http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXrAUkPVHwI
LOOK WHAT I FOUND- the Babysitters Club TV show Christmas special!!! I bought this from B Dalton I think in 7th or 8th grade , and my sister, my cousin and I watched this God at LEAST 70 times!!!!! LOVE IT!!! And I will admit- I get a little misty-eyed when Kristy gives Ned his gift!!
Happy Holidays to all of u that celebrate! Hope you enjoy this LOVELY gift from me to you! Merry BSC Xmas!
Wow- this book was just so craptacular. I really liked reading the Super Snooper Christmas book, and even Karen acted somewhat human in ” Karen’s Wish.” But wow this is utter SHIT- not as shitty as that Sweet Valley Twins’ Christmas book that I read about 30 pages of before I tossed it aside and anger and disgust ( basically these two dolls that Jess and Liz’s grandparents give them come to life and take them on some acid trip adventure- man it’s shitty) but shitty nonetheless.
OK- so the main plot in this book is that Suzanne Devlin is visiting the Wakefield family at Christmastime. We first meet Suzanne in Book #11- Too Good to Be True- where Suzanne accuses Roger Collins of rape and steals Elizabeth’s prize laveliere necklace that Elizabeth and Jess got for their sixteenth birthdays- yep we know all about those darn necklaces. Jessica did not meet Suzanne at that time because it was some exchange that while Suzanne was visiting the Wakefields that time, Jessica was in New York City visiting Suzanne’s family- and Suzanne’s boyfriend almost rapes Jessica. Sooo… supposedly Suzanne wants to visit Sweet Valley and the Wakefields because she’s totally changed her wicked ways and wants to apologize to the Wakefields and the whole town for how rotten she has been. But no one in Sweet Valley is exactly prepared to forgive Suzanne- so in revenge Jessica plots with Aaron Dallas ( he was really into Suzanne and I guess she dissed him) that Aaron will tell Suzanne to meet him at a party but they will give her totally fucked up directions and she will get lost in the middle of nowhere. Well, Suzanne does so, but then Suzanne gets all drowsy and falls asleep behind the wheel and crashes. Also, Suzanne has a BIG secret- Suzanne wants to make amends to everyone because Suzanne is REALLY sick- she was just diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has to take all kinds of meds. Alice Wakefield knows all about this but has chosen not to tell the twins because Suzanne doesn’t want anyone to know. Alice is so upset that a beautiful girl like Suzanne has to be afflicted with such a terrible disease whereby Suzanne may go blind and wet her pants- horror!!! Well, as Suzanne is rushed to the hospital and examined, we then learn that Suzanne’s fancy New York doctor totes fucked up and Suzanne has been tired all the time and clumsy because she had undiagnosed MONO- NOT MS!!!!! What kind of quack doctor is this?
Elizabeth has been so forward to Todd visiting from Vermont for Xmas. Todd has a secret of his own- he fell in love with Suzanne Devlin while both of them were skiing in Vermont. Liz had no idea about this until Liz sees Todd look at Suzanne with ” a lot of love in his eyes” in the hospital, and Todd and Elizabeth have a tearful breakup once Elizabeth sees that Todd is now out of love with Elizabeth and in love with Suzanne.
In another plot, Jessica is determined to be Miss Christmas, and is convinced this exchange student Hans is her Secret Santa at school, and is in love with her. Jessica becomes Miss Christmas and makes Lila be an elf on the float. Jessica is also wicked upset once she finds out that the boy who bought her tons of romantic gifts was NOT Hans- it was Winston Egbert! And Hans had Lila for Secret Santa, and likes Lila. Yeah, because Lila kicks ass. And Bill Chase got Olivia for a Secret Santa, and his idea of a great gift was having the men’s swim sing to Olivia in their swim trunks at the Dairi Burger. Awesome.
God, this book was BORING- and what a fuckin quacky ass doc who mistook mono for MS!!! GRRRR!! And naturally Todd had to come back to Cali and hide the fact that he is in love with someone else- and it’s none other than the changed Suzanne Devlin. Now, I swear I have ” Too Good to be True” buried somewhere in my closet- maybe I will recap it someday. Or maybe not.
Time for my break- as you know, I will be on a holiday break until close to the New Year- definitely at least till Christmas. And I shall return with a recap of ” Dawn’s Big Date” BSC #50. After that look for these titles:
Sweet Valley Twins #42- Jessica’s Secret
Freshman Dorm #20- Freshman Affair
Sweet Valley Twins #68- The Middle School Gets Married
BSC #87 – Stacey and the Bad Girls
Sleepover Friends #27- Where’s Patti?
Jessica and Elizabeth are on the playground talking about the latest Amanda Howard book that Elizabeth has read. I had no idea Jessica had interest in anything Elizabeth has read. Jessica says being a detective would be fun. Jessica sees Lila and Ellen coming over to play, and Elizabeth says that Amy and Eva are also playing on the playground, and all of them should be detectives. The kids all talk about what they should do over Christmas vacation. Elizabeth says that the kids should all form a secret club- a detective club! Todd and Winston also want to join the detective club. The club will have a secret handshake, and since Jessica and Elizabeth both thought up the club, they will be co-presidents. Elizabeth says that now all they have to do is find a mystery to solve. To solve a mystery, Elizabeth explains that the kids have to find clues, like mysterious footprints. Elizabeth tells the others to think of a mystery to solve, and the club decides to call themselves the Super Snoopers. Elizabeth is very Kristy Thomas in this book. Jessica tells Elizabeth as they leave the playground that they can look for their Christmas gifts, but then Jessica says there’d be no point to that as most of the gifts don’t come from Santa Clause until Christmas Eve. Elizabeth tells Jessica that at age seven, they are too old to believe in Santa. Jessica insists that Santa is real. How old were all of you ( any of you that ever believed in Santa, that is?) when you stopped believing in Santa? I was about 8 years old, almost nine actually. I believe my friend Curt said he was eight years old as well. Jessica says she wants Santa to bring her a Little Linda doll, some leotards, a stuffed pony, ( OMG Juicy Couture’s website has the CUTEST one), and a watch that glows in the dark like Lila’s. Elizabeth says if there is a real Santa she’d want him to bring her a real pony that she’d keep in the backyard and name him Lightening. But Elizabeth says Santa is not real anyway. Jessica insists that Santa IS real all the way back to their home.
The next day at school, Mrs. Otis announces that the class is putting up decorations for the holiday party next week. Mrs. Otis needs a volunteer to get the large key from the supply closet from the janitor, and Jessica volunteers to go see the janitor. When Jessica gets to the custodian’s office, she doesn’t see Jim, the usual custodian. She sees an elderly male with a long white beard and a big tummy. The man is looking at a piece of paper, and he tells Jessica he is making presents for some special friends. The janitor explains that he is filling in for Jim for awhile, and his name is Chris. Chris gives Jessica the key, and then calls her Jessica! Jessica asks Chris how he knew her name, and Chris says it was a good guess. Chris also guesses that Jessica has a sister named Elizabeth! Chris then gives Jessica a candy cane and tells her it’s an early Christmas present. Jessica tells Chris he looks like Santa Claus, and Chris says mysteriously ” maybe I am Santa Claus!”
