This is my next book. Charlotte Morgan and the Lemonade Stand.
It is still in the work-in-progress phase. The cover I am posting here is a temp cover derived from the first book. But I like sharing my work here first. The book is leveled for third grade readers and up.I am using the #steemiteducation tag because the book is about using math and earning money.
Click here for chapter 1. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
Summary: Charlotte checks in with Gavin to see how he did with his lemonade stand.
Chapter 6 Figuring Out the Profit
“So exactly how much money can we make if we sell all the lemonade you and your Dad bought?” Sally asked. We were sitting on my back porch looking at the lemonade mix, cooler, and cups.
“If we charge 50 cents per cup, we get 80 cups per container of lemonade mix, that gets us $40 per container. And with two packages of lemonade that makes $80.”
“But how much did you spend?” Sally asked.
“$66 for everything,” I replied.
Sally made a face and I knew what she was thinking, “If your parents made you pay everything back, then that means you would only have fourteen dollars left over. And that’s if you sold all the lemonade!”
She was right. I wasn’t going to make much money with this approach.
“Hey Charlotte! You back there?” shouted Aaron from the side of the house.
“Yeah, Aaron, we’re back here,” I replied.
Aaron came around the side, he was dressed in his baseball uniform and he was covered in dirt. “I see you got all the stuff for the lemonade stand,” Aaron sat down and put his baseball glove on the ground.
“We did, but Sally and I were just realizing how little money we would make.”
“How much money do you think you would make?” Aaron asked.
“Fourteen dollars.”
“Wow. That’s amazing. At that rate you’ll be a millionaire in a thousand years.”
“Be quiet,” Sally hushed him.
“Hey, are you guys back there?” shouted Marcus from the street.
“Yes, we’re back here!” all three of shouted.
Marcus was the fourth member of our Number Investigators club. He joined us last year in the second grade when he moved in from another school. Marcus ran from the front to the back porch. “What’s with all the lemonade stuff?”
“Charlotte needs to earn some money to pay back her mom,” Aaron informed him.
Marcus interrupted, “And you saw Gavin doing his lemonade stand and you wanted to do it too.”
“How did you know,” I asked.
“I just saw him closing up his lemonade stand,” Marcus replied.
“Is he still there?” I asked.
“He was thirty seconds ago. Why?” Marcus asked.
“I want to know how well he did.” I looked at my three friends, “Let’s go ask him before he goes inside!” I ran down the porch steps and my friends followed. From the driveway I could see Gavin collecting his things from his stand. I ran towards his house. “Hey Gavin! How did you do today?” I shouted.
Gavin waved back. “I did okay.”
“How much money did you make, if you don’t mind my asking.”
“I think about thirty dollars, I haven’t counted exactly. Why do you ask?”
“I was just curious,” I replied.
Gavin pointed at me, “Wait! You want to do a lemonade stand too!”
I was suddenly so nervous that I laughed, “I need the money.”
“You want a new computer or something?”
“I need to pay my mom back for my dog chewing her shoes up, or I get a ton of new chores to do around the house. And while that’s happening there can’t be a Number Investigators meeting.”
“Ha! The great Charlotte Morgan got into trouble!” Gavin grinned.
“Be quiet!” Marcus said.
“Make me!”
I put my hands out, “Stop it! Stop fighting right now you two!” I turned to Gavin, “I didn’t mean to get you mad, I just wanted to find out how you did. I need ideas for earning money.”
“Well, like I said, I think I made about thirty dollars.” I helped Gavin clear off the table and finished stacking the remaining cups.
“How much did the lemonade cost?” asked Sally.
“I don’t know. My mom got it. I just used it from the kitchen.”
“How many cups did you buy?” Sally kept hounding him with questions.
“I don’t know maybe fifty, maybe sixty, maybe a hundred? Again, my mom got this stuff for me.”
“You’re no help!” Sally huffed. Gavin stood up and faced Sally.
I jumped in, “Thank you for all your help, Gavin! We’ll leave you alone now.” I handed him the remaining cups. And we went back to my house.