Lemon Drop Falls

by Heather Clark

Overview

Brave the sour to taste the sweet.
Morgan is devastated by her mother's sudden death. Before, Mom's amazing organizational skills kept the family on track, and her bowl of lemon drops was always on hand to make difficult conversations easy, turning life's sour into sweet. After, there's no one to help Morgan navigate her new role caring for her younger siblings, her worries about starting junior high, and her increasingly confusing friendships. All she can do is try to fulfill her mother's final request: Keep them safe, Morgan. Be brave for them. Help them be happy.

When Dad insists on taking the family on their regular summer camping trip, and Morgan's efforts to keep her promise to Mom seem doomed to fail, Morgan's anxiety spirals into a panic attack, and Dad treats her like she's impossibly broken. Unable to share her fears and needs with Dad, and desperate to prove she's got the strength to hold the family together, Morgan sets off alone to hike a flooding canyon trail. But somewhere on that lonely and dangerous journey, Morgan will encounter the truth about the final words her mother left her, the power in finding her own voice, and the possibility of new beginnings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631635809
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Heather Clark grew up near the Rocky Mountains of Canada, then followed the mountain range south, to her current home in Utah, where she lives with her husband and three children who inspire the books she writes. Heather's work as a writer, photographer, and teacher helps her see the beauty and unique value in every person. After dealing with her own childhood anxiety and OCD, Heather is passionate about representing neurodiverse children powerfully in fiction. When she's not working, you can find Heather camping, hiking, boardgaming, or reading and celebrating books at MGBookParty.com. You can learn more about Heather and her books at HeatherClarkBooks.com. LEMON DROP FALLS is her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

"Poignant and harrowing, the novel Lemon Drop Falls is about a tough girl who deals with grief, anxiety, and family challenges across one powerful summer." —Foreword Reviews

"The depictions of grief and anxiety . . . are authentic and relatable, and the author’s own experiences lend credence to both." —Kirkus Reviews

"Clark presents a wrenching portrait . . . Not a happy tale, but a hopeful one, in the end." —Booklist

"This emotional read is recommended for middle grade collections at school and public libraries." —School Library Journal

"Young readers will connect with the expertly told story, written in dual time periods, before and after Morgan’s mother’s death . . . [T]his story can be used to help others in grief, finding some sweetness beneath the sour." —Children's Literature

From the Publisher

03/11/2022

Gr 5 Up—Twelve-year-old Morgan is doing fine. She makes sure her little siblings are taken care of, dinner is on the table every night, and that her dad doesn't have to worry about a thing. The problem is Morgan worries about everything, and has since her mom's sudden death. Mom was the planner of the family who kept everyone together with ABC Plans and lemon drop talks, where you go through the sour to get to the sweet. Without Mom, Morgan doesn't have a plan for how to handle all of life's changes, like junior high, possible crushes, and frenemies. When Morgan's dad decides to take the family on their annual camping trip, Morgan realizes she can't escape her Mom's memory or the pressures her life in "Plan B" is putting on her, even when she tries. Chapters alternate "before" and "after" Morgan's mom's death and allow readers to really feel how much Morgan's life has changed and what she is dealing with. Morgan and her family present white, while strong secondary characters, both adult and kids, add depth and diversity to the story. VERDICT This emotional read is recommended for middle grade collections at school and public libraries.—Heather Webb

School Library Journal

2021-10-26
If grief were candy, it would taste like lemon drops.

Navigating friendships, first crushes, and junior high isn’t easy, but for 12-year-old Morgan, that’s just the beginning. Following the sudden death of her life coach mother, Morgan puts her mom’s ABC planning method (Action, Backup, Cleanup) to work as she cares for her adventuresome siblings, 7-year-old Janie and 5-year-old Budge. Afraid that her dad can’t handle her grief and paralyzing anxiety on top of The Fog he’s living in, she’s determined to keep her family running smoothly by herself. She misses her mom’s “lemon drops”—deep heartfelt conversations—and without mom to take her to soccer practice, she is also now without her team. Adding to her stress is the infiltration by new girl Mackelle into her best-friend triangle of Morgan-Keilani-Hrishi. In addition to stealing Keilani’s attention, Mackelle is trying to convince Morgan that Hrishi has a crush on her. The story unfurls slowly at first, with the timeline alternating between chapters labeled “Before” and “After.” It gains momentum quickly, though, as Morgan makes a questionable choice and finds herself in over her head. Morgan’s internal conversations with Almost-Mom ring true at times but sometimes feel forced. The depictions of grief and anxiety, however, are authentic and relatable, and the author’s own experiences lend credence to both. Morgan reads as White; Hrishi and Keilani are Indian and Hawaiian respectively.

This heartfelt debut starts slowly but finishes strong. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews