I love Lemons. I mean, I love the children’s chapter book, Lemons by Melissa Savage, that we have at the Pine Bush Area Public Library. Our girl was named Lemonade Liberty Witt by her hippie mother. And her Mom told her, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But Lemonade (or Lem) is having a hard time doing that.

Her mother has died of cancer, and Lemonade has had to leave San Francisco and go live with her grandfather in Willow Creek, California. “A tiny town with tall pines instead of skyscrapers.” To make it worse, “They say Willow Creek is the Bigfoot capital of the world.” (Makes you think of Pine Bush, which attracts so many flying saucers.)

Lemonade is miserable, angry and suffering from culture shock. Grandad says mostly “Mmmh-hhmmm” but then he buys a rainbow quilt for her, which looks a lot like the one she used to have at home. And he says, “One day at a time, Lem. Sometimes it’s one moment at a time.”

For a long time, the only friend Lemonade has is a nerdy 11-year-old named Tobin Sky. He hands out his crumpled “business card,” reading “Bigfoot Detectives Inc. Handling all your Bigfoot needs since 1974.” Of course he gets teased to within an inch of his life, by all the “normal” kids, but he has a MISSION. And Toby needs a mission, because his father was supposed to have come home from Vietnam, but he did not get off the plane. No one knows where he is.

Our Heroes are trying to track down Bigfoot. A neighbor thinks she saw a tall figure with reddish-brown hair. They find what looks like a “nest” in the woods. Then they find the person who has been living there. Just when you think you know who or what the “Bigfoot” is— something else happens. I cannot tell you what. Will things work out? Will Lemon make lemonade? Will Toby make more than one friend? Is it all just human stuff, or will Bigfoot come out of the woods right when he’s needed? Read Lemons and find out.