At the playground at recess, Jess tells the other Snoopers that they should investigate whether or not the janitor Chris is really Santa. Everyone starts to laugh at Jessica, and Jessica says that Chris had a long list of people to give presents to. Lila says her dad always has a long Christmas list, and he’s not Santa! Then Jessica asks how did Chris know her name? Elizabeth says he probably noticed her name bracelet. Jessica then asks Elizabeth how Chris knew about her when he didn’t even meet Elizabeth. Todd says that all of their names are on their cubbies and Elizabeth’s cubby is next to Jessica’s so maybe that’s how Chris figured it out. Jessica is still convinced Chris could be Santa. Elizabeth says there is no Santa anyway, and Todd agrees. Eva and Ellen say they both believe in Santa Claus, and so does Amy. Lila does not believe in Santa Claus. Winston is pretty sure he believes in Santa Claus. So the Snoopers are going to find out if Chris the custodian is the real Santa!
Jessica and Lila go to Chris’s office to see if they can find out more about him. Jessica tells the secretary she had questions about Chris, and the secretary says ” oh the new janitor Chris Kreeger?” Jessica is astonished- Chris Kreeger sounds like Kris Kringle, which is a nickname for Santa! The secretary then says Chris is from Alaska and he’s a nice man. Jessica is all ” Alaska is the North Pole” and even Lila is getting more excited. After Jessica and Lila tell the Snoopers what they found out, Amy Sutton feels that if Chris Kreeger is from the North Pole and looks like Santa, he must be Santa. Elizabeth thinks they still need more clues. The Snoopers all run to the custodian’s office to look for more clues, and the office is empty. Hanging in a closet is a Santa Claus suit! Winston tries on the suit, and Elizabeth notices a piece of paper in the pocket that says ” Charles Department Store”. Elizabeth says that just proves that Chris Kreeger was hired to play a Santa in a department store. Jessica says that doesn’t mean he isn’t the real Santa. Winston says the only way to find out is to go to Charles Dept Store the next day to ask Chris if he knows what all the kids want for Christmas.
Mr. Wakefield drops Elizabeth and Jess off at the department store the next day and Mr. Wakefield tells the girls they need more evidence to ” prove beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Chris is the real Santa. Do lawyers really speak that way to their seven year olds? Jessica notices that the Snooper kids are definitely the oldest in line to see Santa but she doesn’t care because she is determined to prove that Chris is the real Santa. Chris notices the kids from school and tells them to come on up! Jessica sits on Chris’s lap. Chris says he knew Jessica would come to see him- ooooh. Then Jessica whispers that she believes in Santa, but her sister doesn’t. Then Chris says that he bets Liz wants a pony for Christmas this year! And he also guesses that Jess wants the Little Linda doll! Jessica runs to the other kids to tell them that Santa knew what she wanted and Elizabeth says it’s a lucky guess as Little Linda is the doll of the moment. Jessica doesn’t want to hear Liz. She’s now certain that Chris Kreeger is Santa, and nothing is going to change her mind. At dinner, Jessica tells her parents and Steven that Chris knew what she and Liz, and Ellen, and Winston and everyone wanted for Christmas. Mr. Wakefield remarks he was the most realistic Santa he ever saw. Jessica says that is because he is the real Santa! Jessica then says the kids are going to invite Chris to the party and that Mrs. Otis wondered if Mrs. Wakefield would be a room mother for the day and volunteer to help at the party. Why couldn’t Mrs. Otis call Mrs. Wakefield herself? Why rely on kids to ask? Mrs. Wakefield is happy to do it and then tells Jess she hopes she realizes that Chris is not really Santa. Jessica keeps insisting to her family that YES Mr. Kreeger IS the real Santa!
At school, Jessica and Liz go to ask Mr. Kreeger to the class party. Winston comes along. The kids see Mr. Kreeger looking at a large world map, and he remarks that he is ” planning his route.” Chris ” takes a big trip every year, and he likes to go a different way each time.” oooooohhhhh Chris then asks Elizabeth about what the spirit of Christmas means to her, as he hears Liz doesn’t believe in Santa. Elizabeth says the spirit of Christmas to her means that everyone is supposed to be nice and love one another. And they show their love by giving presents. Chris asks what is wrong with believing in Santa, and Jessica is all ” I believe.” Elizabeth asks Chris to name the reindeer, and he sure does. Elizabeth is all bratty and goes ” I know them all too.” Liz is being sort of Karen Brewer like in this book. Chris tells Liz that he can’t make her believe in Santa, but if she has the spirit of Christmas, that is what counts. He then asks what brought the children there, and Winston invites him to the class party. Chris says he would love to attend.
Jess and Elizabeth wear their matching red dresses with white lace collars to the holiday party- standard kid Christmas wear. As the Snoopers discuss the clues, Liz sees that even LILA now believes Chris is Santa! Liz can’t believe it! The kids play driedel and Blind Man’s Bluff until Chris comes to the party. Chris comes in dressed as Santa. Caroline Pearce and Ken Matthews never saw Chris before and marvel that he looks just like Santa. Jessica drags Mrs. Wakefield over to meet Chris and Mrs. Wakefield tells Chris she wishes he’d tell Jessica he’s not really Santa. Chris just tells Mrs. Wakefield you are never too old to believe in Santa. The party goes on until lunch and Chris says he has to leave, but not before he gives gifts to the kids and his hostesses. Now this part is very ” The Santa Claus” as in the kick- ass movie starring Tim Allen that I watch every year. Each child gets a small carved wooden animal that Chris made in his workshop. Mrs. Otis gets a globe, and Mrs, Otis said she wanted to get one for the classroom and wonders how Mr. Kreeger knew she wanted a globe! Mrs. Wakefield gets a small carved wooden box with snowflakes and stars carved on it. Mrs. Wakefield is astonished- she saw a box just like that as a little girl and always wanted one- how did Mr. Kreeger know…. The Snoopers all look at each other knowingly… only Santa would know. Mrs. Otis and Mrs. Wakefield agree that Mr. Kreeger is a very special person. I so HEART him I really do.
The next day is the last day of school before vacation. Elizabeth says they must find out once and for all if Chris is Santa. Eva suggests just asking him. As the kids run to the custodian’s office, Jim is sitting there eating a sandwich. Elizabeth asks where Chris is. Jim says as soon as he came back, Chris said he had to leave right away to go on a big job coming up that just couldn’t wait. Jess asks if Chris is coming back and Jim says no Chris was just there to take over while Jim was sick. Then, on the shelf, Liz notices horn-rimmed glasses and a pipe. Jim says they aren’t his. Elizabeth says she guesses this mystery will go unsolved. Then the kids hear ” ho, ho, ho” and see Chris just disappearing around a corner. The Snoopers go running, but then see a taxi pull away with Chris sitting in the back. Elizabeth says Santa wouldn’t leave in a taxi, would he? Jess says Liz knows that’s the real Santa. Elizabeth decides that Chris is such a nice man and she can never be sure if he was the real Santa, but he sure had the spirit of Christmas in him. She doesn’t know if she believes in Santa, now but it doesn’t much matter.
Out of the three Christmas books I chose to read, this one was my favorite. I loved the kids having so much Christmas spirit and Jess being determined that Chris was the real Santa, and Chris Kreeger just rocks. Plus I loved that whole ” Santa Clause” angle. If only Bernard were featured. For next week, I will recap ” Special Christmas” a dud Super Special from Sweet Valley High. Just wait. Then from about December 16 until the 29th or 3oth, maybe the 31st I will be on a short break- and I will come back with a recap of ” Dawn’s Big Date” BSC #50. In the next few weeks after that, there will be a lot of SV and BSC reading, mostly because those are most of the books I have, although yes the spirit of this blog is to recap books that others really don’t. well not to worry I will do that too!
