30 pages • 1 hour read
The Lemonade Crime
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Fraud”
The morning of the fourth day of school, Jessie and Evan, siblings both in the fourth grade (Jessie skipped third grade) argue over cookies, finally splitting them equally. Jessie checks the lunch calendar and sees that one of Evan’s friends has added “par-tay!” to her note about Yom Kippur on Saturday, which bothers her. Evan rides to school, but Jessie does not have her bike license yet, so she walks with her mom. She worries that walking with her mom and wearing a backpack, not a slouchy mailbag, will set her apart as a “weirdo.”
The children line up to enter the classroom. Scott Spencer arrives late and pushes into the line, which irritates Jessie. Jessie overhears Scott boasting about his new Xbox 20/20; she is immediately suspicious about where he got the money to buy it. She passes a note to Evan when they sit down: “Scott Spencer got an Xbox 20/20. Where do you think he got the money for that?” (11). Evan stares at Scott suspiciously.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Revenge”
Evan recalls the week before. It had been a hot summer day; a group of boys from his grade were at Jack’s house. Evan had $208 in his shorts, but after he returned from swimming (he had changed out of the shorts and left them inside), the money was gone. Just before this, Scott had told the group that he had to go suddenly. Evan is suspicious that Scott took his money and used it to buy an Xbox.
He is distracted from his schoolwork and his teacher, Mrs. Overton, has to remind him to concentrate. The students sit in a circle on the floor for their meeting—called the Monday Morning Meeting—and take turns greeting the students on either side of them, as is their classroom practice. The class discusses migratory birds, then Mrs. Overton asks if anyone has anything else to share. Scott immediately volunteers and tells the students about his new Xbox. The class breaks into excitement.
Mrs. Overton allows the students, collectively, to ask Scott three questions. Other students ask about how the console differs from previous models and how many games he has. Jessie, discerningly, asks how much the console cost, but Mrs. Overton says that is a rude question and overrules it. Evan asks whether or not his parents bought it for him; when Scott says he bought it with his own money, Evan’s suspicion that Scott stole from him grows.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Eyewitness”
Jessie lingers in the classroom at recess; Evan and Megan are staying back to finish work, and she doesn’t know anyone else in the fourth grade very well yet. Mrs. Overton urges her to go outside. She moves with her book to sit near the basketball courts, listening to Scott continuing to boast about his Xbox. Paul and Adam ask how he saved that much money and seem doubtful when Scott claims that he earned it all from doing chores around the house. She is sure the boys also suspect him of stealing from Evan after their lemonade stand.
David Kirkorian, who has a reputation for being unusual, approaches Jessie and tells her she’s not allowed to read outside. He seems to be going to tell a teacher, so she escapes to the Sick Room, planning to pretend that she doesn’t feel well so she can lie down and think for a while.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Hearsay”
Megan and Evan work on their unfinished math problem in the classroom; Megan helps Evan. Megan explains that Jessie had helped her to understand the same problem. Evan feels unfavorably compared to his very capable sister and changes the subject. They discuss Scott. Megan has heard that his family is rich, and Evan confirms this. Evan implies that he is a thief and that he has heard of him stealing things, like lunch money (he doesn’t mention the lemonade money). Megan admonishes Evan for believing and spreading rumors, seeing he never saw Scott stealing.
Chapters 1-4 Analysis
These chapters are primarily about introducing the characters and raising suspicions about the possible theft of Evan’s lemonade money. Jessie is established as an honorable person interested in justice and fairness. This foreshadows her role in initiating and administrating the class courtroom. While discussing cookies with her brother, Evan, in the kitchen the morning before school, Jessie says, “It’s not about being happy […]. It’s about being fair” (2). It is important to her that they have the same number of cookies; it would be unfair for Evan to have more than her.
Furthermore, Jessie is annoyed by Scott Spencer’s failure to line up at the back of the line into the classroom; he instead pushes to the front. Jessie angrily tells Scott that “the rule is you go to the back of the line” (8). She is angry that Scott is never punished for failing to follow the rules and do the right thing; Jessie prioritizes fairness and recognizes that rules help enforce fair treatment.
Jessie is also characterized as serious and sensible. She prefers wearing a backpack to school, which she deems “more practical” (6) than the more fashionable mail bags the other girls use. She dislikes the addition of the word “par-tay” to her lunch calendar, as she believes that the Jewish celebration Yom Kippur should be respected as a day of solemnity, even though she knows little about what it means.
Jessie’s intelligence is clear in the fact that she skipped third grade. Furthermore, Megan tells Evan that Jessie explained to her how to solve the math problem. It is implied that this may create some tension between the siblings. Evan “wasn’t too thrilled about having his little sister in the same classroom with him this year” (7); he feels inadequate at school because Jessie is so smart. The way Evan ignores Megan’s comment about Jessie—“she’s a math genius, huh?” (33)—illustrates that he is self-conscious about being not as capable as his younger sister. He feels that it is like “having a best friend who was a basketball star;” it “made you look bad by comparison” (33).
It is implied that Evan feels romantically attracted to Megan. When they stay behind to do a math exercise, Evan smells her coconut shampoo and feels a “nice, floaty feeling” (33) at being so close to her. He also has trouble “thinking about symmetry when he was sitting right next to Megan Moriarty” (32). His difficulty in focusing on his work illustrates his distracting attraction to Megan.
Scott is characterized as unlikable; he is boastful and pushy. After Scott brags about his new Xbox, Jessie immediately suspects him of stealing Evan’s money. This may also lead the reader to suspect him, although there is no proof at this stage. In counterpoint, Megan reminds Evan—and thus, the reader—that no one saw Scott steal the money and cautions him about spreading rumors.
Unlock all 30 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Jacqueline Davies
