Book 2 Who Likes Lemonade

Book 2 Who Likes Lemonade

Mike McCarthy wanted a Super Spy Kit like his friend Derek's. The kit had see-in- the-dark specs and Super Ears--whatever those are-and it was awesome. At eight years old, though, Mike had enough life experience to know he was no good at saving money. Saving up seventy-five dollars to buy a new kit was out of the question. Fortunately, Mike's friend Derek had offered to sell Mike his used kit for a third of that price. If Mike could get one big influx of cash, he could hand Derek twenty-five dollars and make the spy kit his.

He needed to sell something, but what? Mike had seen those other kids with their art sales and homemade bracelets. The only people who bought their stuff were their parents, and that was because they had no choice. Mike was no charity case. He would sell a product so wonderful that everyone would want it. He would sell lemonade, but not the sickly yellow powder kind. It had to be the kind that made people's lips pucker. It had to make their taste buds fire off “ Sweet! " and " Sour! " with a quick one-two punch.

“ Mom, " Mike asked, " can Aster and I have a lemonade stand?" Aster was Mike's little sister. She was missing some teeth, and he figured her smile would help draw in customers. " You can, " said his mom, " but not like last summer's. " Mike frowned and tried to remember last summer's. Mom frowned, too. " You got bored and wandered away, " she said. “ The problem, " Mike said, " was that the lemonade was not high quality. This time I'm gonna make artisanal lemonade, from scratch. " Mrs. McCarthy snorted. " Is that right?" she asked. " That's right, " Mike said. " I'll use organic lemons, and organic sugar, and organic water. " " Sounds expensive, " she said. “ You get what you pay for, " Mike said.

" And who will pay for these artisanal ingredients?" she asked. " You?" " Sure, " said Mike, " as long as I get to keep the profits. " He made a list for his mom: two lemons, one bag of sugar, paper cups. " Two lemons will make about two cups of lemonade, " she said. Mike did the math. Fake lemonade might go for fifty cents a cup, but real, organic lemonade could go for twice that. He needed twenty-five dollars to buy Derek's kit. That meant he needed to sell at least twenty-five cups of lemonade.

Mike revised his shopping list. “ Okay, thirty lemons, " he announced. His mother whistled. “ Lemons are out of season now, " she said. “ Lemons come ripe in the winter. " Mike laughed in disbelief. “ Who wants to drink lemonade in the winter?" “ Nobody, " said his mom. “ Right, " Mike said. He was winning this argument! Mrs. McCarthy shook her head. “ Those lemons will eat straight into your profit margin, " she said. Mike doubted that. If lemons were out of season, people would find fresh lemonade that much more irresistible. It stood to reason. So Mike's mom bought him thirty organic lemons and two bags of organic sugar. She donated a stack of cups left over from a Christmas party. Aster helped her brother draw a big banner to hang off their picnic table.