Get your Kleenex boxes ready before you start this debut novel by Heather Clark. Main character Morgan is doing all that she can to tend to not only her younger brother and sister, but the cooking, cleaning, and planning that are required since her mother unexpectedly died. She has to hold in all her own feelings and needs and be sure that nothing happens that reveals just how much she is grieving and how badly she needs someone to take care of her! Then her dad’s “fog” begins to lift and he decides to wreck all the plans that Morgan has made to insure a successful start of school by taking the now smaller family to Capital Rock to try and recapture some of the joy experienced on their yearly trip. Will tragedy strike again?

Morgan’s anxiety and grief are complicated by her struggle to keep it “buttoned up” and even the family tradition of eating a lemon drop while sharing feelings and problems and thus going from sour to sweet must be refused. Puberty, the move from 6th grade and into junior high, and changing friendships further cement this book as one that will give 4th-7th graders much to think about and enjoy. Readers will see connections to Lindsay Stoddard’s Bea is for Blended, Tricia Springstubb’s The Most Perfect Place in the Universe and Laura Melchor’s Missing Okalee. Highly recommended for libraries with readership in sad-happy heart warmers like these as well as those by Joan Bauer, Barbara O’Connor, and Lisa Graff.

Morgan tells us her family’s story before and after her mom died. Morgan’s mom was an ABC planner- A action, B backup and C cleanup. She said if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. While waiting for the ambulance, Morgan’s mom made her promise to keep her younger brother and sister safe and help them be happy. This is a lot for someone in junior high, and Morgan feels the pressure. Dad is still in a Fog. When mom was alive, she used lemon drops as a way to have difficult conversations- they might be hard at first, but then got sweeter or easier. One day dad decides they are all going camping because Morgan has worked hard and needs to relax. On top of trying to hold the family together, Morgan’s best friend isn’t talking to her. While camping, dad has brought some lemon drops so the family can talk and remember mom, but Morgan isn’t interested. One morning Morgan takes off and wants to hike Sulphur Creek by herself. Morgan feels her mom’s presence and realizes her mom will always be in the traditions and plans they make. Morgan encounters some dangers, and wonders will she be okay? Can she handle any more pressure?

Lemon Drop Falls is the story of twelve year old Morgan, a soccer playing, Star Wars loving girl, whose anxiety kicks into overdrive after the death of her mother. When she overhears her dad considering moving closer to family so they can get more help and support, Morgan takes it upon herself to shove her emotions deep down inside and become a pseudo parent for her siblings, proving to her family (and herself) that they're going to be okay.

This book handles so many complex topics like the loss of a parent, the growing pains of friendship, and the parentification of young girls carefully and thoughtfully, and in ways that felt accessible for younger readers. I enjoyed the split timelines because we got to learn more about what "Before Morgan" was like and to see that drastic shift in her personality, as well as get to know her mother.