Soooo the next 8 or so books for the New Year are-
Sweet Valley Twins #42 Jessica’s Secret
Freshman Dorm #20- Freshman Affair
Sweet Valley Twins #68- The Middle School Gets Married
BSC #87- Stacey and the Bad Girls
Freshman Dorm #12- Freshman Rivals
Sleepover Friends #27- Where’s Patti?
Sweet Valley Kids #39- Ellen is Home Alone
Sweet Valley High #13- Kidnapped!!!! ( this is one that I read WAY too many times in 5th grade!)
I believe Hannukah starts this weekend? If I am right Happy Hannukah to anyone who celebrates that. In honor of Karen Brewer, play tons of driedel games.
Andrew is watching a commercial on TV at the little house. Andrew wants a Dyno- Car for Christmas. Karen tells the captive readers out there that a Dyno Car is a little racecar that explodes when it runs into a wall or something. Then Andrew and Karen sing the whole ” Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg” song. Karen stops singing suddenly because a Baby Grow a Tooth commercial is on TV, and Karen wants a Baby Grow a Tooth doll for Christmas. Baby Grow a Tooth pretty much sounds like of the ” Baby Alive” of my sister’s youth ( my sister will be 26 on January 4th btw). Karen and Andrew are both very excited over Christmas. This year, they will spend Christmas Eve at Watson’s house aka the big house and Christmas Day at the ” little house” aka Karen’s mom and stepdad’s house, where Karen and Andrew live most of the time. We also hear that a week ago, Karen and Andrew had to have Thanksgiving dinner twice in a day at both the little and big house. Karen is already sick of turkey.
Now we have the Chapter 2 ” two two ” junk. BLECH. Now Karen is playing at Nancy’s house. Nancy and Karen are playing Nintendo and Nancy keeps winning, because Karen doesn’t have Nintendo at her house. Karen says to Nancy maybe she will ask for Nintendo for Christmas. Nancy then says she can ask for Nintendo games for Hannukah. Karen is all ” oh too bad you don’t celebrate Xmas Nancy then you’d get your games sooner nah nah nah nah” God Karen SUCKS- OK she is seven but a genius seven year old, right? When I was seven there were probably like two Jewish kids in my whole town, and I knew kids got gifts at Hannukah! Nancy tells Karen that she gets presents at Hannukah. Nancy says Hannukah comes before Christmas so she will get her gifts before Karen does. Wench Karen thinks to herself that she feels sooooo very sorry for Nancy because Karen is sure to get many more Christmas presents than Nancy will get Hannukah presents. Nancy then says to Karen she wishes Karen celebrated Hannukah, because it would be nice if Karen and Nancy celebrated the same holiday. Karen thinks to herself that would be awful because Christmas is just the raddest. Nancy says she wants Baby Grow a Tooth for Hannukah. Karen says she also wants Paddington Bear books ( I want a Paddington Bear so bad actually) and an art kit, the book the Polar Express, and also more Bobbsey Twins books. Nancy wants the book the Witches by Roald Dahl- damn I HEART that book!
When Karen gets home, her mom is on the phone. Mom says to Karen it’s her dad on the phone and Karen goes and talks to Watson. Watson has bad news- Nannie fell down and broke her hip! Nannie has to be in the hospital for several weeks. Karen is devestated- what if Nannie isn’t home in time for Christmas? Karen’s mom suggests that Karen talk to Kristy because Karen is so mopey, as it may make Karen feel better to talk to Kristy. Kristy tells Karen Nannie may be in the hospital for at least three weeks because Nannie broke her hip pretty badly and she may need surgery. Kristy also says Karen can’t visit Nannie in the hospital because kids aren’t allowed in the special part of the hospital where Nannie is. Karen is very upset because she remembers that Kristy’s friend Claudia’s grandma went to the hospital and died there and Karen is all thinking ” please don’t die, Nannie.”
Karen and Andrew write their letters to Santa one night and send them ” up the chimney” by putting the paper over the fireplace flames so the list shoots up the chimney. That is sort of cool. Karen writes to Santa that she has a Christmas wish that Nannie will come out of the hospital before Christmas.
It’s a big house weekend. Usually, Karen loves weekends at Watson’s. But this weekend Karen is not looking very forward to the weekend because Nannie won’t be there. Karen is mopey all Friday night. On Saturday, Kristy is baby sitting and suggests that Andrew, Karen, Emily and David Michael all make Christmas tree ornaments. Kristy says they can make the ornaments to surprise Nannie when she comes home. Nannie then calls and Karen answers the call. Nannie says she will be home the week before Christmas and Karen says ” promise”‘ and Nannie says she promises to be home by that time.
Karen is in school and Ms. Colman, the best teacher in the world according to Karen, says that the children can make decorations for Christmas and Hannukah. Nancy gives a Hannukah lesson to Hannie and Karen as they work on decorations. In Nancy’s house, the kids get one presents on seven nights, and lots of gifts on the eighth night of Hannukah. Hannukah started because a mean king named Antiochus wanted everyone to follow his religion. The Jewish people did not want to do that. The Jewish people decided to fight back. Their leaders were a family called the Maccabees. They fought for several years and they won! There was peace in their land. But the soldiers took over the Temple of Jerusalem, and the Jews wanted it back. They needed to light a menorah and have the light burn , but the Jews had very little oil. But amazingly enough the oil kept that light burning for eight nights! That is why Hannukah lasts eight nights and is called the Festival of Lights. Nancy’s story gives Karen the idea to get Nancy a present. Karen always exchanges Christmas gifts with Hannie, but she also wants to get a gift for Nancy this year. Karen decides she will get Nancy Book #53 of the Bobbsey Twins. Karen and Nancy have both been looking for Book #53 forever and cannot find it! So Karen decides to look for that book for Nancy for a gift. The book is called the Bobbsey Twins and the Mystery Cave. Karen’s mom agrees she will help Karen look for that book and if there are two copies, she will get Karen a book as well. Karen has to go to quite a few bookstores the next day, but finally one bookstore has ONE copy of that particular Bobbsey Twins book! So Karen buys it for Nancy.
Karen, Nancy, Andrew, Seth and Karen’s mom go to get a Christmas tree together the next day and of course they find the perfect tree. After bringing the tree home, Karen’s mom makes Christmas cookies. Nancy asks Karen if Christmas is only about Christmas gifts, cookies and trees and Karen thinks that Christmas is much more than that. Karen tells Nancy there is a special Christmas story, just as there is a Hannukah story. Basically, the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary she is pregnant with the child of God. As Mary and Joseph travel through Bethlehem they cannot find a place to stay. An innkeeper finally says they can stay in his stable. That night, Mary gives birth to God’s son and they name him Jesus. The Three Wise Men find baby Jesus by following a bright star in the sky and they give the baby gold, frankincense and myrrh. I am sure I spelled the last 2 wrong- ah well. Let me just say though that the story of the Nativity at the Rockette’s Xmas spectacular is beautiful, and that is no joke. Nancy asks about the story of Santa Claus. Shit, Nancy, haven’t you ever seen ” Santa Claus is coming to Town?” The Bergermeister wanted to ban toys, and Kris Kringle was all fuck you Berger man and made toys for kids anyway! HELLO! Or else ummm per Karen’s mom there was a kind bishop named Saint Nicholas who wanted to tell people about Christ. Not everyone liked this, so Saint Nicholas was put in jail. He was even kinder when he left prison and there were all sorts of stories about how Saint Nicholas was especially kind to children. Over the years the stories have changed and people in different countries believe different things. Karen is all ” we know Santa lives in the North Pole with Rudolph right Mommy?” Yeah shut up Karen. Then Nancy tells Karen more about Hannukah- like about driedel games and lighting the menorah each night. During the lighting of the menorah, the family says Jewish blesssings and they sing songs in Hebrew. The driedel says four different words that mean “a great miracle happened there.” Nancy’s favorite driedel game is that you put six nuts or raisins in the center. If the top points to nun it means ” nothing” so you get nothing. Gimmel means everything so you take all the nuts or raisins. Heh means you take half, and shin means you add to the pile. Whoever has the most nuts or raisins wins. One also eats potato latkes at Hannukah. We then hear that Karen will be able to spend the last night of Hannukah with Nancy’s family, and Nancy will spend Christmas with Karen’s family. Dibbly fresh.
