58 pages • 1 hour read
Jacqueline DaviesThe Bell Bandit
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: The Lemonade Wars Series
The Lemonade Wars is a five-book series by author Jacqueline Davies. The series follows the childhood and early adolescent experiences of siblings Evan and Jessie Treski. The series is known for its ability to explore the complexity of children’s and young adolescents’ emotions. Throughout the series, Evan and Jessie each have a set of skills they rely on. Evan is the people-smart one whereas Jessie struggles with understanding feelings and is more math-oriented (The Lemonade War, Jacquelinedavies.net). In the first book, The Lemonade War, Jessie and Evan find themselves at odds as they compete to see who can sell more lemonade in five days.
While The Bell Bandit reads as a standalone text, it is interesting to consider within the larger context of The Lemonade Wars series. The Bell Bandit is the third and middle book in the series. As such, it sets the stage for important turning points in overall character arcs. The Bell Bandit explores Jessie’s and Evan’s individual growth and development as they face the challenges of their grandmother’s memory loss. They each must face this new reality, and with it comes uncomfortable learning experiences and growth opportunities that will shape them for the rest of the series.
As opposed to previous installments in the series, however, Jessie and Evan use their opposing sets of skills to solve problems together rather than in competition with one another. When Grandma goes missing, Evan and Jessie each have skills that contribute to finding her. Once Evan, who relies on his empathy and emotions, states that Grandma must be feeling lost and scared, Jessie has the necessary pieces of the puzzle to locate her. While the fourth book, The Candy Smash, finds Jessie and Evan again in opposition, the trust and reliance they develop in The Bell Bandit establish a solid foundation for their sibling relationship to continue developing even amid disagreement.
Social Context: Managing Dementia’s Effect on Families
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Dementia is a complex illness that significantly affects not only the patient but also their caregivers and loved ones. According to the CDC, dementia is “not a specific disease [but] an overall term that describes a decline in mental ability that interferes with daily life” (“About Dementia,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). This impaired ability to remember or make decisions can have adverse outcomes for patients and families, some of which The Bell Bandit explores. Grandma nearly burns down her house and loses her way during a walk because she forgets where she is. For much of the text, she does not recognize her grandson, Evan. All these symptoms cause distress for Grandma’s loved ones as they try to navigate how best to support her.
Mrs. Treski, Evan, and Jessie must contend with the symptoms of Grandma’s illness while keeping her safe. At times, their approach upsets Grandma because she does not always realize that she is struggling with memory loss. In their book Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, authors Andrew E. Budson, MD, and Maureen K. O’Connor, PsyD, offer insights and practical tools for helping support loved ones with dementia in what can be, at times, a “long, lonely journey” (Most, Doug. “Caring for a Loved One With Dementia? BU Neurologists’ New Book Offers Guidance.” BU Today, 20 Sept. 2021). These tools are meant not only to provide aid to the patient but also to help loved ones manage the emotional stress that can come along with caring for a patient with dementia. Budson and O’Connor outline “The 4Rs”: reassure, reconsider, redirect, and relax:
We want to reassure our loved one that everything is alright. We want to reconsider the situation from their point of view. We want to redirect them to activities that they enjoy and are calming. And we want to remember that it is important that we relax so that we do not inadvertently escalate the situation (Most).
Grandma’s family members employ aspects of the “The 4Rs” when caring for her, such as when Evan validates Grandma’s episodes of confusion and pretends to be a bus driver. Evan reconsiders trying to convince Grandma of his identity, knowing that it will be better for both Grandma and him if he keeps her calm. While Jessie, due to her youth, has less of an understanding of how to approach Grandma’s illness, she employs one of the “The 4Rs” in her interactions with Grandma by engaging in a jigsaw puzzle with her, something that the two connect over. Through these methods, Jessie and Evan contribute to caring for their grandma even as she struggles with memory loss.
While there are more specific treatment methods and approaches to managing the disease, “The 4Rs” provide a succinct set of tools to help caregivers and patients navigate the significant challenges of dementia and its associated symptoms.
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By Jacqueline Davies
