At Home with Literati: Jarod Pratt & Jey Odin

Fans of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants will love this fully illustrated graphic novel about a middle school super genius who starts a lemonade stand to fund his ultimate top-secret project, only to find unexpected competition right across the street when the new kid starts a rival stand.

Robbie Reynolds isn't just a genius. He's a super SUPER genius! But he doesn't have the cash to fund his ultimate (and top secret) project. That's why he's opening a lemonade stand. Not just any lemonade stand: this one is state of the art, and his automatista can make you any flavor of lemonade your heart desires! Bacon, salsa, potato salad, dirty diaper--anything you want.

Unfortunately, Robbie isn't the only one in the Lemonade Hustle. Daphne Du-Ri, his new across-the-street neighbor, has her own setup going, and something about her lemonade is resonating with people in ways Robbie's can't. Before the week is over, Robbie and Daphne are in a full-on Lemonade War--one that Robbie is quickly losing. Desperate, he tries to discover Daphne's secret recipe. Her lemonade is just lemonade, isn't it? There can't be some secret ingredient that compels people to buy it, can there? It wouldn't cause the end of the world if her lemonade fell into the wrong hands.

Would it?

Jarod Rhys Pratt is a writer from Detroit, Michigan. Lemonade is his FAVORITE drink. Yet, somehow, when he was a kid, he never got the chance to run a lemonade stand of his own. So, MANY years later, he wrote this book instead and lived out his childhood dream that way. Pratt has two daughters and they both drink the lemonade but he's not so sure they really APPRECIATE la limonada. Not like he does. Pratt really, really, REALLY likes lemonade.

 

Jey Odin is an artist known for his work on the book Miles Away and his creator-owned title Chicken Fight. His ongoing series Hammer is serialized in the world's most diverse manga anthology, Saturday AM. Jey spent two long years of his life drawing the book you're reading right now, all while working a day job in a pharmacy. He lives in Georgia with his lovely, supportive wife and two hilariously cute dogs.