The Trouble with Lemons

Tyler and Lymie

by Daniel Hayes

Tyler McAllister has always felt like an outsider, but when he and his friend Lymie discover the dead body of the school janitor, he decides to put aside his fears of being different and investigate the death

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Coming Of Age, Childrens

187 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1991

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this teen novel in junior high, and I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend it for anyone aged 11 to 14.

[Alyssa Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Michael Beblowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember being assigned The Trouble with Lemons for eighth grade English, probably because the novel made passing references to Albany, New York and also had a wry protagonist suffering through middle school and a murder mystery. Frankly, I am surprised that middle schools do not have higher fatalities, because those were not the best years...From a stylistic perspective The Trouble with Lemons is composed mostly of sentence fragments and dialogue. Other reviews praised Daniel Hayes for his attention to adolescent speech, but since the novel was published in the early nineties the slang is a bit dated. The use of humor tends to rely heavily on extended fat jokes and smug insults about others' intelligence which can be attributed to adolescence and the fact that Tyler has relocated from Los Angeles (where you are fat if you are not macrobiotic) to upstate New York (where no one was eating tofu in 1991). Despite a lack of complexity in style, The Trouble with Lemons was accessible, fast paced and insightful. Tyler had so many moments of devastating doubt and insecurity that still managed to affect me as an adult re-reading an otherwise undemanding book.

[Janitzia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm read these book and i like because he felt like one.he already been in and out of more allergy doctors offices than he could count. he been plagued by nighmares ever since his father died.and to top it off, his mother were both fabolous, famous movie stars. if it weren't for his best friend,lymie, he have no one like himself.

[Danielle Sanzone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for teens. I had the author as a high school English teacher. He's a great writer.

[Mason Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyler lives in a small town with Mrs. Saunders and Chuckie. His mother and brother are both actors out of town. One day, Tyler and Lymie (his friend) witness two people driving away from the town's quarry late at night. Not knowing what happened, they went swimming in the quarry, only to find a dead body. Tyler is now trying to find out what happened that night, as well as deal with other increasing problems in his life.
The story is good. It is well written, has good messages, and has solid character development. I would recommend this book for a good light read.

[Anna Wilkins]

I read this book in 5th grade and, while I can’t say the plot of it tremendously stuck with me, the characters did. I think of the quirk of lathering up into one huge ball of soap whenever something is bothering me because of Lymie often. Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly said that “When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” That is true, and this is proof.

[Richard L. Haas III · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for an accelerated reading program at my high school and I remember not being too particularly excited to read it but ultimately I was able to enjoy it. I just didn't understand if 8th grade bully, Chuckie, was supposed to be a student, gardener, or both. But that's a light criticism. Maybe I miss read it.

[Rajanea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was fun,sweet. I liked being in middle school again. I’m only giving it 4 stars because, I don’t think I’ve found my type of 5 star book yet. But I’d probably read this book again for reminiscing purposes.

[Christiaan Osborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good story

This is a good mystery story. I read this for class and finished it 5 days. This is a good book

[Anne-Marie Fontenot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book off a shelf at a coffee shop. Held my attention enough to finish it the same day, and seems like a great book for teens.

[Briana Rawls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read yet

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that helped me discover the joy in reading. It opened a door way into the wonderful world of books!

[Yingfang · Rating 4 out of 5]

P24 the trouble with lemons 车经常拿去修，这里好了，下次又是另一个地方。类比自己，不能trade in a kid on a new one.
Made in the shade, 完美情况， 如意
Use enough soap, you can practically scrub all your troubles and worries away.
Chris: 暖心哥哥， 关心陪伴，how I feel, if I am happy
In a second i am going to let you go, and 如果你还想还手，没问题。 但你得先告诉我什么事让你烦心。 但说过之后， 我并不烦他。
Mrs. Sauces: good boy, when it came to the big things , the things that really matter. 不要认为自己是这世上唯一一个不完美的人， don't take things too seriously. 不要自责， 有亿万种方法普通，， you are normal, and you are special too.
他会成为大家自豪的好孩子。对他的信心，



chuckie: 打架被打湿裤尴尬淋水， 一些自己愚蠢的事，胆小，

认为每个问题都围着你， conceited?父母的问题不是你造成的， 在你出生之前， 就有很多观点理念不合
不要逼人太急太甚，每人都会变得危险， 如果被逼
良心， guilty conscience : guilt is crying out inside them all the time, bad enough, they will confess to save the mental agony. Permanent hold.

