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What Happens in Part 1
It is the very end of summer, and the days have hit a slump — hot, long, and boring, with nothing to do. Brother and sister Evan and Jessie Treski are usually close, but a slump has crept into their friendship, too. Evan is about to start fourth grade, and he has just heard some rattling news: his younger sister Jessie, who is brilliant at math, has been moved up a grade — straight into his class. Evan feels embarrassed and afraid that she will make him look foolish, especially at the math he finds so hard. When his hurt feelings spill out as coldness, the two have a painful fight — a real breakup. Jessie, who finds other people’s feelings puzzling, cannot see what she did wrong. In the heat of their anger a challenge is thrown down: a lemonade war. Whoever earns the most money selling lemonade in the last five days before school will win it all — and, for now, winning feels far more important than being kind.
What We Will Learn
Focus
What It Means
Characterization
How the author shows who Evan and Jessie are
Conflict
The struggle between the siblings that sparks the war
Point of View
How the story shows us both Evan’s and Jessie’s sides
Chapter Summary
Chapter
Key Events
Ch. 1 — Slump
The end of summer drags in a hot, boring slump. Evan learns that his clever younger sister Jessie has been skipped up into his fourth-grade class, and he feels embarrassed and uneasy.
Ch. 2 — Breakup
Evan’s hurt feelings turn into coldness, and the two have a painful fight. In their anger they dare each other to a lemonade war — most money in five days wins it all.
💭 Before You Read · Warm-Up (not scored)
There are no wrong answers here — just think, guess, and talk:
Have you ever felt jealous of a brother, sister, or friend who was good at something you found hard?
Evan and Jessie are angry, so they start a contest instead of talking it out. Why do people sometimes compete instead of making up?
Predict: the book is called The Lemonade War. Who do you think will win — and will winning make them happy?
Copyright Notice
This is an independent study guide created by Garden Heights Academy to support reading comprehension and literary analysis. It contains original analysis questions and does not reproduce any text from the novel. The Lemonade War is a work by Jacqueline Davies. This guide is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by the author or any associated rights holder.
Part 1
Vocabulary
Study 10 key words from Chapters 1–2, then answer each question.
🧠Knowledge Bank · Words of Business and Feelings
Economics · How a Business EarnsBefore Evan and Jessie squeezed a lemon, sellers learned a rule of money: a business only survives if the cash it takes in beats the cash it spends. The money that comes in from selling is called revenue; the money spent on lemons, sugar, and cups is the cost; and whatever is left over is the profit. Notice that a busy stand is not the same as a rich one — you can pour a hundred cups and earn nothing if each cup costs as much to make as it sells for. That is why real shopkeepers watch a ‘slump,’ a stretch of weak sales, so anxiously: fewer buyers means thinner profit, and a summer of empty afternoons can quietly erase weeks of saving. Every chapter title in this book names both a money idea and a mood, so read each one twice — once for the coins, once for the heart.
slumpn.Ch.1–2
A time when sales or spirits drop
“The end of summer was a slump.”
profitn.Ch.1–2
The money left after costs are paid
“They hoped for a good profit.”
businessn.Ch.1–2
Selling goods or services to earn money
“A lemonade stand is a business.”
customern.Ch.1–2
A person who buys something
“Each thirsty customer paid for a cup.”
arguev.Ch.1–2
To disagree, often angrily
“Evan and Jessie began to argue.”
embarrassv.Ch.1–2
To make someone feel awkward or ashamed
“He feared she would embarrass him.”
envyn.Ch.1–2
A wish to have what another person has
“A spark of envy stung Evan.”
furiousadj.Ch.1–2
Very angry
“Both children were furious.”
cleveradj.Ch.1–2
Quick to learn; smart
“Jessie was clever at math.”
sulkv.Ch.1–2
To stay silent and moody because you are upset
“Evan went off to sulk.”
1A ‘slump’ is —Ch.1
2‘Profit’ is —Ch.1
3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 1–2
Word choices:businesscustomerenvysulk- some words will not be used
Selling things to earn money is a .