Karen is making a Christmas list when Watson calls. He has some bad news. Nannie developed a staph infection and has a sore throat and fever and has to be in the hospital until she feels better. Watson is not sure if Nannie will be home for Christmas. Karen is not too happy with this development. Karen is upset about Nannie but still excited for Christmas. Karen watches Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and is counting down the days.
Karen, Andrew, Nancy and Hannie get a snow day!!! They all play in the snow together and Karen learns Nancy got two books for the first night of Hannukah but thankfully not the Bobbsey Twins book. It’s now the eighth night of Hannukah in the next chapter. Nancy, her parents, and Grandma B are all at Nancy’s house with Karen. Grandma B is Nancy’s adopted grandma ( see my recap on ” Karen’s Grandmothers” for more info). Nancy’s parents, Nancy and Grandma B sing songs in Hebrew as the light the menorah. Nancy and Karen play a driedel game and Nancy wins three times. Nancy also gives Karen and driedel for her and Andrew to play at home. Nancy got a lot of gifts at Hannukah- Baby Grow a Tooth, Nintendo games, and a skirt. Karen got two gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Dawes as well- barettes for Karen’s hair, and ribbons. Karen gives Nancy her present at Nancy just stares at it- Karen hopes nothing is wrong with the book! Then Karen and Nancy both get gelt- those chocolate coins- yummm. And Hannukah is over.
It’s Christmas Eve and Karen is bummed because when she gets to the big house, Nannie won’t be there. Karen only had one darn Christmas wish and it didn’t come true. Karen and Andrew admire the tree when after awhile, Elizabeth says she’s going on a ” secret mission.” What can it be?
Daddy and Elizabeth bring Nannie home! Now, I am sorry but for an elderly person that breaks her hip- she’d need rehab. And would probably be in a nursing home at least short term. I doubt she’d come home right after being in the hospital. But now it means Karen’s wish comes true and Nannie is home from the hospital! After the family has a dinner of clam chowder and turkey, Karen reads ” the Night Before Christmas” to the family and then Watson reads the Christmas story from the Bible. Elizabeth makes hot cocoa as the big house family goes to open their gifts. Karen got lots of books and Baby Grow A Tooth. Nannie even made Andrew a hat and Karen leg warmers that she made while in the hospital. Karen then writes a note to Santa from Andrew, Emily and Karen and leaves Santa cookies.
It’s Christmas at 6:30 am! Karen and Andrew open their stockings and they have candy, small toys and walnuts in them. The big house family opens all of their gifts. Boo Boo goes nuts over catnip he received. The family eats Christmas coffee cake for breakfast. Then, Karen and Andrew are due to leave to celebrate Christmas with the little house family. As Karen gets to her house, Nancy comes running holding a present that looks VERY familiar to Karen.
At Karen’s house, Karen’s mom has a stocking for Nancy and Nancy is very excited. Karen said having a driedel made her excited as well. Karen got clothes, books and a game called Sorry, plus her art kit ( BTW I love the game Sorry). Then Karen opens her gift from Nancy- know why it’s familiar? Admittedly this is sort of cool- Nancy got Karen the SAME Bobbsey Twins book! Best friends think alike and they agree it’s been the best Hannukah and best Christmas ever! Karen then makes a Christmas list for next year as she never made one this year- yeah seh got interrupted with Watson’s call about Nannie.
Karen wishes for all of her family to be healthy for next year, to celebrate Hannukah with Nancy, everyone in her two families to be home for Christmas, no more plane crashes, bombs or wars, for everyone in the world to have homes to live in, for Ricky Torres to propose to Karen ( well Karen THAT wish comes true- see ” Karen’s In Love!!” ) and for three Madame Alexander dolls. The back of this book has holiday games that Karen loves for you to try! Joy.
Tomorrow, if not by the end of the week at the latest, I will be recapping a Christmas themed Sweet Valley Kids book. Then for next week it will be ” Sweet Valley High Super Special- Special ( or Sucky) Christmas.” After that book is recapped, I will be back by the end of 2009 to recap BSC #50- Dawn’s Big Date! And the first book of the new year- look forward to THIS in 2010- Sweet Valley Twins #42, Jessica’s Secret!
Oh wow, wow, wow, where do I begin in terms of discussing this shitty, anti- feminist, self esteem crushing book? Well, to begin as I recap ” Power Play” I am chowing down on raw cookie dough, probably soon ballooning to the size of ” chubby- no MORE than chubby” Robin Wilson. You see I don’t care.
Now if you will remember, Robin Wilson is the overweight girl from ” Power Play” that is new to Sweet Valley and worships the ground Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield walk on. Robin’s dream is to join Pi Beta Alpha, the exclusive SVH sorority. Elizabeth is a member in ” name only” as we are reminded many times throughout the series, and considers the PBA’s to be shallow, materialistic snobs. Jessica is the president of PBA this year because some chick moved. Robin is convinced that since Jessica is her ” best friend” and the president, Jessica is sure to nominate her to join Pi Beta Alpha. Elizabeth is not too sure of this. Robin comes over to the Wakefield home loaded down with Jess’s dry cleaning, and then says that since Jessica is always so busy she may ” forget” to nominate Robin, so she asks Liz if she would so. Liz readily agrees as she feels Pi Beta needs a nicer image, and because Robin is just so nice and really smart ( yep so smart that she aches to be friends with Jessica Wakefield) and what does it matter that Robin is chubby- well MORE than chubby? And that condescending two faced bitch Elizabeth is all repulsed watching Robin chow down 2 big candy bars. Remember, kids, in Francine P’s world girls are only fat because they eat sweets ALL THE TIME- unless they are Jessica and Liz Wakefield- now these two perfect size six Cali blondes can eat at the Dairi Burger and Casey’s Place daily but they are so blessed and perfect that they keep gorgeous figures- and let’s not forget they frolic in the California sunshine and play hours of tennis as well. Though I neve remember hearing that Liz actually PLAYED a tennis game- they talk about it but has Liz ever actually played? Ah I digress.
Jessica is LIVID when Elizabeth nominates Robin to be a Pi Beta Alpha pledge. Elizabeth tells Jessica that she has to support it because gosh Jessica and Robin are totes best friends, right? And Jessica does like having an errand girl around! Jessica, Lila and Cara decide that Robin is not going to exactly have an easy time of pledging the sorority because no overweight girls can be in sororities dontcha know. So Jess, Lila and Cara decide that Robin’s first pledge task will be that she must run around the Sweet Valley High track while wearing shorts. As Robin huffs and puffs, Bruce Patman is hanging around calling Robin all kinds of names and Robin is humilated. Liz and Todd watch this debacle but Liz does nothing to stop Jessica or anything. Robin still doesn’t get that Jessica totally doesn’t want Robin to join PBA she just figures all of the girls have to do hard pledge tasks. Why is this now having shades of Sweet Valley Twins #1 Best Friends? Remember that it also featured a fat girl ( Lois Waller) and Lois was as eager to please as Robin, and Lois wasn’t trying to be a Unicorn but Lila wanted Liz to put shaving cream in Lois’s sundae to well humilate a fat girl! UGH
Next, Jessica and her evil bitch cronies have Robin wear a bikini to the beach. Of course Robin’s 2 piece yellow bathing suit is very unflattering and doesn’t fit well, but Elizabeth and Todd take Robin to the beach and allow her to play volleyball with them, and Robin has some fun. Then Elizabeth thinks about how Jessica never has to worry about how she looks at the beach because her body is so damn perfect, and Jessica should think about the poor suffering fatties at the beach.
