Sweet Valley High #52 White Lies, #53 Second Chance, and #54 Two-Boy Weekend

In Sweet Valley High #52, White Lies, John Pfeifer is worried about his friend, Jennifer Mitchell.  Jennifer has become involved with Rick Andover, who is a high school dropout who often gets into trouble.  Jennifer will not listen to anybody.

When Rick gets arrested, Jennifer believes that her father turned him in.  She is unaware that John was responsible.  At first, John doesn't plan to tell Jennifer the truth until he learns that she won't speak to her father, who has just become seriously ill.  If John tells Jennifer the truth, he will lose her forever.

This is a good book.

In Sweet Valley High #53, Second Chance, Kristen Thompson plans to become a professional tennis player.  She spends all of her free time practicing and competing.  Bruce Patman invites Kristen on a date, and soon, Kristen has fallen for him.  She must decide how to avoid endangering her tennis career while participating in normal teenage activities.

I enjoyed this book.

In Sweet Valley High #54, Two-Boy Weekend, Jessica throws a fit when A.J. has to go away over the weekend to a family gathering.  Jessica spends the day at the beach and meets Christopher, a handsome surfer.  She throws herself into a brief whirlwind romance with him, telling Christopher that the romance is over on Sunday when A.J. returns.

Christopher proceeds to stalk Jessica, calling her every night and following her around town.  Jessica becomes frightened as she tries to figure out how to get rid of Christopher without hurting A.J.

This story would have made for an excellent thriller edition, better than the stories that were used for the thriller editions.  What a wasted opportunity.

This is a very good book.

Sweet Valley High #50 Out of Reach, No Place to Hide, and #51 Against the Odds

In Sweet Valley High #50, Out of Reach, Jade Wu wants to try out for the school musical.  Her father has traditional Chinese beliefs and forbids Jade from participating.  Jade auditions and wins the starring role.  She struggles to keep her role a secret until her mother can change her father's mind.

Meanwhile, Jade becomes friendly with David Prentiss.  Jade confides in him how embarrassed she is that her grandparents run a laundry.  When everyone finds out Jade's secret, she is certain that David betrayed her.

Mr. Wakefield is having a mid-life crisis where he wants to be young again.  This subplot is so stupid.



David doesn't get what the big deal is about Jade's grandparents running a laundry.  I wouldn't have understood back then, either.  I never knew most of the main racial stereotypes when I was young, and I never knew about the stereotype about Chinese running laundries until I read the original text Nancy Drew books in the 1990s.  If I had been David, I would have also given Jade a blank stare.

This is a good book.

In Sweet Valley High Super Thriller, No Place to Hide, Liz and Jess continue to work as interns at the newspaper.  The twins invite Nicholas Morrow on a company picnic, and he goes for a hike with Liz.  While hiking, they meet Barbara, a mysterious young woman who lives in an isolated house with a relative.  Liz and Nicholas soon learn that Barbara is in some kind of danger, and they are determined to help her.

I enjoyed this story better than the previous thriller edition, which I did not like.  This story is still not that great.

In Sweet Valley High #51, Against the Odds, Ronnie Edwards has started betting on school sports events, and he has made a lot of money.  Ronnie makes the mistake of not keeping up with payments to his bookie, and Ronnie finds himself in serious trouble.  He wants Jeffrey to fix the results of the soccer championship in order to get himself out of trouble.  A college scout will be watching the soccer game.  Will Jeffrey risk his future in order to help Ronnie?

I enjoyed this book.

Sweet Valley High #47 Troublemaker, #48 Slam Book Fever, and #49 Playing for Keeps

In Sweet Valley High #47, Troublemaker, Julie Porter has fallen for Bruce Patman.  Julie's friend, Josh Bowen, is pledging Bruce's fraternity, and he knows how arrogant and mean Bruce Patman really is.  Josh is certain that Bruce is using Julie, but she will not listen.

Bruce's fraternity hazes the pledges in Sweet Valley High between classes and at lunch.  Apparently, Sweet Valley High has no adult supervision, so students can bully each other all the time.

Bruce is quite cruel in this story.

This is a very good book.

In Sweet Valley High #48, Slam Book Fever, Amy Sutton introduces slam books to Sweet Valley High.  Students create lists for different topics, then they anonymously write in the names of other classmates.  Liz and Jeffrey are soon in danger of breaking up, because their names have been paired with others in the slam books.

On page 73, Liz is upset about the possibility of losing Jeffrey.  She tells herself that "she certainly wasn't going to sit at home and mope!"  Please don't.  I had quite enough of Liz moping when she lost Todd.

I enjoyed this book.

In Sweet Valley High #49, Playing for Keeps, Jessica has fallen hard for A.J. Morgan.  A.J. is Jessica's first serious boyfriend, and she is scared that she will lose him.  Jessica thinks that A.J. only likes her because he thinks she is like Liz, so Jessica tries to act like a shy girl who is heavily involved in all sorts of serious activities.

Jessica has competition for A.J.'s heart when Pamela, a student from Whitehead Academy, schemes to take A.J. away from her.  Maybe there's something wrong with me, but each time I read the name Whitehead Academy, I thought of pimples.  I'd hate to go to a school named after pimples.

