Community

Wear is the sign of a book that has been loved. When I finally received a copy of Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile I was struck by how loved it already was. To me that spoke wonders about the story so I was excited to dive in. Plus, many other bloggers I follow have had amazing things to say about the book so it was bound to be a hit.

Truly lives at Eagle Shores Trailer park with her mostly absent mother Clarice and Andy El, the trailer park owner. When Andy El encourages Truly to have a lemonade stand for the summer, reluctantly Truly agrees which sets in motion a roller coaster ride of a summer that changes Truly’s life forever.

This incredible middle grade novel exudes love and heartache. Readers will instantly be drawn to Truly and Andy El and will delight in the beautiful friendship they have cultivated. It’s so much more than a friendship and more of a grandparent/grandchild relationship with Andy El always providing a safe space for Truly to land when her mother is drunk, mad or absent. Truly has not had a typical life for a child and is so much stronger and wiser than her years. The descriptions of her assessing her mother to find out if she should engage with her or not are quite powerful. I loved the Elvis character. Although most young readers would not have a clue who the King of Rock and Roll is, Leslie Gentille provides clues and song titles for readers to explore as they are reading.

There is a recurring theme of community in the story. There is Andy El who treats Truly like her own child. At the lemonade stand many of the members of the trailer park community drop off things for Truly to sell along with her lemonade supporting her efforts to make money to buy a puppy from the farm down the road. Mr and Mrs. Wyman who own the farm who visit the stand everyday for a cold glass of lemonade and Aaron Kingsley (aka Elvis Presley) who even though he is new to the community, recognizes the spark in Truly. Although Truly’s home is broken and her mother is absent, the people from the trailer park community all come together to support her.

Also, they support each other. They share what they have and exchange for things they need. When Raymond catches a whole bunch of big salmon it’s shared in exchange for berries for jam. You can feel the love Leslie Gentile has built into the fictional trailer park community of Eagle Shores.

There are unfortunately many children who are living in similar circumstances to Truly making Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer so important for readers. When we can read about characters with similar lives to ourselves there is comfort and a feeling of being seen. The love and support Truly receives from her whole community is inspiring. Truly receives so many different gifts from everyone in her community and they surround her with real familial love for the first time in her life. 

It’s refreshing to have topics like absentee parents and child abandonment featured in middle grade stories. We are starting to give readers some credit, they can do hard things and read about sad topics. It creates empathy and demonstrates that the world is filled with not only good but also bad as well. It’s reality.