re not being observed

$213.00

That can’t be right, can it? It’s a realistic picture of how the world works too often, in the elementary-school years or in business, but who wants the real world in middle-grade? I demand a sequel! Something like Scott Gets Crushed Like a Bike Helmet Under the Tire of Life.

"New England Voices" Tonight at Boston College

Tonight I have the honor of moderating "New England Voices," a public event for the Foundation for Children's Books featuring three local authors. Since I've known all three for years, I know it will be a fun evening with some fine writing and art on display.

The featured authors will be, in alphabetical order:

• Jacqueline Davies. Jackie's latest books are The House Takes a Vacation, a picture book, and The Lemonade War, a middle-grade novel.
• Jamie Harper. An author-illustrator, Jamie's latest titles include Miss Mingo and the First Day of School and, written by Sally Warner, Best Friend Emma
• Mitali Perkins. Her new books are Rickshaw Girl and, coming next month, the start of a new series: First Daughter. And, of course, you know about Mitali's blog.

"New England Voices" will take place in Vanderslice Hall on the campus of Boston College. See the FCB's website for more detailed driving directions. The event will start at 7:30, and part of my job will be to ensure that it ends by 9:00.

Getting the Details Right

Yesterday I attended a signing by Jacqueline Davies for her new middle-grade novel, The Lemonade War. Some other writing-group friends and I prevailed on Jackie to do a second reading even after most young customers had disappeared and the chairs were cleared away. Coming home, I got to thinking about the challenge finding the details of everyday life for kids today.

The Lemonade War was inspired by a lemonade-selling rivalry between two of Jackie’s own kids. During the reading, she mentioned how a passing episode that ends poorly for a bike helmet had really happened as well. She even named the perpetrator (so, kid, don't think you're getting away with anything; the grown-ups are onto you).

One of the novels I'm now writing is like Jackie's: set in the contemporary world that its young readers are supposed to recognize as their own. But I don't have kids, so not only am I not forced to know all about today's middle-school society, but I'm somewhat stymied at finding out the gloomy details.

Keeping up with technology is relatively easy because it's so new and obvious. I can pick up that some kids have cell phones and others want them, that the oral report is being replaced by the Powerpoint presentation, and so on.

But what about the minor but telling details of wardrobe? I must take care not to dress my young characters the way I dressed at their age. When I was a boy, all boys' socks were white, tubular, long enough to cover the calf, and striped at the top. The big choice was red stripes or blue stripes or, like the young gentleman to the left, a snazzy combination of both. As for shorts, they were short--hence the name.

Now boys' shorts are actually Capri pants, with extra pockets (for what?), and boys' socks have shrunk to hide inside shoes. Back in my youth, we had little socks, too, but they had pompoms at the back, and only girls wore them. (There does seem to be a conservation law at work here, though. Boys in shorts still bare the same amount of leg; it's just moved ten inches closer to the ground.)

So my hero wears little socks, and when his jeans get wet in the rain, they'll slap coldly against his shins. And he'll have to wear a bike helmet, right? My generation thought those were a good idea--in theory. Now kids actually seem to wear them.

Wrist bands? I grabbed that detail for another character when I met debut novelist Karen Day's son and realized he had more rubber on his arms than my old car had on its tires. Flip-flops? In my youth, kids didn't walk around in flip-flops unless they were actually in Hawaii or carrying a surfboard, but they seem ubiquitous now--and will no doubt spread further as the climate warms. But what other crucial details am I missing?

The Night Is Singing too quietly?

Fantasy literature depends on children's imaginations, but sometimes that imagination can be too energetic--it can make a young child anxious about a dark night and an empty bedroom. That's what The Night Is Singing, a new picture book from Jacqueline Davies and Kyrsten Brooker, responds to.

Jackie's a good friend, and I saw her text for this book in a critique group and then through several stages to print. So I don't claim this is an unbiased opinion about The Night Is Singing.

I simply mention hearing that the two big U.S. bookstore chains have passed on stocking this picture book because it's "quiet." I'm not a parent, but I'd think that quiet is a good quality for helping a child go to bed. And the advance reviewers seem to agree.

• Horn Book: a "welcome contrast to the monster-under-the-bed genre"
• School Library Journal: a "perfect bedtime read"
• Kirkus: "gratifying and readable night after night"

So even if the two big chains don't (yet) carry The Night Is Singing in their regular stock, we can find it at Powell's and other independent retailers. Dial offers a look at a couple of page spreads, and Jackie's own site gives a hint of the rhyming text.