This Full House
by Virginia Euwer Wolff

LaVaughn, a high school senior, is finally seeing her hard work pay off . She’s just been accepted to WIMS (Women in Medical Science), a prestigious after-school program for girls from impoverished areas of the city. At first, Dr. Moore, the program’s founder, takes a special interest in LaVaughn and agrees to write her a college recommendation letter. But when LaVaughn uncovers a dark secret from Dr. Moore’s past, their relationship quickly turns sour—and LaVaughn sees her chance at a college education “falling through the air.”

JLG Review: Told in verse, this final novel in Virginia Euwer Wolff ’s acclaimed Make Lemonade trilogy is a tender rumination on the themes of motherhood, responsibility, and endurance.

From the beginning, readers have known LaVaughn to be a studious go-getter, a young girl determined to rise above her circumstances and attend college. In This Full House, LaVaughn’s goal is finally in sight, but several women in her life—each dealing with the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy—test her focus and temporarily send her moral compass spinning.

This Full House never offers easy answers.  Throughout the trilogy, LaVaughn’s tenacity has made her unique, but it’s her capacity to face ambivalence, self-doubt, and change that makes her a true heroine—a character worth growing with and toward.

NOTE: COHS Titans–The above review is excerpted from the Junior Library Guild. (Meaning that I didn’t write it and don’t want to take credit from something I didn’t do!) We belong to the Junior Library Guild and purchase four books from them each month, so we have access to these reviews. I’m going to start posting excerpts from the reviews in the hope that you will see what great books we get from JLG–and come check them out! If you want to read the whole review, ask your English teacher. I have made copies for him or her to post in the classroom.

Ms. W