The Lemonade War has long been a staple of 4th/5th grade summer reading lists, but has otherwise fallen off in recent years. It's nice to see a graphic novel bring this math-forward chapter book back into the spotlight. I know many others are weary of the constant stream of graphic novel retellings, but the more the merrier. I particularly appreciate the benefits of the graphic novel format to help demonstrate the math concepts woven into the story.

The Lemonade War follows a brother and a sister on their "war" to be the first to sell $100 worth of lemonade. Tensions are high after a recent family separation and the news that younger sister Jessie will be skipping a grade and joining older brother Evan in 4th grade the next year. To make matters worse, budget cuts mean that there will only be one 4th grade class, and Evan is struggling in school.

I think students will definitely enjoy this new take on the story.

"The Lemonade War Graphic Novel" is a middle grade graphic novel reimagining of Jacqueline Davies' book, written by Davies and illustrated by Karen De La Vega. Evan is stressed out when he learns that his younger sister Jessie is skipping a grade and will be in his fourth grade class. Jessie doesn't understand why Evan is so mad at her. Their frustration leads to them agreeing to a lemonade war, to see who can sell the most lemonade in the last few days of summer. The novel does a good job of showing the strengths and weaknesses that Evan and Jessie have and depicts sibling rivalry well. I enjoyed the illustrations showing the math calculations for how much lemonade they'd need to sell to make a certain amount. A recommended purchase for middle grade graphic novel collections.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Lemonade War Graphic Novel written by Jacqueline Davies and illustrated by Karen De La Vega is a graphic novel adaptation of the beloved modern children’s classic, The Lemonade War. Siblings Evan and Jessie start rival lemonade stands instead of discussing their feelings around Jessie skipping a grade and joining Evan’s class next year. The pair goad each other further and further until it’s almost too late to turn back.

I have not read the original book as it was released after I had stopped reading books aimed at a fourth grade audience, but I have heard of The Lemonade War. I was really excited to see this pop up because I’ve heard positive things and I was curious to see how the lessons in math and economics would be conveyed in this format. This is definitely more for an elementary school audience, but its lessons on sibling rivalry, admitting when you’re wrong, and struggles with insecurity could appeal to any age.

Most of the math is presented via image and dialogue from the characters, so young readers can both see physical representations of the math being used as well as an explanation. There’s also definitions of different economic terms in easy English and each is introduced at the start of the chapter. From an educational standpoint, there’s a lot of opportunities for teachers and guardians to create new problems for students to solve and connect them to the book.

The strongest themes are sibling rivalry and insecurity. Evan is really struggling with coming to terms with his younger sister joining his class next year (because of the amount of kids in the incoming class, there will only be one fourth grade class) and making it more obvious to everyone that he’s having a hard time in school. Jessie is also insecure because she’s had bad situations with girls in her old class she thought were her friends and she doesn’t really understand why Evan is so upset. It takes a big event for Evan to finally open up to Jessie about how he’s feeling, but it’s also obvious that no matter how frustrated he is with the situation, he does still love his sister.

I would recommend this to fans of the original The Lemonade War series and those looking for graphic novels exploring math, economics, and sibling rivalry for younger readers