A person who buys something is a .
4To ‘argue’ is to —Ch.2
5To ‘embarrass’ someone is to make them feel proud and pleased.Ch.1
6‘Envy’ is —Ch.1
7Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 1–2
Word choices:furiouscleverprofitslump- some words will not be used
Jessie is quick to learn and very at math.
After the fight, both children were .
8A ‘customer’ is —Ch.1
9To ‘sulk’ is to —Ch.2
10Someone who is ‘clever’ is slow and finds learning very hard.Ch.1
Part 2
Comprehension
How well do you understand Chapters 1–2?
🧠Knowledge Bank · Two Sides of a Fight
Reading Skill · Comparing ViewpointsOne of the smartest things a reader can do with this book is refuse to take sides too . Davies tells the story from two points of view — Evan’s and Jessie’s — and each child is certain the other started it. To read well, gather the events first: who did what, and when. Then do the harder work of asking why each one felt as they did. Evan is stung that his little sister may skip a grade into his class; Jessie cannot fathom why good news of hers should make her brother pull away. When you hold both explanations side by side, the quarrel stops looking like one villain and one victim, and begins to look like two people badly misreading each other. Comparing viewpoints like this — weighing one against the other instead of choosing — is the habit that turns a young reader into a wise judge.
1Who are the two main characters?Ch.1
2What time of year is it as the story opens?Ch.1
3What surprising news does Evan learn about Jessie?Ch.1
4Why does this news upset Evan?Ch.1
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the order of events in Part 1. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch. 1–2
Evan learns Jessie has skipped into his class.
Evan feels embarrassed and uneasy about it.
They dare each other to a lemonade war.
The summer sinks into a hot, boring slump.
His coldness sparks a painful fight.
6What does Jessie find hard to understand?Ch.2
7What challenge do the siblings make?Ch.2
8How long do they have to win the war?Ch.2
9Evan and Jessie usually get along well as brother and sister.Ch.1
10The word ‘slump’ describes both the summer sales and the children’s low mood.Ch.1
Part 3
Literary Elements
Understanding HOW and WHY Jacqueline Davies tells the story in Chapters 1–2.
🧠Knowledge Bank · Characterization, Conflict & Point of View
Literary Craft · Point of ViewThree storytelling tools do the heavy lifting in these opening chapters, and it helps to name them. Characterization is the way an author shows us who a person is — through words, choices, and habits than a label; we learn that Evan is warm and social and that Jessie is brainy and rule-bound by watching them act. Conflict is the struggle that powers a story, and here it is the clash between a brother and sister who each feel wronged. Most striking is the point of view: instead of picking one child to follow, Davies alternates, giving us chapters inside each head. That choice matters enormously, because it lets us know things one sibling hides from the other, and it keeps us from cheering for a single winner. When a writer trusts a reader with both sides of a fight, she is teaching something rare and grown-up: fairness.
📚 Literary Devices in This Part · definitions & examples
Characterization is how an author shows what a character is like (Evan’s worry, Jessie’s cleverness). Conflict is a struggle in a story (the fight between the siblings). Point of view is whose eyes we see the story through (here it shifts between Evan and Jessie, so we understand both).
1Showing us Evan’s worry and Jessie’s cleverness is an example of —Ch.1
2Conflict is a struggle between characters or forces in a story.Ch.2
3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch. 1–2
Word choices:conflictcharacterizationrhymeindex- some words will not be used
The angry struggle between Evan and Jessie is the .
Showing who a person is through details is .
4Because the book shows both Evan’s and Jessie’s sides, we say it uses a shifting —Ch.1
5Point of view means whose eyes we see the story through.Ch.1
6Fill in the blank with the correct word.Ch. 1–2
Word choices:conflictrhymesetting- some words will not be used
A struggle between two people, like this fight, is called a .
