Following her mother's death, junior higher Morgan feels the pressure to keep the family together. Her mom asked her to take care of her siblings, and Morgan is determined to do just that. But when her father spontaneously announces their family vacation, her anxiety transforms into a full-blown panic attack. Determined to prove herself, Morgan sets off on a dangerous hike. Along the way, she'll not only push her physical boundaries, but face her mother's memory as well. Can she move past the sour to savor the sweet future?

Written in chapters alternating "Before" and "After," the author really gets to how Morgan's mother's death affected her. Once I was in the rhythm of the writing, I really enjoyed this style of flashback. It filled in a lot of the gaps of how Morgan came to her current understanding of the world. Also the aspect of Morgan's mom being a life coach provided so many interesting life lessons. Throughout the book, I came to realize that she was coaching Morgan into the next chapter of life. Even though she was gone, she was still parenting Morgan. So many life lessons where included in this book: working through grief, sharing emotions, allowing others to support us, and starting over. Well suited for jr high and older, Lemon Drop Falls is a bitter sweet story of working through grief and healing as a family. Great book for opening up conversation and sharing big emotions.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Happy Publication Day!

I cried my eyes out while reading this book. I knew it would make me sad and break my heart when I got the ARC. But all the tears.... I wasn't expecting that.

All I am trying to say is that this book is really good. The writing, the themes it's representing, the realistic characters and the story. It all clicks. Just the perfect book which tells the story of a grieving family and a young character with anxiety. The book is written with sensitivity and understanding that I feel this book needs to be shared and read by the young and the adults.

Unlike most of the middle grade books, this book shows the vulnerable sides of adults. Adults do not know everything and we aren't perfect like how our kids see us when they are really young.

The story is quite realistic and it explores what we can do in such situations. One of those books we bawl our eyes out because they are so real and relatable.

Go for this book without thinking twice. But yes take your time while reading it. And also a certain headspace before picking it up.

*Be aware that the book deals with grief and anxiety in details.

Thank you, Flux, Jolly Fish Press for the advance reading copy.

Morgan is having a bad summer. Her mother died, she has to watch over her younger siblings and she has anxiety that is increasing with the need for everything to be perfect. When her dad suggests they take their annual vacation to go hiking, Morgan does not want to do it. Being a child, she loses the battle and off they go. While on vacation, Morgan struggles with everything that has been going on in her life.
Opinion
This book is told in a back and forth between "before" and "after" her mom's death. Heather Clark uses this style perfectly to maintain two story lines with the same characters. Throughout a good portion of the book, I had all the feels and my eyes were leaking to the point of barely being able to read the words. The book, overall, has a positive outlook on coping with anxiety and dealing with grief.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Jolly Fish Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Lemon Drop Falls is a middle grades chapter book by debut author, Heather Clark. Morgan's mom always had a plan for everything. Except when she passes away unexpectedly she tells Morgan to make sure her younger siblings are looked after and are happy. In this way she transfers the pressures she faced to her 12 year old daughter. Morgan does everything in her power to take care of her younger siblings, who are quite a handful. Whenever she gets in a bind, she thinks back to what her mom would do in that situation. For example, when someone in the family had a tough problem, her mom would pull out the jar of lemon drops and they'd talk about it or just be together through the rough patch.
Only now, there is no mom and Morgan feels like she's drowning. Her father has always been used to her mom taking care of everything down to the last detail so he has no clue how to run their household. It's up to Morgan to go without her plans for the summer soccer team and unsure of how to mend her fragile friendships before the new school year begins in a new middle school. Each chapter of the story is either a flashback to before her mom passed away or the present where Morgan is trying her hardest to keep everything on track. When her dad suggests that they take a camping trip, Morgan's anxiety and stress overflow to where she is in danger.
This important story is good for young people and teachers and parents to read to understand how OCD and anxiety can get worse if not treated. I wish this book had been around when I was younger so I could better cope with changing friendships, puberty, and even grief. I recommend this book for upper elementary students and middle school libraries.

This is a Middle Grade book. This book is told with two different timelines (Before Mother's death and After Mother's death) by Morgan. I found the beginning of this book hard to get into. This book is covering some hard topics (Death of a Mother and Mental Health). I loved the lemon drops idea in this book, and I really loved the ending. I think this book needed less bouncing Before and After, and It also needed some light hearted moments mixed into the hard hitting times in this book. I liked this book, but I really wanted to love this book. The ending is where all the action is. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (North Star Editions) or author (Heather Clark) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC .
Lemon Drop Falls is a story about a girl who lost her mother. A story about a family who lost their compass and now they are learning to exit without their biggest supporter and best friend.
I felt so close to the characters which I think is really important in a middle grade book dealing with grief and loss.
Morgan is such a relatable and well-fleshed-out character.
I was so close to crying with this book .
They tried so hard to stay in this together .