Robin comes crying to Elizabeth one day. Jessica wants Robin to do the IMPOSSIBLE- she wants Robin to ask BRUCE PATMAN to the big dance!!!! Bruce would NEVER go with Robin and now Robin can NEVER have tea parties and participate in literacy fundraisers and keg parties with frat dudes with the other Pi Beta gals!!!! Robin is devestated and can’t believe her ” best friend” would want her to do something soooo hard to prove herself. Because Liz wants to prove some point and beat Jessica, and not really because she likes Robin, Elizabeth decides to sort of blackmail Bruce to get Bruce to take Robin to the dance. Liz promises to write a very flattering article about Bruce in the Oracle if he will accompany Robin to the dance. Bruce agrees, and Robin is damn thrilled. What I don’t get- remember how in ” Playing with Fire” Robin has the absolute hots for Winston Egbert? ( or ” the warms” as Boner from Growing Pains would say). Why wouldn’t Jessica just have Robin ask Winston? I mean wasn’t it common knowledge at SVH that Winston doesn’t like Robin because she’s a fatty? Well, I guess because Bruce is just so sexy, it’d be harder to get Bruce to take a tank butt to the dance.
Because Liz is stupid as fuck, it never occurs to her that Bruce would humilate Robin at the school dance. GUESS WHAT??? Bruce takes Robin onto the dance floor- and again students CLEAR the dance floor for Robin and Bruce- and Bruce says ” OK I took the whale to the dance. Who wants to sail the Queen Mary now, folks” and walks off and leaves Robin standing. And this is after Robin wore her hair up and wore a ” tent dress that was prettier than usual!!” Robin runs out of the dance, but not before Liz gets Allan Walters, he of the ” I date the girls who are all downtrodden when Sir Rich Boy dumps them, and I swoop in to save them” see SVH #37 Rumors) to run after Robin. Allan does, and realizes that Robin is actually sort of pretty. Robin and Allan talk about old movies, and even dance for awhile. Robin thinks Allan is sort of cute too.
After the horrid dance, it is time to vote on who will actually be let into Pi Beta Alpha. Everyone is obviously going to vote for Robin because ” no one crosses a Wakefield” and Jess and Robin are best friends- wow the PBA’s are this fuckin dumb? Well…………. I guess someone out there doesn’t like Robin too much despite ” not crossing a Wakefield” because Robin gets BLACKBALLED a la Steve Sanders! Every girl wonders who would blackball Robin aka Jessica’s bestie!!! Jessica doesn’t seem too upset. After hearing this news from Jess, Lila and Cara, Robin is wicked despondent. Robin is pretty much on the brink of suicide and ” goes away” for awhile per Robin’s mom, who decides to keep calling Elizabeth to tell her the girls at SVH are so snotty and mean, and all Robin wants is to be popular. I really don’t get how Mrs. Wilson decided to be besties with Liz of all people.
Robin does return to SVH and with a VENGEANCE! Liz starts to notice that Robin is running the track willingly on her own every morning and afternoon. Robin always looks determined and ” steely” now and tells Elizabeth not getting to be in PBA has given her new resolve. Robin is now seen eating only lettuce leaves and no fat yogurt in the cafeteria and in the matter in about oh 2 weeks Robin has lost TONS of weight and looks totally sexy. She wears tight jeans and sweaters and the boys are all GAGA over Robin now, especially Bruce Patman.
Apparently, as soon as a woman loses weight she gets INSTANTLY athletic. Bullshit Francine- I was a size FOUR in high school and fucking hated sports and barely got a C in gym, OK? Robin joins the cheerleading squad and is instantly made co-captain- alongside JESSICA!!!! Then, we hear that there is a Miss Sweet Valley pageant- I believe Miss Sweet Valley basically just waves a lot during halftime at football games. A lot of girls want to be Miss Sweet Valley, but Robin starts saying that the PBA’s only want their girls to enter the pageant and it’s not right. Anti PBA people start really rallying for Robin to win, which irks Jess to DEATH as Jessica is convinced that SHE should be Miss Sweet Valley because she has pretty much given hand jobs to every member of the SVH football team and she wears tight Jordache jeans. It’s the day of the pageant, and half the football team has signs that say ” Robin has us THROBBIN!!” SWEAR TO GOD! THROBBIN??? UMMM WHY? And the other half of the team- I guess the guys who came after a Jessica W handy- have signs that say ” Jessica is Just Right!” Mr. Cooper announces the winner- ROBIN WILSON!!!! Jessica is steamed, and in an ending that would make any teen movie proud, Bruce Patman asks if Robin wants him to accompany her in the procession for Miss Sweet Valley. Robin pwns Bruce and is like ” no way” and has ALLAN WALTERS drive with her in Bruce’s Porsche after he offers to take Robin in it!!! So Robin Wilson goes from fat, unpopular, nerdy and a pathetic wimp to a hard bodied cheerleader who makes boys ” throb” but her heart only belongs to Allan Walters- at least until SVH #20. 
Incidentally, Cara, Li and Jess are disgusted when they go to Robin’s house to say she can be a a pledge because Robin offers to make them milkshakes and says she has ice cream sandwiches. Shit, this girl is a great fuckin host- wish Robin was MY best friend.
So what lessons does Power Play teach us? If you are a fat girl, you are NOTHING! Jerry McAllister can be fat and popular ( well he was in the Sweet Valley Twins series) but a fat girl- she is NOTHING. Your self esteem will ONLY increase if you lose weight, wear tight Jordache jeans ( or I guess now you’d be wearing tight Abercrombie or Bebe jeans), and have every boy in school wanting to do you. If you are smart that’s not good enough unless you are also thin like Elizabeth. If you are smart and MORE THAN CHUBBY, you suck- you such so bad in fact that not even Winston Egbert wants you. We also learn that both Jess and Liz Wakefield are CUNTS- Jessica is the more obvious cunt by humilating Robin for no reason and using her to run errands, plus the fact that she assumes she will win everything all the fucking time, and she’s a cocktease and a half- but Elizabeth is not exactly Miss Sweet if you think about it. I mean Bruce Patman making fun of Robin was the ultimate humilation, and Elizabeth made that date happen- and not really because she wanted to help Robin, it was more to prove a point. And Jessica does call her out on that! Plus, Liz is the one who keeps thinking that Robin needs to stop stuffing her face and how it’s a such a shame how a smart girl with a ” pretty face” is so fat. And of course we also learn that fat girls only wear tent dresses- NO FLATTERING CLOTHES FOR FAT GIRLS! JUST MUMUS! God, what a piece of crap this book was- I am so glad I never read this as a kid because my self esteem sucked ass in middle school as it was- though gee I was THIN- the last thing I would need was to read this book on top of it! Reading about how Melanie Edwards was fat and worthless, and then was only cool when she lost weight, was bad enough! And shit why wasn’t I cool back then- I was thin after all!!! Ahhhh doesn’t matter now….