I enjoyed seeing Lila, Cara, and Amy all united in trying to help Jessica.  In particular, I liked seeing Lila help her.  So often, Jessica and Lila fight, so this was a welcome change.

This is a very good book.

Sweet Valley High #45 Family Secrets, On the Run, and #46 Decisions

In Sweet Valley High #45, Family Secrets, cousin Kelly comes to visit the Wakefields.  Kelly is unhappy that her mother plans to remarry, and Kelly's mother hopes that Kelly can adjust to the idea while she stays with the Wakefields.

Kelly idolizes her father, who is abusive, but that fact has been hidden from Kelly.  Liz and Jess wish that they could tell Kelly the truth, but they have been forbidden from telling her.

I found it interesting that Kelly falls in a love with a boy who has the same manipulative personality as her father.

I enjoyed this book.

In Sweet Valley High Super Thriller, On the Run, Liz and Jess continue to work as interns during the summer at the newspaper.  Liz becomes friendly with Eric Hankman, who just arrived in Sweet Valley.  Jessica's friend, Darcy, thinks she recognizes Eric, and she soon believes that Eric is a murderer.  Jessica fears for Liz's safety.

I did not like this book.  It bored me.

In Sweet Valley High #46, Decisions, Robin Wilson's rich aunt will pay for her college tuition, but Robin is required to go to her aunt's alma mater.  Robin's boyfriend, George, takes for granted that Robin would rather stay in Sweet Valley instead of doing what her aunt wants.  Robin feels like neither George nor her aunt cares about what she thinks.

Jessica is hired by Alex Kane to watch over his younger sister.  Alex is a serious music student who practices for hours each day.  He needs Jessica to watch his sister so that he can practice.

I wanted to slap Jessica during this story.  Jessica falls in love with Alex and does everything she can to distract him from his music.  She can't understand why Alex is so involved in his music and won't pay attention to her.  Think, Jessica.  Why were you hired?

I enjoyed this book.

Sweet Valley High #42 Caught in the Middle, #43 Hard Choices, and #44 Pretenses

In Sweet Valley High #42, Caught in the Middle, Sandra Bacon and Manuel Lopez have fallen in love.  Unfortunately, Sandra's parents are prejudiced against Latinos.  They believe that all Latinos are untrustworthy.  Sandra tries to bring up the subject, but her parents won't budge.

When Manuel is accused of a crime, Sandra must decide whether to tell the truth—that she was with him and that he is innocent—or lose Manuel forever.

This story is still relevant today.  The statements that Sandra's parents make in this book are exactly the same as ones I hear people making nowadays.

On page 40, Liz and Sandra go into the student lounge so that they can be alone to talk privately.  I have been wondering about the student lounge ever since early in the series.  Why is it that no students are ever in the student lounge except for the ones who need to talk privately?  Additionally, isn't having a student lounge just asking for trouble?  Why would a high school have a private place where students can gather without faculty supervision?  Yikes.

On page 69, Jessica and Cara work on Lila's birthday banner in the student lounge.  The banner is for a surprise party.  How do they know Lila won't walk in?  I guess because nobody is ever in the lounge except for the students who are in the book's current scene.

I enjoyed this book.

In Sweet Valley High #43 Hard Choices, Enid's grandmother comes to live with Enid and her mother.  Enid expects to have a wonderful relationship with her beloved grandmother, but she finds that Mrs. Langevin has changed.  Mrs. Langevin acts helpless and sullen, needing someone to watch after her constantly.  Enid soon finds that she has no life, and that all she can do is take care of her grandmother.  Will Enid's life ever be the same?

I have not enjoyed reading about Enid's problems in the past, but in this book, I am totally Team Enid.  I really felt for her and was quite absorbed by the story as I wondered how the conflict with Enid's grandmother would be resolved.

This is a very good book.

In Sweet Valley High #44, Pretenses, Cara Walker feels like her relationship with Steven Wakefield has gone stale.  Jessica encourages Cara to add mystery to the relationship.  In short, she should make Steven jealous.  What kind of idiot would follow Jessica's dumb advice?

I cannot stand these boring Cara and Steven books where the two of them come up with some stupid reason for not trusting each other.  We've already read a variant of this story before.  So here we go again.

Cara sees Steven reading a letter, and she wonders why Steven acts weird about it.  The letter is from a secret admirer, and so why wouldn't Steven act weird about it?  What's bizarre is that Cara wonders why Steven acts weird about the letter.  The reason this is bizarre is because Cara is the one who wrote the letter, so she knows what is in the letter.  This plot is so dumb!

I did not enjoy this book.

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.

Sweet Valley High #37 Rumors, #38 Leaving Home, and #39 Secret Admirer

In Sweet Valley High #37, Rumors, Susan Stewart was raised by her aunt.  She has plenty of money and has always been told that her mother is someone wealthy.  Susan will not be told her mother's identity until she turns 18.

