Sweet Valley High #40 On the Edge, #41 Outcast, and Double Jeopardy

In Sweet Valley High #40, On the Edge, Amy Sutton and Bruce Patman work on a school project together.  They spend lots of time together, and Bruce has fallen under Amy's spell.  Everyone in school knows except for Bruce's girlfriend, Regina Morrow.  When Regina finally learns about the relationship, she is devastated and becomes friendly with a boy who runs with a crowd that does drugs.

I took the Sweet Valley High series very seriously when I was a teen.  I adored the books and the characters, especially Regina Morrow.  One day, probably in 1988, I was in a bookstore looking at the books that were available, and I chanced to read the summary on the back of #41, which is the next title after this one.  I was devastated to learn that Regina Morrow dies of a rare reaction to cocaine in #40.

Regina was so important to me that I quit reading the Sweet Valley High books.  So long as I never read any books from #40 or higher, then I could pretend that nothing ever happens to Regina.  It was in 1988 that I read my first Christopher Pike book, Last Act, and his books took the place of Sweet Valley High.

I am now so far removed from my idealistic teenage views that Regina's death does not bother me like it did back then.  I wish some other character had died instead, but I can accept that Regina did.

I enjoyed this book despite the horrible ending.

In Sweet Valley High #41, Outcast, everyone at Sweet Valley High blames Molly Hecht for Regina's death since Regina died at Molly's party.  Molly has become an outcast.  She tries to apologize to Liz Wakefield and to her friend Justin Belson, but both of them snub her.  Molly finally turns to Buzz, the drug dealer who supplied the drugs that killed Regina.  Buzz acts like he cares about Molly, and she has no one else.

Jessica is rather giving in this book.  She comes up with the idea to create a scholarship fund in Regina's name.

The Pi Beta Alpha sorority is compared to other school clubs.  I started thinking about this.  Why does the sorority not have a faculty sponsor?  Furthermore, why does a high school have a sorority?  Sweet Valley High is a strange place.

Sweet Valley apparently has only one drug dealer, and his name is Buzz.  If they can only get Buzz arrested, then Sweet Valley will once again be the perfect place with no drugs.

It is quite realistic how the school turns on Molly.  On page 127, Mr. Collins tells Liz to consider Molly's pain and how she is feeling.  Finally, Liz comes around and decides to quit blaming Molly.  After all, Regina was the one who used the cocaine.

This is a good book.

In Sweet Valley High Super Thriller, Double Jeopardy, Elizabeth and Jessica get summer internships at the newspaper.  Jessica immediately attaches herself to a young reporter and comes up with crazy mysteries to try to gain his interest.  Pretty soon, he doesn't trust Jessica after he learns that she made up the stories.

Late one night, Jessica enters the parking garage.  She spots a man carrying a bundle.  When an arm falls out of the bundle, Jessica is terrified.  She gets into the Fiat and leaves as fast as she can.  Later, a young woman's body is found.  Steven's friend, Adam, is accused of the murder.  The victim was his girlfriend.  Jessica knows he is innocent and sets out to find the culprit.

I enjoyed this book.