The Trouble with Lemons is a young adult/middle grade coming-of-age mystery from the early 90’s. It focuses on Tyler McAllister, a boy who suffers from severe allergies; his mother just had them move to a small town, because she thinks it’ll be better for him; however, his mother and brother are both in the movie business, so his primary caretaker is a nanny, which causes some concern with the principal of his high school when he starts getting into trouble as he attempts to solve the mystery of how a man was killed.

The story itself is interesting and I think that the feeling of being out of place will remain true to pre-teens and teenagers, no matter what decade they live in. When Tyler sneaks out with his friend at night, they witness a body being dumped, so Tyler feels responsible to find out how that man ended up being killed and who did it. However, he gets himself into trouble because he’s a new kid and doesn’t always get along very well with the students at his school. This novel has some nice action moments and also deals with social/emotional stuff, like feeling out of place and trying to make friends.

The basic premise holds true today, but I don’t think that this book ages well. The characters use a lot of 90’s slang, which might make it difficult for today’s teens to connect with the characters, because it’s hard to see themselves in them. However, it’s a quick and easy read, hits on some interesting concepts, and has the intrigue of the mystery, so it could serve as a decent gateway book if the slang stuff isn’t a problem. This is something I would have picked up as 10 or 11 year old if I had nothing else to read; decent, but not an amazing, must-read book.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. ( )

Trouble with Lemons By: Daniel Hayes

Imagine you and your friends are going out for quick dip in the community lake at midnight, even though you aren't suppose to leave the house. You then see two mysterious figures drive away after dropping something in the lake. While swimming, you hit something and realize it is a dead body. What are you going to do? In this story, the main character, Tyler, goes through a lot with his friend to figure out who killed the school janitor. He is keeping it a secret and just trying to keep his cool while finishing up his high school year, which is difficult with something so important. He is considered weird by kids in school because of his unusual behavior lately, but if they only knew the feeling of trying to find two killers while going through typical high School problems. Great Mystery

Tyler and lyance finds a dead mans body. They want to a man and use his phone. They called the sheriff and he ask for their names. Sheriff said they would be protected by police. The boys were to scared so they ran home to their parents. I do not recommend this book because it was boring.
S.P.

(6.8)