This Full House
Make Lemonade series, Book 3
HarperTeen, 2009
ISBN 978-0061583049 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0061583063 (paperback)
“Each discovery disturbs the arrangements of the known world, and it is our job to stay alert to all possibilities.”
LaVaughn believes she is keeping alert to all possibilities. She has made it through the projects, she’s gotten over heartbreak, she’s grown up, and now she’s been admitted to the Women in Science program that might finally be her ticket to COLLEGE. But the discoveries she makes during her senior year in high school—two girls pregnant, with very few options—disturb everything in her known world. And in an effort to bring together people who should love each other, she jeopardizes the one prize she has sought her whole life long.
When do you know whether you’re doing the right thing? What happens when you can’t find a way to make lemonade out of lemons? Virginia Euwer Wolff takes on the biggest questions—about life and love, certainly, but also about girls and women, sacrifice and compassion—and has something quite revelatory to say about them in this full house.
Resources
“Q & A with Virginia Euwer Wolff,” an interview in Publishers Weekly
Awards and Honors
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Amelia Bloomer List, 2010
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Bank Street Best Books List, 2010
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Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, 2010
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Junior Library Guild, 2009
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Oregon Spirit Honor from Oregon Council of Teachers of English, 2010
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Ten Best Northwest Books, The Oregonian
Reviews
“Written in a riveting stream-of-consciousness fashion … the book plunges into the depths of inner-city poverty… At once disturbing and uplifting, this finely nuanced, touching portrait proudly affirms our ability to reach beyond ourselves and out to one another.” (Booklist, starred review)
“The long-awaited conclusion to the trilogy begun with 1993’s Make Lemonade delivers on its promise. … In heartbreaking free-verse chapters, LaVaughn discovers that helpful adults are not perfect and that forgiveness is necessary even for the unforgivable. … this portrayal of the dignity of poverty is quite the tearjerker. The audacity of hope, indeed.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“… LaVaughn’s ferocious determination and intelligence will wholly captivate readers, as will her beautifully articulated, elemental questions about integrity, faith, and how best to build a life.” (ALA Booklist)
“Wolff’s language is rich and poetic, using scientific words like ‘tibia’ and ‘deoxyriboneucleic acid’ to both intellectual and aesthetic effect. LaVaughn’s emotions, from fear to joy to disbelief, are palpable and realistic.” (School Library Journal)
“Despite the missing parents, struggling parents, and the children-turned-parents, This Full House is full of hope. It has had me thinking for days about my parents and parenting.” (Richie Partington, Richie’s Picks, 18 Oct 2009)
“The three volumes of the Make Lemonade trilogy exemplify what the free verse novel can be, a perfect matching of form and narrative to tell a powerful story.” (BookPage, March 2009)
“Author Virginia Euwer Wolff packs punch and poignancy into her poetic lines of choices made and regretted and sometimes forgiven.” (The Washington Post)
“I couldn’t wait to find out what happened, and then wanted to go right on reading about these thoughtful, quirky, splendid characters. LaVaughn—so wise, naive, and purely honest—is a treasure.” (Joanna Rudge Long, children’s literature scholar emeritus)
“An audacious and rewarding finale in the unparalleled Make Lemonade sequence, there’s room in This Full House for any reader to find a home.” (Gregory Maguire, New York Times bestselling author)
“Once again, Virginia Euwer Wolff manages to write with such intensity, leading to such grace. This trilogy is a masterpiece, and this book is full of hard-earned beauty. Consider me amazed.” (David Levithan, New York Times bestselling author of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)
Make Lemonade series, Book 3
HarperTeen, 2009
ISBN 978-0061583049 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0061583063 (paperback)