What could be better than spending the summer managing an ice cream stand with your best friend? Eleven-year-olds Sarah and Lizzie are ecstatic to prove their capabilities to Lizzie's parents and raise extra cash for a zombie hayride at Halloween. But when twins Olive and Peter and their fathers move to New Amity for a year, Sarah begins to doubt her friendship with Lizzie. Further complications arise when the twins start working at the ice cream stand and a day's profits go missing. Can the four kids find their way from suspicion and jealousy to trust and friendship? Atwood has created a delightful friendship story, replete with a well-developed cast of multicultural characters. The dynamics among the tweens (and, in some instances, their parents) move the story along at a satisfying pace, and Sarah's insecurities and personal growth are relayed in a relatable fashion. This first in a series is sure to be a good summer vacation read, especially for readers on the younger end of the age range.

Gr 3-5In this series opener, Sarah can't wait to work the ice-cream stand this summer with her best friend, Lizzie, whose parents own it along with an orchard. Lizzie's parents agree that if the girls raise $5,000 at the ice-cream stand, they can fulfill their dream of running a zombie hayride in the fall. When twins Olive and Peter move to town for the year with their dads, Lizzie invites them to work the ice-cream stand, too. Sarah immediately disapproves of this idea, as she fears losing her best friend. She becomes jealous when Lizzie bonds with the twins over their mutual love of old movies. To make matters worse, a couple of weeks into summer, Sarah goes to count the money in the safe to see if she, Lizzie, Peter, and Olive are on track to meet their goal and discovers all the money is gone. As the four work together to solve the mystery of the missing money, Sarah learns what it means to be a good friend. Each chapter starts with a full-page illustration and a silly ice-cream flavor that riffs on the plot. The town is comprised of diverse characters. Readers looking for friendship stories will relate to Sarah's fears about growing apart from her best friend, but those hoping to find a mystery will be disappointed that the missing money plotline is secondary and is resolved unsatisfactorily. Additionally, the book doesn't have a clear audience. The drama is fairly light and will appeal mostly to a lower elementary audience, but the length of the chapters and book as a whole, combined with a large cast of characters, will be intimidating to all but the strongest young readers. VERDICT A friendship tale as sweet as ice cream; notable for its casual diversity, but unfocused in terms of audience.Jenna Friebel, Oak Park Public Library, IL

A slight mystery casts a shadow over New Amity.Sarah and Lizzie are 11-year-old BFFs in a small New Hampshire town where Lizzie's family owns an orchard. This summer, to their great delight, they get to run the ice cream stand. If they net $5,000, they will have enough money for their dream: a Halloween zombie hayride. Things start to go awry for Sarah when twins Peter and Olive show up and join the formerly two-person team. Sarah frets constantly that Lizzie will no longer be her friend; sharing is an unwelcome thought. Then a crisis occurs when the ice cream earnings disappear from the safe. Atwood characterizes her cast with descriptive but underdeveloped diversity. Sarah's grandparents are from Iran, and she has "beige-brown skin." Lizzie has "pale skin." The twins have "huge brown eyes, medium-dark-brown skin, and curly hair," and their two dads are Mr. and Mr. Wu. The whole town is something of a multicultural Platonic ideal. Hakeem observes Ramadan, and Aaron wears an apron that reads "KISS ME, I'M JEWISH." Sveta and Dani Alvarez are a local power couple. None of the children use cellphones or computers. Readers may very well ponder why a town that holds Sunday morning Community Spirit meetings is so gung-ho to finance a Halloween activity and not a worthy cause. Digitized line drawings introduce each chapter in this first of a series for each season. Enjoy a scoop of ice cream instead. (Fiction. 8-11)

In this first book in the Orchard Novel series, 11-year-old Sarah is overjoyed that she and her best friend Lizzie will be spending the summer operating the ice cream stand at Lizzie-s family orchard. Sarah hopes that the job will bring her closer to Lizzie, since they -didn-t always like the same things anymore,- but those hopes are dashed when Lizzie invites two other children, twins Olive and Peter, to help out. Normally welcoming, Sarah turns petty toward the twins, which only widens the gap between Lizzie and her. Atwood-s (the Dear Molly, Dear Olive series) story follows a well-worn trajectory of friendship ups and downs, and although there-s quite a bit of sobbing, -snort-laughing,- and ice cream similes (-The news hit them like an ice cream cone splatting on a sidewalk-), it emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness, empathy, and inclusion. Andrewson-s swoopy b&w cartoons channel the energy of a sugar high while visually establishing the multicultural community Atwood has assembled. Ages 7-11. Author-s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator-s agent: Jen Linnan, Linnan Literary Management. (May)