The Lemonade Club

The Lemonade Club

Author and Illustrator: Patricia Palacco

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Major Awards: None

Grade Level: 3-6

Summary: This story is about two girls, Traci and Marylin, and their relationship with each other and their beloved fifth grade teacher, Miss Wichelman. Miss Wichelman was loved by all her students and she loved all of them and made them feel special and important. At the beginning of the story, Marylin was bullied for being overweight. Traci noticed that she suddenly seemed to lose a lot of weight. It was later revealed that Marylin had been diagnosed with leukemia. After long weeks of chemotherapy and plenty of visits from Traci and Miss Wichelman, it was time for Marylin to return to school. Her whole class surprised her by all shaving their heads and throwing a party so she did not feel alone or embarrassed. After a while, a student pointed out that Miss Wichelman was still wearing a scarf on her head. She revealed to the girls that she had breast cancer. She also told them that she had been wanted to pursue her past dream of being a doctor, but lost her courage with her diagnosis, but the girls encouraged her to not give up. The story ends with Miss Wichelman's wedding and the girls being bridesmaids. She had also earned her PhD and became a medical doctor.

Evaluation: Although I have never read this book before, it had me in tears multiple times. It is actually based on the true story of Patricia Palacco's daughter Traci and her best friend and teacher. Although this book deals with very scary realities, I think it is important to have it available to students. When I was in fourth grade my dad was diagnosed with leukemia and it was a very scary time for me. Having a book like this would have been very helpful. I will for sure have this book in my classroom.

I think this book is best for third through sixth grade because it is a tad long for a picture book and could also be difficult to comprehend for young readers.

While I do not think I would pair this book with a unit, I would have it readily available for students who may need it.