I hope you all enjoy this book

Lemondrop Falls is a lovely story about coming to grips with the devasting effects of unexpected loss. Morgan's attempts to sustain her mother's way of keeping the family organized is a beautiful symbol for all she's going through and her attempts to keep grief at bay. Her mother's use of lemondrops to illustrate that life is about taking the sour with the sweet is lovely theme throughout.

A solid MG book about a girl coping with Plan B in life, after the sudden death of her mother. How Plan A doesn’t always pan out and that sometimes you need a NEW Plan A since the path you were originally heading down changes.

Before, everything was perfectly planned, prepared, and managed; so what happens after, when all of those plans have fallen apart? Twelve-year-old Morgan is struggling to find balance after having unexpectedly lost her mother at the end of the previous school year. And when her dad ultimately needs to go back to work, Morgan is left picking up the pieces and caring for her two younger siblings mostly on her own. With the next school year rapidly approaching, Morgan does her best to channel her mother and procure school supplies and clothes, but her father has other ideas. A spontaneous family trip to Capitol Reef derails Morgan's best laid plans, proving that with a little love, happiness can still be found even in the darkest of moments.

Told from Morgan's first-person perspective, this story eloquently describes the depth of the emotion she feels after her mother's passing. A series of flashbacks gives readers a sense of what life was like when Morgan’s mother was still alive, when Morgan's world made sense and she had two best friends she could count on. Lists, plans, and lemon drops defined her mother's personality, and both the presence and the absence of those things now throw everything in Morgan's life out of whack. As Morgan attempts to fill the void her mother left behind, she begins by mirroring her mother's behavior before ultimately budding into her own unique self.

This story does an excellent job of introducing a variety of familiar, dynamic characters against a backdrop that gives the plot structure and focus. Memories of the past add humor and levity to an otherwise heartbreaking circumstance, and middle school and sibling interactions enhance the accessibility of the narrative. With lemon drops as a frequent reference, both the characters and the readers are reminded that sometimes life must be sour before it can be sweet, which is a beautifully executed metaphor through the novel as a whole.

Middle grade readers will easily connect with Morgan and her challenges, even if they have not experienced any of them themselves. Transitioning to adolescence is hard enough without one's mother dying, yet Morgan manages to handle her own transformation with grace. Her reactions are believable and expected given her circumstances, and readers will feel Morgan's catharsis alongside her. Deeply heartfelt and highly engaging, this story is an important coming-of-age novel for readers of all ages and especially for those preparing for middle school. It is a highly recommended addition to library collections for young readers.

Even though the story is about grief for the loss of a mother/wife, it is such a wonderful positive story that I couldn't put down. Morgan is a twelve year old that believes it is her job to keep the family safe and happy. This comes with a growing anxiety and a loss of friends for a time. Story has two timelines, before her mom's death and after.

Lemon Drop Falls is a story about a girl who lost her mother. A story about a family who lost their compass and now they are learning to exit without their biggest supporter and best friend. The story has two timelines, the first is before the death of the mother and the second after that. In the first timeline, we learn about their family habits, how their relationship was, how a mother with 3 kids manages to be there for all of them. The focus is on the big sister, who is 12 years old and everything changed in her social life. Boys are no longer just friends, the soccer team becomes more competitive, her best friend has a new best friend and she doesn't understand why all these things can't remain the same as last year.

The lemon drop is a strategy when everyone can come and take one lemon candy and the mother will understand that they need to talk about something that upset them. This is where the author introduces a piece of really good advice if you can explain your problem, talk about it... your problem becomes easier. And one of the favorite things that the mum likes to do... is to create an ABC plan.

When the plan falls

The ABC plans are used for everything. For example, plan A is your team is gonna win the soccer game. But that doesn't happen so you need the B plan which is karaoke and good food. The C plan is something you don't want to need. And after their mother's day, all is left is a B plan when the biggest child tries everything to be like her mother because of "the fog", something that their dad has in his eyes. Something that keeps him ignorant about a lot of their problems.

The second timeline, after the tragic moment, is about grief and learning how to exit without an important piece of your life. This is my favorite part of the story. It is ugly, is sad and it helps you realize that you are not invincible, those bad things can happen to you even you have the perfect plan. I love the way that the author created the image of a lemon drop falls, how much the girl needed it and how afraid she was because of that. The dynamic between the children and the dad, how the girl taught she was doing good, how the father was afraid for her but didn't dare to speak, all of these things make the characters more human and easier to understand.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this middle grade novel. This was a wonderful story about grief, and all that so many children take on when their family goes from a two parent household to a one parent household. This will make a great addition to classroom libraries.

Lemon Drop Falls is the perfect read for fans of Dusti Bowling and Natalie Lloyd. From the moment I started reading, I didn't want the book end. The main character Morgan has so much to share with readers; I felt all the feels as I traveled with her on her journey as she navigated changing friendships, tried to figure out how to hold her family together after the unimaginable happened, and discovered a strength she never knew she possessed in order to get to the other side of grief. Nothing is easy for Morgan, but everything is so worth it! The writing of this story is full of heart and soul and it will stay with me for a long time. I can't wait to make some lemon-y themed #LiteracyInspiredCrafts and share this story with my reading buddies and middle schoolers!

