Middle schooler Josh Lewis and his younger sister Mandy are looking forward to escaping the stuffy summer heat of Forest Hills, New York, and spending a month with their grandparents in rural Litchfield, Kentucky. But fresher air and more space to run aren't the only things that set this month apart from the rest of their year. It's also a time to reconnect with grandparents Albert and Elaine Lewis, Orthodox Jews who, years before, chose to leave their large Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York to settle and raise their family in the rural south. Josh and Mandy's father never really adjusted to being in the minority in a small town where churches dotted Main Street; it caused him to resent Albert's adherence to traditional Jewish practices, and provided impetus for him to leave as soon as he was old enough, and return to New York to establish his own more secular Jewish life and family. While dimly aware of the friction between their father and grandparents, the children adore spending time in Litchfield. This summer turns out to be especially fun though, because of the Lewis' new neighbors. The Myers family has three children who become fast friends with Josh and Mandy. Together they fill their hours with activities most city kids just dream about: riding bikes all around town, building a clubhouse in the Myers' backyard and selling lemonade on the street corner. But when Josh and Mandy's parents experience a crisis back home in New York, the children develop a plan that turns one of these activities - the lemonade stand -- from innocent childhood fun into a symbol for justice and unity.
About the Author: Author Linda Beth Matorin grew up in a largely Jewish New York City suburb, and now lives in the heart of the Midwest, Kansas City. She raised her children here as part of a much smaller Jewish community where their daily interaction with Christian friends and neighbors highlighted for them many more similarities than differences. The lessons afforded her family lay the basis for the theme of interfaith understanding woven through Taking a Lemonade Stand. And the authenticity of the Judaic principals expressed in the story stem from her own studies and daily experience as Hazzan at a large Reform synagogue in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park.