And does anyone wonder if Robin ever gets to join PBA? Well once Robin wins Miss Sweet Valley, Lila, Cara and Jessica practically BEG her to join and Robin is all ” fuck you, bitches.” This leads us to believe Robin is now ” empowered”. Right…… oh Robin Wilson you are really such a horrid character and it’s not fair to you. I want to be able to LOVE you. SIGH!
Speaking of horrid characters, I am recapping ” Karen’s Wish” next in honor of Christmas!! I should be getting to that next week- I am really busy and have a jam packed weekend coming up this week, so it’s gotta be next week- maybe Tuesday. I will also try to get to the Snooper special from Sweet Valley Kids that is also Christmas themed- I read it just last night it is a pretty cute story! Sort of ” Santa Clause” ish- but good.
Yes I know, I know- I am back already. Well I am not really prepared to discuss more of my personal life I will just say that things are great, great great in that area and I don’t want to say why or anything at this point. I just want all of you to know that I am doing much better and I do thank everyone for the support.
I had planned to do this full, long recap of ” Playing with Fire” but fuck it I am not motivated enough do that especially as this damn book contained 2 subplots and one was especially stupid and I don’t feel like fully recapping it.
Now as a kid, I never read SVH books 1-6. I am not rsure why- maybe because I started the series at Book 41 and not book 1 like I did with so many other series? So I didn’t realize how very stupid- yet totally 80’s and so craptacular they rock- early SVH books were. And Sweet Valley Twins books were great in the beginning so with SVH being soo.. well OK let me finally get to the recap of this book!
First of all- the cover. Jess and Bruce both look to be about 35 years of age. Bruce has the whole sweater tied ’round the shoulders thing going on- hot. Jessica looks all smug and ” aww yeah I got my man” and Bruce looks even more smug- and strangely like John Travolta- as he has Jessica in, like, a half chokehold.
So we begin this book by learning that Jessica has been trying to land Bruce Patman FOREVER but he doesn’t pay her any mind. Bruce has dated Lila and Cara briefly and many other nameless blondes, brunettes and redheads, but won’t give Jess a taste of the Patman dick and Jessica is all ” Blanche Devereaux and Ham Lushbaum ” about life and is all ” Bruce is the one man I can’t conquer- the ONE!” but it’s even more than that- Jessica has a major, major crush on Bruce Patman and just HAS to have him as her boyfriend.
The book starts at some big school dance. Jessica is Homecoming Queen and Winston is the king so for some asinine reason Winston and Jessica have to go to every dance together. Winston has a huge crush on Jessica, as he has forever, and Jessica knows this, but she ignores Winston the whole night. BUT- Bruce Patman FINALLY notices Jessica and decides he MUST dance with her as she’s the best dancer in school ( by the way Liz Wakefield is almost as good a dancer of course just in a less sexy way) and he wants to win the dance contest. Everyone else CLEARS the dance floor ” Teen Witch ” style ( God I hope that song ” The Finest Hour” was playing) to watch Jessica and Bruce dance because they are that good.
From the dance on, Bruce and Jessica are the hottest couple at SVH. Jessica skips tons of her classes to make out with Bruce during school. And I guess we readers are to believe Jess never skipped school till Bruce came along? Elizabeth is worried as Jessica has started to totally change in personality to please Bruce- she lets Bruce win at tennis as not to damage his male ego, she starts shopping at stores that sound like Chico’s instead of her usual sexy Forever 21 like clothing because Bruce prefers a more conservative style of dressing, and Jessica has stopped going to cheerleading practice because Bruce doesn’t like Jess to be hanging around those ” fat cows. ” Jessica waits by the phone nightly for Bruce to call instead of hanging with friends, and no matter what time Bruce calls, Jessica is right there to see him at a moment’s notice. Elizabeth gets even MORE worried when guys like John Pfeiffer and Ken Matthews start saying that Bruce is telling all the guys that Jess ” will let Bruce get as far as he wants” and that all Jessica and Bruce do is go to Miller’s Point- Bruce never takes her anywhere. Elizabeth finds that hard to believe as Elizabeth would never believe that Jess isn’t a pure virgin ( hey it IS Sweet Valley- do Alice and Ned even fuck?) and Jessica always expects boys to wine and dine her and Bruce is so rich. Elizabeth tries talking to Jess a couple of times about how Bruce is controlling and manipulative but Jessica refuses to hear it. And yes this is the book where Bruce ties off Jessica’s bikini top- and where Bruce ” kisses Jessica hard, his mouth demanding what his body wanted to take.” So Bruce wanted to date rape Jessica? Ugh.
So yeah really it’s sort of sad that Jessica is letting some guy be so douchy toward her but she’s just so in love she has complete blinders on when it comes to Bruce, no matter what Lila, Cara or Liz try to say. Jessica is failing chemistry, so her grand plan (well Bruce’s) is to get a copy of Mr. Russo’s chem test from last year as he GIVES THE SAME TEST EVERY YEAR ( we see where this is going) make Robin Wilson put a copy of the test in Emily Mayer’s locker ( they also have plots later on believe me) and then Jessica blackmails Emily by saying Jess best be able to copy off Emily or Jessica will tell Russo Emily stole a copy of the test- and besides since Emily has been practicing with the Droids tons lately ( do ya think Verizon named their new phone after the Droids BTW? seriously, what are your thoughts?) and hasn’t really had time for studying so a copy of the test would SURE come in handy, huh???? Well on the day of the test Jessica and Emily both fail because naturally it turns that Russo changed the test this year. So Jessica tells Bruce she really has to buckle down and study or her parents will kill her for failing chemistry, but Bruce couldn’t care less. He’s all ” oh school is more important than me, baby?”
Jessica FINALLY sees that Bruce is a dickhead the night of Bruce’s 18th birthday party. Bruce makes it seem initially that he and Jessica will be alone together for Bruce’s birthday and they will have dinner at the country club. Well instead Bruce is having a HUGE party at the country club with all of his friends. Bruce ignores Jessica for the whole party and dances with every other girl but Jess, but Jessica still doesn’t see that Bruce is a jerk. At Guido’s Pizza Palace afterward, Elizabeth concocts a plan to get Jessica to see what scum Bruce is. Bruce claims that he has to leave Guido’s early because his grandma is sick. Todd and Liz offer to take Jess home and Bruce doesn’t object. Elizabeth thinks Bruce is up to something so on the way to the Wakefield home Liz pretends she forgot something at Guido’s so they have to go back there. Well, when they return, Bruce is at Guido’s snuggling with some redhead!!! Jessica is FUMING!!! Jessica dumps a whole pitcher of soda all over Bruce’s head and gets her comeuppance. I do have to love that Bruce being an emotionally abusive a-hole and controlling wasn’t what took Jessica over the edge- it was Bruce cheating on her. Sadly that can be typical at times even in real life. I do love that scene though- and it means the old Jessica is back!!!
OK on to the stupid subplots. The night of the school dance, some random band manager is at the dance and spots te Droids. He keeps telling them they are really talented and he will get them all these gigs in LA and a record contract. Instead, the Droids play at these wicked dingy clubs and never get the exposure they thought they’d get. And the band members are constantly arguing with each other because Guy Chesney is the one who initially is always talking to this manager, and Max, Dan and Emily wonder when the hell the band will get good gigs. Then we learn that Guy has quite the crush on Dana Larson and flips because the band manager keeps calling Dana instead of Guy. Well turns out this band manager had been fired from where he said he worked, and he only wanted to get in Dana’s pants. And during this whole thing, Elizabeth wants to do an article on the Droids, and for some reason in this book and in this book only Emily and Elizabeth are super close buddies.
