A joyous celebration of cryptozoology, friendship, family love, and coping with loss.” – Kirkus Reviews, 2017 “An enjoyable and comforting middle-grade handbook on navigating new experiences and the heartache of losing loved ones early in life. “The book is well paced, with plenty of humor to balance the heavy themes.” - Taylor Worley, School Library Journal, 2017 Before they know it, Lem and Tobin are caught up in a case that impacts them more personally than they could imagine as they both cope with their own unique grief of losing a parent. While most of the sightings and reports that Bigfoot Detective Inc receives are from indulging town-folk (such as the retired school teacher who uses it as an excuse to bake and feed cookies to these two kiddos), a few reports begin to come in that are stumping even the adults in town. Since Tobin is the first person her own age she befriends, he is able to rope her in to being his (reluctant) assistant, even though she is a bigfoot skeptic. Unsure of how to make lemonade from such large lemons (the well-known phrase being her namesake), Lemonade inevitably meets the quirky boy next door, Tobin, who is OBSESSED with the local Bigfoot legend and is the self-proclaimed CEO and founder of Bigfoot Detective Inc (which he runs out of the ramshackle garage belonging to Lem’s grandfather). Ten-year-old Lemonade Liberty Witt, Lem for short, has just lost her mother and is being uprooted from San Francisco to go live with her grandfather, who she has never met, in Willow Creek, California. Topics/Themes: Healing/Grief from loss of a parent, reconnecting with family, making new friends, living in a new placeĭiversity Tags: Death of a parent/raised by grandparent Genre: Middle Grade, Action/Adventure, Historical Fiction (Set in the 1970s)

Melissa Savage's astoundingly good debut novel is packed with humor, mystery, friendship, family secrets, and even Bigfoot! I think you'll love it, too.Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers (2017) 'I love books about feisty girls and nerdy boys. And Lem realizes that maybe she can make lemonade out of her new life after all. But along the way, Lem and Tobin end up discovering more than they ever could have imagined. After he invites Lem to be his assistant for the summer, they set out on an epic adventure to capture a shot of the elusive beast on film. Then she meets eleven-year-old Tobin Sky, the CEO of Bigfoot Detectives Inc., who is the sole Bigfoot investigator for their small town. But Lem can’t possibly make lemonade out of her new life in Willow Creek, California-the Bigfoot Capital of the World-where she’s forced to live with a grandfather she’s never met after her mother passes away. Lemonade Liberty Witt’s mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The search for Bigfoot gets juicy in this funny and touching story that’s perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Flora & Ulysses and the movie Smallfoot!

Lemons by Melissa Savage