Meanwhile, Susan has been invited to the exclusive Bridgewater Ball.  Lila Fowler is jealous and spreads a vicious rumor that Susan's mother is criminally insane.  Susan's aunt won't tell her anything, so Susan believes that the rumor is true.  Susan is confused and lonely, feeling that she has lost everything.

Jessica believes that Mrs. Wakefield is pregnant.  She and Liz drop hints, but their parents won't reveal anything.  Jessica begins spying on her mother.

As usual, the subplot is hilarious.

On page 50, we learn that Jessica borrows her mother's clothes in addition to Liz's.  Really?  We know the twins are identical, but their mother must be the same perfect size 6 and the same height.  Wow.

From page 140:

"Liz!  Emergency!"

"What?  What is it?"  Elizabeth looked up from the book she was reading.  Jessica's emergencies usually involved running out of Diet Coke or finding a split end.

This is a very good book.

In Sweet Valley High #38 Leaving Home, Liz has her heart set on going to boarding school in Switzerland.  She applies and will be interviewed for a scholarship.  Jessica and Steven are horrified and decide to do whatever they can to ruin Liz's chances of getting admitted to the exclusive school.

Winston Egbert purchases a lottery ticket for the upcoming lottery.  On a trip to the convenience store, Winston's jacket gets taken accidentally by a man, and Winston is left with the man's jacket.  Winston's lottery ticket was in his jacket, and he now has the man's lottery ticket.  The lottery ticket wins the prize of $25,000, but only Winston knows that the money isn't really his.

The main plot is annoying.  Jessica and Steven are very mean to Liz and ruin Liz's dream.  If this story had been set in any universe other than Sweet Valley, there's no way that Liz would have forgiven them.

The $25,000 lottery prize seems a bit low.  With inflation, the prize is now worth just $55,000.  That's still a lot of money for a high school student to win, but it's low by modern lottery standards.

I like the lottery subplot much better than the main plot.  The main plot is just weird.

This is a good book.

In Sweet Valley High #39, Secret Admirer, Lynne Henry creates a personal ad feature for the school newspaper.  Penny Ayala has never had a boyfriend, and at Liz's urging, she takes out an ad in the column.  Penny goes with a bizarre comedic ad, thinking that it will give her a chance with a boy who thinks the same way she does.

Unknown to Penny, her ad is answered by a group of boys who are playing a prank on her.  Liz finds out, and she worries that Penny will get hurt.

Liz is rather mean in this book.  She decides to get revenge on the boy who is responsible to thinking up the prank.  Her behavior is quite out of character and more like what we would expect from Jessica.

I enjoyed this book.

Sweet Valley High #35 Out of Control, Spring Fever, and #36 Last Chance

In Sweet Valley High #35, Out of Control, Aaron Dallas is going through difficult times.  His parents are having problems, and Aaron is full of rage.  Aaron picks fights and gets into trouble.  Liz tells Jeffrey that Aaron needs help, but Jeffrey sticks behind his best friend.  Will Aaron's problems drive Liz and Jeffrey apart?

Jessica decides to go into business.  She begins selling Tofu-Glo, an all-natural cosmetics line.  As is typical, Jessica's business scheme does not work out well.

Heather Sanford is Aaron's girlfriend, and Liz instinctively dislikes her.  This is unusual for Liz, and Liz even makes fun of her.  Later in the story, Liz learns that she misjudged Heather.  It's a rather interesting change for Liz to behave in a Jessica-like fashion.

This is a good book.

In Sweet Valley High Super Edition, Spring Fever, Liz and Jess spend spring break at their great aunt and uncle's house in a small town in Kansas.  Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman are afraid for the girls to go anywhere alone, and they warn the girls to have nothing to do with the carnival workers.  So of course, Jessica immediately falls in love with one of the carnies.  Jessica sneaks around, Liz covers for her, and all of the girls in town seem to hate the Wakefield twins.

On page 41, going to church is mentioned.  Is church something they only do in Kansas?  It's not been mentioned as an activity in Sweet Valley, California.

It takes around 50 pages before the book becomes at all interesting, and even then, the story isn't that great.

Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman act like they are around one-hundred and thirty-seven years old.  They are the absolute worst fuddy-duddies.  They are ignorant of everything and don't let the girls have any kind of fun.  Who wants to read a book like this?

I do not like this book.  It's boring and stupid.

In Sweet Valley High #36, Last Chance, Johanna Porter has decided to return to Sweet Valley High.  She dropped out months before, but after reading her deceased mother's diary, she decides to fulfill her mother's wish that she finish high school.  Johanna has a rough time in school, but the one bright spot is Peter DeHaven.

Peter seems to like Johanna, but he is currently dating Amy Sutton.  Peter assures Johanna that he will soon break up with Amy, but nothing happens.  Johanna becomes more insecure and thinks about dropping out of school again.

The Jessica subplot features Jessica maliciously trying to break up Steven and Cara's relationship for no good reason.  Jessica can be so infuriating.

I find it really funny that Peter does not end up with either Amy or Johanna.  He is so inept and self-centered that Johanna flat-out refuses him.  Way to go, girl!

This is a very good book.