The Lemonade War

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies is about Evan and Jessie Treski, a brother and sister who start a competition that turns into a war -- a lemonade war. Whoever can sell the most lemonade in the 5 days left before schools starts wins, and winner takes all the money made at both lemonade stands.

I loved this book. Love love LOVED it. Let me tell you 3 reasons why:

1. An honest brother-sister relationship. Evan and Jessie don't always get along (obviously), but they don't hate each other every breathing moment. I'm so tired of reading the books where the siblings hate each other and only come to see how much they honestly care about each other at the end of the book for a happy ending.  I love how Davies portrays their relationship, how Evan really does love his sister but what she's done just makes him so mad that he just has to say those mean words, those words that feel like bugs crawling around in his mouth and he just has to say them even though he knows it's going to hurt Jessie's feelings. 
2. A two-point perspective on (mis)communication. Telling the story from both Evan's and Jessie's perspective illustrates so well how one person's actions or words can be so easily misconstrued by the other person, especially when feelings are already hurt and tempers riled.
3. Simple business explanations for kids (and adults!). Each chapter is based on a business principle--such as partnership, underselling, negotiation--- and how they apply in business, even as simple as a lemonade stand. They're easy to understand and 100% applicable to kids. Evan is good with people and Jessie is good with math, so the different strategies they use fit those strengths.
   

Those are my top three reasons, but there are so many more reasons to love this book: the true-to-life characters that you'll adore, the opportunities to teach (and to learn), the explanations of different problem-solving techniques, the sweet dynamics of the Treski family.

Final word: A+. You should read this book. It's a quick read (173 large-print pages) that is both entertaining and thought-provoking--my teacher-husband and I have had many discussions about topics in the book and how it could be used to teach both in the home and in the classroom. If you have children, read and discuss it with them, too. (For both parents and teachers, check out the website for teaching ideas.)