Rating: 
Summary: Make Lemonade
Review: PLOT SUMMARY: LaVaughn, a high school student gets a job babysitting after school to earn money for her college savings fund. She ends up babysitting for Jolly, a 17 year-old single mother of two, who has problems supporting herself and her two children. With no family to speak of, Jolly takes the advice of 14 year-old LaVaughn and enrolls in a class at her high school that provides daycare for single mothers while helping them to earn a high school diploma. Because Jolly refuses to get financial help from the govermnent, LaVaughn often babysits and cleans house for free and basically finds herself being a mother to both Jolly and her children. JOLLY: Jolly is a 17 year-old mom who is, for the most part, illiterate. Having been fired from her last job for refusing her boss's sexual advances, she is having a hard time finding another job she is qualified to do. Helpless and alone, she meets 14 year-old LaVaughn, who is her lifeline. With the help of LaVaughn, Jolly struggles to get back on her feet. LAVAUGHN: LaVaughn is the 14 year-old daughter of a single mother and is struggling to earn money for college. She takes a job babysitting for Jolly but is so compelled by Jolly's situation that she continues to help even when the money runs out and even spends part of her own money to clothe the children. She becomes so involved in the lives of Jolly and her two children that she almost loses sight of her own goals. INFORMATION TO ENGLISH TEACHERS: This novel is a wonderful novel for the lower-level or average student. It is written on a level young adults can understand, and sadly enough, many students are able to relate to the problems Jolly faces as a teenage mother. A very short and easy read, students are not likely to lose interest. PERSONAL THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS: Although I never faced problems such as Jolly or LaVaughn, I have seen numerous students who have. This book is an inspiration for both single teenage mothers as well as those who have never had to experience this aspect of growing up.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This book was read in my seventh grade English class last year--a bit difficult of a book for many of my peers, so from many of them, the response to this powerful novel was not a warm one. I DID understand the book at length, and therefore enjoyed it. The relationships between the characters, most particularly Jolly and LaVaughn, were so well described, especially the complexity of them. This book does deal with many adult issues, and one of them that was discussed, applyed to my life only months after i finished the book. Characters that you can relate to are always a plus to a great novel. This book conveys a strong message, one that will apply to teens everywhere, whether living in an inner city like the characters, or in a wealthy neighborhood.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet and tangy
Review: When I first read this book several years ago, I was bowled over by its power. Since then, I have returned to LaVaughn's story several times. Each time, I experience the same sense of joy and awe at Wolff's ability to tell a story, and to create sympathy without judging. LaVaughn is an inner city kid trying to make good by earning a college scholarship. Her hardworking, firm-but-loving mom supports her, but urges LaVaughn to put academics first. Jolly, a teenaged mom who has been roughly handled by life, requests a babysitter, and LaVaughn responds. Wolff makes us question every stereotype we may hold: that teenaged moms brought their problems upon themselves, that people who are out of work are lazy, that every poor person is anxious to accept a handout. None of these preconceived notions is true for Jolly or the other characters in the novel. Yet, while painting every character with a sympathetic brush, Wolff does not release any of them from responsibility. Life works out best, she reminds us, for those that rise above the despair of a hard situation and do something to make it better. Wolff's free verse style creates strong images of Jolly's life, both stark and joyful: the battered card where she scrawls her desperate plea for help, the filthy floor in her apartment, Jeremy's triumph at being toilet trained, the blooming of a lemon plant that represents the hopes of children despite the harshness of their lives.
Rating:
Summary: Make Lemonade
Review: This story about LaVaughn, a fourteen year old baby-sitter and Jolly, a seventeen year old mother, was very touching story. One part I especially enjoyed was when Jolly was telling LaVaughn about the story her teacher told her. I found that "You should have known you was getting a lemon. But you don't always know at first. You even thank them for it most of the time." is very true. Many times when what turns out to be something hard is something that you say thank you for at first.
Rating: 
Summary: STRONG FEMALE
Review: This book is excellent. Not only could this book relate to any female regardless of race or ethnicity, but it shows that females have a strong importance in adolescent novels. Virgina Wolff describes young women coping with situations without the help of a male. This book touched me personally and I would recommend it to any struggling teen mother.
Rating:
Summary: I thought it was lacking interesting topics.
Review: La Vaughn spent a time trying to incourage jolly to go back to school.La Vaughn finds a program called the moms up program.Jolly goes to it and is able to go to school while her children stay in daycare.I learned from reading this book that it is important to finish school so you are able to go to college so you can get somewhere in life.
Rating:
Summary: This book is about a girl who babysitts to go to college.
Review: My favorite part of this book was when she first goes to the woman's house and sees what kind of poverty this family lives in. I feel very sorry for the kids in the story to have to grow up in that kind of environment and have a mom who is only 17 years old.This book is great and I would suggest this to most anyone and I know I will read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I found this book the greatest book I have ever read, since it's like a non-fiction story, the end is especially touching. LaVaughn is not only a poor teenager, but also a second parent to Jeremy and Jilly and a friend that Jolly needed. She even came back when Jolly was not giving her the money. This is a very touching story.
Rating:
Summary: "No lemon bloom"
Review: Make Lemonade is a remarkable story of two young girls trying to fullfill and live life to its fullest. LaVaughn answers an ad hoping to find some cash to pay her way for college. She ends up entering the life of 17 year old Jolly. Jolly, a mother of two, has no work and goes back to school. She doesn't pay LaVaughn anything but still she stays. A friendship emerges from this book and a story of just how hard life is. It teaches you to embrace what you have and never ever to let go.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to read, but deceivingly thought-provoking.
Review: On the page Virgina Euwer Wolff's writing looks like free verse. In truth it is a first-person novel presenting two teenage girls struggles to grow up despite their circumstances. One, the mother of two young children, is determined to make it on her own. The other - the narrator - enlists heself as babysitter, and once involved cannot walk away and in doing so threatens her own promising educational future. The narrator's thoughts will be understood by today's youth, the urban jargon dialogue appreciated and lots of "white space" on the page allows accessability for reluctant teenage readers. I loved this book - it is full of honest observations and hope.
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