7Why is it helpful that the story shows both siblings’ points of view?Ch.2
8Evan’s fear of looking foolish at math mainly reveals his —Ch.1
9Fill in the blank with the correct word.Ch. 1–2
Word choices:characterizationrhymeplot- some words will not be used
The way the author builds Evan and Jessie from details is .
10The main conflict that starts the whole book is —Ch.2
Part 4
Think Deeper
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it through.
🧠Knowledge Bank · The Feelings Behind a Fight
Social-Emotional · Anger & HurtIt is easy to laugh at a war fought with lemonade, but the feelings underneath are anything but silly. Evan’s flash of anger is a mask for something softer and harder to admit — the fear that his clever little sister is passing him by, and the shame of struggling where she shines. Jessie, meanwhile, is puzzled; reading other people’s feelings is the one subject that does not come easily to her, so she keeps hurting Evan without meaning to. Psychologists have a name for the skill she is missing: emotional intelligence, the ability to notice what others feel and respond with care. Watch how a contest over coins becomes the only language these two proud, wounded children can speak to each other. The real question the book keeps asking is whether beating each other in a contest could heal what is broken between two people who , underneath it all, love.
1Claim: “A small hurt between Evan and Jessie grows into a full-blown war.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2Shows the rift growing into a war, or just a detail of the scene? Tap each item to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ The rift growingJust a detail ►
3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect
The siblings are usually close→
Bad feelings grow→
Neither will back down→
The rivalry is set→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
The lemonade war starts because , which means that .
Part 5
Standardized Test
What Makes a Business Work — SAT & TOEFL-style practice
🎯 You already have the skills from the sections above — this is just a fun way to meet real SAT & TOEFL-style questions. Read the passage (the highlighted words are tested below), then answer the questions below. Tap an answer to select it, then tap it again to confirm — you can change your choice until you confirm.
A lemonade stand is a tiny but real business. To run one, you first spend money on lemons, sugar, and cups; this spending is called your cost. Then you sell cups to people who want them — each buyer is a customer. The money you have left after paying your costs is your profit, and profit is the whole point of a business. Grown-up companies work in the very same way, watching every dollar they spend and every dollar they earn. Even a small stand can teach these lessons early, since the simple math of costs and profit never truly changes.
But sales are not steady. On a blazing hot day, thirsty people crowd around and sales soar. On a cool, rainy day, almost no one comes, and sales fall into a slump. Smart sellers learn to plan for both. They pick a busy spot, set a fair price, and treat every customer kindly, because a happy customer comes back — and often brings a friend. Because the weather can swing from one day to the next, the smartest young sellers save part of what they earn on the busy days to carry them through the slow ones.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1What do you spend money on first when running a lemonade stand?TOEFL · Factual Information
2A “customer” is a person who —SAT · Words in Context
3What is “profit”?TOEFL · Factual Information
4On a blazing hot day, what happens to sales?TOEFL · Factual Information
5When sales fall into a “slump,” it means they —SAT · Words in Context
6According to the passage, why treat every customer kindly?TOEFL · Factual Information
7What is the whole point of a business, the passage says?TOEFL · Factual Information
8What three things do smart sellers do?TOEFL · Factual Information
9What is the passage mainly about?TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose
10This passage connects to Part 1 because Evan and Jessie are about to —TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose
Part 6 · Optional
Creative Writing
A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.
About This Section
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 1 “My Own Little Business”
Evan and Jessie start lemonade businesses. Imagine you could start a tiny business this summer. What would you sell, and where? How would you get customers and earn a profit? Or, write instead about a time you argued with a brother, sister, or friend. Write at least 40 words.
You can start with: “If I started my own little business, I would sell…”
0 / 40 words minimum
🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby why Evan is upset that Jessie joined his class, and how their fight turned into a lemonade war. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 1 Complete!
You finished Chapters 1–2 of The Lemonade War.
Here are your auto-graded results:
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points out of 100
Your Writing
Your writing was checked automatically for length, spelling, and grammar. Scroll back to Part 6 anytime to read your feedback and improve your work.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights Academy. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or any rights holders. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced.
