This Full House

THIS FULL HOUSE: Virginia Euwer Wolff: Bowen Press: Young Adult: 476 pgs.

In this highly anticipated (for me, anyway) conclusion to the Make Lemonade Trilogy, LaVaughn is in her senior year of high school. After informing her guidance counselor that she wants to apply to and attend the local university, he tells her about the WIMS (Women in Medical Science) program, an in-depth after-school class that teaches young women about the medical sciences. LaVaughn applies and is accepted into the program, adding to her already full days of working at the children’s hospital folding laundry, attending school, and babysitting Jilly and Jeremy, the children of teenage Jolly. After attending WIMS for some time, LaVaughn is struck by the similarities in characteristics and mannerisms of Dr. Moore, the program director, and Jolly. LaVaughn decides, while understanding it’s unethical, to do a DNA test to see if the two are related.

I have this tendency to be embarrassed for characters in books and movies and I cringed as I read about LaVaughn’s decision to perform the DNA test. I could see the far-reaching effects her actions might have and worried how they might hurt her. While LaVaughn does have to deal with the consequences of her actions, the book concluded on a hopeful note, bringing this well-written portrayal of a girl trying to escape the inner-city to an end.

MN