The other subplot- a rather long lead in to the 4th book in the series, Power Play. Robin Wilson is the new fat girl in town who wear s tent dresses and is convinced she and Jessica Wakefield are best friends because Jess allows Robin to get her dry cleaning. Robin REALLY wants to be a member of Pi Beta Alpha and will do anything to join. That is why Robin was more than willing to put that copy of the chem test into Emily’s locker. Robin also has a huge crush on Winston ( not at all mentioned in Power Play) but Winston doesn’t like Robin because she eats too much for his taste and he doesn’t like girls that eat too much. Shit, then you would hate me, Winston. He also feels Robin is too eager to please, though it seems Winston often acts that way himself. Winston is none too pleased when one night Todd and Liz invite Robin to come along to a dingy club to see the Droids. Robin is all trying to chat with Winston and he ignores her. Besides, he’s still pining for Jessica. Wow half this book is all- Robin hearts Winston. But Winston hearts Jess. But Jess hearts Bruce Patman. Bruce hearts 1 Bruce 1. Guy Chesney hearts Dana but she doesn’t notice he’s alive. UGH
At the end of this book, Robin tells Elizabeth that Jessica has promised to put up Robin’s name at the next sorority meeting so that Robin can become a pledge of PBA. Elizabeth really doubts this as more than once Jessica has told Liz how Robin is way too chubby to ever fit into the exclusive sorority. WHY DOES A HIGH SCHOOL HAVE A SORORITY? And soooo….. we will get Power Play!
I am going to try to recap Power Play tomorrow if I am up to it, because it probably won’t take that long- so many other bloggers have recapped the book that I don’t feel I have to write a whole bunch on it. But I will definitely have to write about because Goddamn that book is fuckin classic.
And by early next week I will start the Xmas book series- the books I will be writing on in celebration of Christmas are ” Karen’s Wish” from BSC Little Sister, Sweet Valley Kids Super Snooper ” The Case of the Secret Santa” and SVH Super Special ” Special Christmas.” And for New Year’s I am going to be recapping ” Dawn’s Big Date!” – another fuckin classic. Also coming up soon- well most likely in early 2010- Sweet Valley Twins #68 The Middle School Gets Married, SVT #42 Jessica’s Big Secret, Freshman Dorm #20 Freshman Affair, and BSC #87 Stacey and the Bad Girls. I also do plan to recap more Sleepover Friends books in the coming year! Stay tuned! I don’t plan to close this blog for QUITE awhile- and now sad face- no more ” Sheep Are In” blog 
I grew to LOVE that particular blog! I am so glad we still have BSC Snark and BSC Chronologically!!!) I hate when YA bloggers leave us I really do!
And in closing- this is for YOU Jessica Wakefield and Brucie Patman!!
Well today I had every intention of recapping ” Playing with Fire.” But instead I came home to being dumped via email by my boyfriend of one fuckin year. Yep. Soooo I am pretty much hurting a lot right now and don’t have it in me to do any recaps. I may be on ” hiatus” for about a week but I may be back sooner we will see. But the recaps of both ” Playing with Fire” and ” Power Play” will be forthcoming just not right away. Hope you understand.
There is really not much to this book. Kate is going to the famous ” city” for the weekend with the video club for a project. The other Sleepover Friends tease Kate because her crush, Taylor Sprouse, will be there and Taylor is this sixth grader who thinks his shit don’t stink, and he really adores himself. He also always wears bandannas and all black clothing. Lauren, Patti and Steph are very excited because this weekend, while Kate will be gone, Bitsy invited them to sleep over at her big farm house with the basement full of gym equiptment ( Bitsy’s two brothers Biff and Bill- yes these people named their kids BIFF AND BITSY!!- are on the high school wrestling team and have to work a lot) and a hot tub, and Bitsy’s mom makes a great German chocolate cake.
Lauren, Patti and Stephanie go on and on about how fun Bitsy’s house will be, as Kate says that she feels she’s sort of boring and Stephanie and Lauren are kind of like ” well that’s you Kate- steady and predictable.”
Well when Kate comes back from her weekend trip ( and yes per Lauren Bitsy’s sleepover is amazing) there starts a plot that is completely recycled from the Sleepover Friends book ” Patti’s New Look” which was my favorite one as a kid but I don’t have that one now. For a recap on that book go to my links under ” Sleepover Friends Forever”- Zanne recapped it long ago, and I hate wheat at Dairi Burger may have as well. Basically, Kate returns to school wearing ripped jeans and off the shoulder sweatshirts, saying things like ” totally, man” and ” boss” and being sort of aloof and acting like she’s too cool for Stephanie, Patti and Lauren. Lauren thinks maybe Kate is upset because Taylor Sprouse has been seen hanging out with the prettiest sixth grader in school, Carly Anson, a lot. They are also a little confused because Kate had claimed Taylor would totally be at the Video Club trip and when Kate was away for the weekend, Stephanie saw Taylor at the mall.
The girls have to do their clown act complete with a videotape of the performance for Mrs. Wainwright’s niece- Mrs. Wainwright is the principal of the school. They do a birthday party for another little boy the day before and Kate keeps shooting at weird angles and even shooting from the floor- you can almost see up a boy’s nose in one shot! Stephanie is completely freaked because she thinks if Mrs. Wainwright hears about this awful tape she may cancel the clowns! Well it turns out this other boy’s mom loved Kate’s weird videotaping techniques, because the way she filmed it’s as if the kids were floating in space and it was a spaced themed party. So Mrs. Wainwright WANTS Kate to film the party the same way for her niece’s party.
Well, long story short, Kate knew that Taylor liked Carly, and she’s fine with it. The kids at Video Club did see a movie that Taylor filmed but Taylor was not on the trip. Kate wanted to get a new look and attitude because she felt she was too boring ( just like Patti did!) and predictable. Once Lauren, Patti and Stephanie say they adored Kate just as she was, Kate goes back to being her old self.
I cannot believe Susan Saunders used the same plot twice in her books! Did she ever have ghostwriters write these Sleepover Friends books? Does anyone know?
Sorry this was so short if anyone is upset but there really wasn’t much to this book and wow to me after about Book 20 the Sleepover Friends really started to suck.
Stay tuned- early next week I have every intention of COMPLETELY recapping ” Playing With Fire” – ya know the great book where Jessica is GAGA and I mean GAGA over Bruce Patman!
I had every intention of doing a full recap of this book. But then I realized time is sort of the essence as I want to recap a few more books before getting to my December YA novel Xmas bonanza, and I don’t really have much time this week for blogging so in that regard I am just really going to summarize this book and give my impressions.
