Make Lemonade is the story of a young girl by the name of LaVaughn. She has previously mentioned going to college someday to her mother and since then, it has been her mother's dream her to go. But she'll have to make the grades and try to get the money to do. In order for her to make a little money, LaVaughn decides to take a babysitting job she sees a posting for. When she arrives at the house, she finds that the girl in need, Jolly, is no more that a few years older than she is and has two small children, both under the age of 3, Jeremy and Jilly. Even though her mother is skeptical, she takes the job. After a few days of working, it turns out to be a harder task than first thought. The apartment is filthy and the kids are always a mess. To try and help Jeremy, he and LaVaughn plant some lemon seeds in the hopes they will grow into a lemon tree. Trying to help, she attempts to clean and take care of the kids, all the while still trying to maintain good grades in school. However, after Jolly loses her job because no one believes that she was sexually harassed by her boss, she is starting to hit hard times. She is hesitant to go back to school, but she makes the sacrifice for her children. In the end, it's her new education of health training that allows Jolly to save the life of her daughter after she swallows and spits up a spider. After that incident, Jolly has a new sort of confidence in herself and her new education. While the friendship between LaVaughn and Jolly dissolves it is extremely sad to see that they cannot continue to be on the same path. LaVaughn misses the kids and the small moments with Jolly. But she still has a new part time job to help pay for college. And a small moment between Jolly and LaVaughn is revealed when Jolly lets her know that the seeds are now a small plant.
It's a very touching and moving story of a young girl learning about the harsh aspects of reality. She takes a job to help babysit so that she can get her own education and not live the same standards she grew up in. Every time a difficult occurs with the babysit, it comes as a harsh reminder of why she is there: she babysits now, so that it won't become her future. Once Jolly looses her job and her ability to pay for babysitting, LaVaughn decides to help her by working for free. It's heartbreaking to see how much Jolly doesn't want to go to school or get help because she has had difficult dealings with those institutions in the past. It's also difficult to see how in the end of the book Jolly and LaVaughn have grown apart. But in a way, it's a good thing because Jolly has grown up in a lot of ways and because of that has also left that part of her past behind which includes her friendship with LaVaughn. While the book does deal with the hardships of life as a single teenage mom, it also helps that the book does have a positive ending with Jolly being able to use her education and also wanting to go farther with it. It is really an amazing story with a great ending that leaves the reader on a positive note.
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