The Sweetest of Lemons

Printz Medalist and Newbery Honor winner Daniel Nayeri crafts this beautiful paean to storytelling and the bonds of family.

Based on powerful memories of Nayeri visiting his grandfather, this story-within-a-story brings a young boy in a hot car ride across the desert. The destination is an oasis, where gardens perfume the air, and tales are lovingly told. Here is the gate to a magical world full of princesses, valiant brothers, dangerous giants, and one perfect, enchanted lemon. Will any of the brothers be able to foil the giant, retrieve the lemon, and free the princess? In the warm embrace of Nayeri’s storytelling, readers will lean into the enchantment until the story’s end.

Rahele Jhompeur Bell creates the two gorgeous visual strands of the tale–one inspired by the frames and jewel-like colors of Persian miniatures, the other a tender, richly textured rendering of a contemporary family.

Together, the author and artist cast a delicious spell that, like the singular lemon at the heart of the story, is so sweet it can cure sadness itself.