too sensitive for your own good, makes you a hothead, a reactor. 头脑发热， who reacts to周围的每个人， 别人做些事， 他就反应， 他让别人call the shots, 控制他的喜怒哀乐

你应该学会stay in control and call the shots yourself, 自己决定你想做什么， 什么是最好的。 don't flying the handle without thinking.

decisive犹豫不决
mad， angry


Boo boo: care, 心肠好有点迟钝， 我也被他们笑过， 但每个人都做过dumb的事情，上课睡觉并不意味着you are bad.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Tyler McCallister is a “lemon.” He’s allergic to almost everything, suffers from nightmares, and lives in the shadow of his mother and brother, both of whom are famous movie stars. He can’t even manage to sneak out of the house for a midnight swim without finding trouble. Normal kids don’t swim into dead bodies while skinny dipping in the quarry! But Tyler does, and he reports it anonymously. Now he is obsessed with solving the puzzle of how it got there.
• Mild language
• Narrative diverts on a tangent at times

[Carolanne Strong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in seventh grade English. It was alright, but I was in love with the boy on the cover. I thought he was the hottest guy I'd ever seen. I spent almost as much time memorizing this picture as I did reading the book. Oh, to be 13 again! The only thing I really remember about the story was that his mom was a movie star and she complained about how her son always left a ring in the bathtub.

[Heatherberkebile101]

It's an exciting story about a kid who gets mixed up in madness... when his school's janitor BooBoo goes missing. But, he thinks that the principals kids were the ones that did it... so the question is... how is he going to go about turning them in? He is undecided. Finally, he tries to tell the principal, and he thinks he is going inane! What will the kid do now? will Mark and his brother come beat him up from trying to turn them in?????

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age:9-12

Young adults really enjoy this book because they can relate to many of the sub-topics. It is fun and a good insight into pre-teen mindset.
Uses: Literature circles, journal response, family relations, death, friendship, truthfulness, child/adult relationships, decision making, prediction

[Colleen Babowicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while taking a YA literature class. The instructor had the author come into our class for a Q&A session as he is local to the Capital Region.
He's a school teacher that got inspiration from his students. I enjoyed this book a lot, compelling main character. Thought I would give support to a local author. :)

[Kat Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is so important, when crafting a character as heavily affected by trauma and an uncomfortable family situation as Tyler is, to toe the line between believable and obnoxious. I did find Tyler slipping into the latter territory a couple of times throughout this book, but, all things considered, that's not entirely unexpected. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly good book! It wasn't one that I would have picked out to read on my own, but I liked it all the same. It kept you on the edge wondering what was going to happen, but the ending was somewhat disapointing.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

jr high summer reading. i actually liked this. it had a gripping story that made you want to keep reading it to see the resolution to the mystery. not sure if we have any of the other books in the series, but may be worth looking in to.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this since I've assigned it to my English class for read. It's just a slight bit challenging for them but not so much that they lose interest. They're pretty enthralled with the dead body and some of the character depictions, especially that of Buster and Tyler and Lymie!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up on a book fair too. I never would have thought that the story would be so different from what I've thought based on the title and the cover page. It does come true, the saying that you should never judge a book by its cover.

[Sara Booklover · Rating 1 out of 5]

La trama è fiacca e inoltre non è assolutamente un giallo o un thriller, ma è incentrato principalmente sui rapporti del protagonista con i compagni di scuola e con la sua famiglia, con un piccolo mistero che fa solo da contorno e che si rivela deludente e banale.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a coming of age book about a teenager that thinks of himself as a 'lemon'. It is done with humor and Matt really enjoyed the book as the boys got in trouble and solved a mystery.

[Roberto]

I need to read the book to know more about it

[Carrie Selusnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for middle school and lower level high schoolers.

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a very good book. It had twists in it.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually very good! At first it was hard to get into, but after I got into it I went from page 16 to finishing it in one day.