Such a lovely read!

A middle grade that tackles grief, premature coming-of-age, the hard parts of friendship, first crushes and growing up in a very, very proper way for its factual readers and also for us adults.

The author's narration makes this story both emotionally intelligent and emotional, and Morgan, its main character, is extremely relatable even if you haven't gone through what she has, losing her mother at such a young age and taking care of her siblings. I also loved the character of their dad, something that doesn't always happen in these kind of books. Sometimes authors write parents as selfish and self-absorbed for the wrong reasons and without a redemption arc, but Morgan's dad is just... shocked. Having to take care of three kids with a job that doesn't pay enough after the love of his life suddenly died... he's not perfect and the author describes this situation perfectly.

Loved reading it and cried a few times as well, heh.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lemon Drop Falls is such a wonderful read. With dual timelines we flash back and forth between before and after the death of Morgan's mom. We experience the days leading up to her death which really give us a sense of who Mama Bell, as she is called in the story, was. We get to know her just enough to love her. Then simultaneously she is gone and we are watching Morgan deal with her grief and pain which is another heartache all on its own. Morgan really struggles with her mom's death as her and her family learn to cope without Mama Bell.

Ya'll this book had me up sobbing at 1 AM. My heart was broke, I just wanted some healing for the main character. Clark did an awesome job at making you feel the characters pain. My heart was totally shattered for her.

There are a few messages in here about grief and healing from grief.

If you have a middle grade or even a bit older child who is dealing with grief I feel like this could be something they could connect with. I feel like this book addresses loss and grief in a way that could really help a child who has lost a loved one.

Morgan is a 12 year old girl that has just lost her mom. Now she finds herself having to grow up too fast and be the primary caregiver to younger siblings, Janie and Budge. Without mom's paycheck, Dad is working late and putting a lot of pressure on Morgan unwittingly. Mom was always allowing them to talk through problems with lemon drop candy and without her, Morgan is falling apart. Morgan tries desperately to hold everything together and keep her last promise to Mom, despite missing out on things that she used to love. When Dad suggests a camping trip, their first family trip without Mom, Morgan is unhappy, especially when he pulls out the lemon drops.
Beautifully done and tear-inducing.

I thought from the name of the book that this would be an adventure story. It was and it wasn't. If an adventure is doing things you've never done, taking risks, trying to keep things together when life is falling apart, then this is a true adventure story.
But except for a small part, the adventure is growing up, taking responsibility (even when you shouldn't have to), and keeping a calm facade.
Enjoy the adventure!

Lemon Drop Falls is a heartwarming coming of age story. Morgan is a loving daughter and sibling but things are hard enough to carry for a young girl to grow up without a mother.

When Morgan's mother died, life seemed to throw a lot of lemons at her that she no longer cared to make lemon juice or savor the sour-sweet taste of lemom drops. Will she be able to cope with life's struggles? Will she be able to hold their family together?

The story will make us realize that life as we know it is different from the perspective of a child. Their struggles are as real as our struggles as adults. This book warmed my heart as it enlightened me to the different struggles of this young generation. Something I never experienced when I was young.

This is not just a children's book but also a book for kids at heart.

Thank you for the North Star Editions for this complimentary copy

"Keep the safe, Morgan. Be brave for them. Help them be happy." Mom's last words as she was taken to the hospital are engrained in Morgan's heart. Since the passing of her mother Morgan has been doing everything she can to keep "broken dad" and her siblings afloat as they grieve.

As time progresses Morgan struggles with maintaining her friendships, managing the household and keeping her anxiety induced panic attacks under control.

Armed with the jar of Lemon Drops dad takes the family back to Capitol Reef, a trip made annually when mom was alive, to work through the emotions of their loss.

When Morgan decides to hike Sulphur Creek alone despite flood warnings from park rangers and dad, the story turns into an emotional and physical journey as she combats the emotions she's been holding in and the elements within the Capitol Reef.

This is an amazing book for middle schoolers of all ages. Ms. Clark includes strategies for handling anxiety attacks that are perfect for anyone who fights the beast known as anxiety.

So much emotion, heart, and love in such a small package!

Morgan is such a relatable and well-fleshed-out character. She's dealing not only with recent sudden death of her mom but also friend issues, puberty without a mom, and some anxious and OCD tendencies. Plus all the added responsibility that being the oldest in the family brings after a tragedy. She's got plenty on her plate by the time her dad announces her family will be taking their annual trip to Capitol Reef National Park after all!

The trip is usually a high point in Morgan's year, but this time it causes only grief and stress. I won't spoil anything, but I stayed up late to finish and had tears in my eyes for the last half hour or so. Cathartic and touching and powerful.

Also, the This-Is-Us-esque time jumps were a great addition, and they all came together beautifully. Highly recommended for teachers, kids, and adults alike.