Elizabeth is over at Amy’s house one night working on a big science project. Amy asks Liz to sleep over so they can put some finishing touches on the project but Mrs. Wakefield says no because the family hasn’t had dinner together in a long time and Mrs. Wakefield wants the Wakefield clan to go to the Valley Inn for dinner. The next morning at school, Caroline Pearce keeps talking about how there was a big fire at Amy’s house but Elizabeth keeps telling Caroline she knows nothing about any fire at Amy’s house. When Elizabeth gets home, she finds out that Amy is there- and will be staying for awhile- because there was a big fire at Amy’s house and the whole house burned down. Amy also broke her arm because when Amy was running out of the house to escape from the fire, Amy tripped over her shoelace. Amy is really embarassed about the fact that she broke her arm by tripping over her shoelace, so when the Unicorn Club comes over asking Amy how she broke her arm, Amy tells this huge lie and claims she broke her arm jumping out of a window and landing on a net wrong. Amy also claims she was surrounded by tons of smoke and had a very narrow escape, but none of that is true. Amy loves the attention that the Unicorns are now giving Amy because Amy is the talk of the school due to the fire, so Amy goes on and on about her narrow escape from the fire, and Amy chooses to always hang out with the Unicorns rather than with Elizabeth. As Amy is basking in the glow of Unicorn attention and makeovers ( Lila and Jessica decide to lend Amy tons of purple clothes as Amy lost a lot of clothes in the fire, and braid her hair and put some makeup on her) Amy either completely ignores Liz or always orders her around. In one scene, Elizabeth is having lunch with Julie, Sophia and Nora and Amy makes Liz stop having lunch to get a book out of Amy’s locker as Amy can’t do some things for herself due to having her arm broken. But even as Amy’s arm is healing and she can do more things for herself, she still wants Elizabeth to always do it for her. Amy also refuses to help Elizabeth on the science project ( that burned in the fire) and Elizabeth gets so frustrated she decides to just do the project alone. Amy keeps slacking off on schoolwork to hang out with the Unicorns and her teachers are getting frustrated.
We get a lot of Amy’s introspection in this novel- we will hear about Amy bitchery, followed by her innermost thoughts. Amy, you see, is convinced that she started the fire ( oh Amy you didn’t start the fire it was always burning as the world’s been turning- OK sorry) because Amy had started a fire in the fireplace before the fire, and dumped the ashes in a bag and didn’t dispose of them properly. Amy is constantly terrified that her parents will find out that Amy caused the fire. Amy also feels a little uncomfy about ditching Liz and her other friends for the Unicorns,but she does love the attention she is getting. Amy also cries a lot at night but tries to choke back her tears, and is really upset over losing her house. I would guess that based on Amy having a lot of flashbacks over the fire, crying at night, and turning against Elizabeth to be with the Unicorns, Amy may have some post traumatic stress disorder but of course Amy never gets therapy for this. It doesn’t sound like her parents do either even though it seems Amy’s parents are very distraught too. And I have to love that the Sutton parents stay with other relatives and just dump Amy off on the Wakefields. They barely even seem to see Amy while they are living in different houses.
One day Amy really freaks out when Mrs. Sutton says that the i nsurance company is coming back with the report of how the fire happened- Amy is convinced her parents will know the truth and will never forgive her for the loss of their house. Amy is also not really digging hanging out with the Unicorns anymore, because the Unicorns start to ignore Amy in favor of Brooke Dennis- Brooke’s dad is a major Hollywood screenwriter and is having this big party where he’s inviting the cast of the movie Car Capers. Mr. Dennis is celebrating the great job Alice Wakefield did designing his home, basically, and wants to show off his Spanish tile. The Unicorns all really want to be invited so they totally all over Brooke and kissing her ass. Lila, Ellen and Jessica go shopping at the mall with Amy to get Amy new clothes and Jessica is a little peeved because instead of wanting to help Amy ( Jess feels that Amy staying at Jessica’s house makes her more popular in front of the Unicorns) Lila and Ellen want to help Brooke buy decorations and food for Mr. Dennis’ party. Amy also gets annoyed because Lila and Ellen keep suggesting that Amy buy dressy clothes and shop at designer stores. After Amy realizes that Elizabeth was right and the Unicorns were only paying attention to Amy because she was the big story at school, Amy decides to make up with Elizabeth and tells Liz her fears about the fire. Amy is soon relieved because Mrs. Sutton calls and says the fire was caused by really old, faulty wiring not anything that Amy did. The book ends with Jessica telling Amy and Elizabeth that Ellen is entering a horse riding competition and is determined to win. And I thought Lila was the one with the horse?
So as usual in Sweet Valley world, a character has something traumatic happen to her, and no one ever thinks that she should get some therapy or even talk to a school social worker. I bet Sweet Valley kids are so awesome that they don’t even need a school social worker, despite all of the murders and kidnappings among the Sweet Valley teen population.
As a kid, I sort of liked this book but I wasn’t really even an Amy Sutton fan back then ( though I preferred Sweet Valley Twins Amy to SVH Amy for sure) so I didn’t read this book that much. I do love the cover and how Amy’s cast is covered with purple drawings of Unicorns, and Amy has total bitch face. It’s almost a preview to bitchy SVH Amy.
Well, only a few more books until my December Christmas spectacular- Sleepover Friends #26 the New Kate, SVH #3 Playing with Fire, and SVH #13 Kidnapped ( aka another example of an SVH character who never gets therapy despite being fuckin kidnapped- it’’s barely even ever mentioned again!!)
And congrats to the Chick Manifesto for picking me as one of the winners of the Flowers in the Attic/Petals in the Wind book! I am so excited to receive it!!
Happy Thanksgiving one and all as I doubt I will be posting anything before then. I will try to get to ” The New Kate” by Sunday or Monday of next week.
Mrs.Mead has announced that there will be a fifth grade talent show. Karla Stamos, the boring girl who wears all brown, wants to do a ballet dance. Mark Freedman says he will play drums. Lauren is reading a magazine article about her favorite TV actor, Kevin DeSpain, and then she realizes that Stephanie has said that she, Stephanie, Patti and Kate will be in the talent show! Lauren tells Stephanie after class that she can’t believe that Stephanie would tell Mrs. Mead that the four girls will be in the talent show! Lauren bets that Stephanie wants to be in the talent show to impress Steven Gitten, the boy she likes. Lauren says that the Sleepover Friends have no talent, and Stephanie suggests the four of them can dance and lip synch to a record and they can even call themselves the Four Aces. It’s Friday so there will be a sleepover at Kate’s and they will be having Mexican food. Stephanie will bring over some tapes so that they can pick a song to lip sync to. Or synch? I dunno.
Stephanie is late to Kate’s sleepover party because Stephanie said her parents are whispering and acting weird and she wanted to have dinner with them to see what was going on. When Stephanie arrives, she says that her parents refused to tell her what is going on and she’s worried. They have been whispering a lot in the past week or so, and clam up when Stephanie walks into a room. Lauren asks if the girls remember a movie they saw 2 weeks ago about a man who had lost his job. Stephanie decides that her father may have lost his job and that’s the big secret. He had a big meeting at work last week, and that is around the time her parents started whispering all the time. Stephanie then tells Patti, Lauren and Kate that they are going to find out for sure that Stephanie’s dad lost her job. In the movie, the father would pretend to go to work and really stay at the library all day so his family wouldn’t know he lost his job. So Stephanie says on Monday, the girls are going to follow her father when he leaves the house to see where he is REALLY going! During the sleepover, a song is picked for the talent show- ” Wanna Be Your Girl” by the Polka Dots. Then the girls listen to the request hour and find out that Jenny Carlin, the Sleepover Friends’ answer to Laura McCall of the Fabulous Five or Becky Dyson from the Gymnasts, dedicated a song to Steven Gitten! The girls then decide that to find out for sure, they are going to prank call Jenny and pretend to be Steven’s third grade sister Marcy and ” Marcy” will be asking Jenny if she, in fact, dedicated a song to Steven. Lauren decides to play Marcy, but Jenny knows it’s the Sleepover Friends calling and not Marcy Gitten, and then Jenny says ” I don’t get mad- I get EVEN!!”
The Sleepover Friends leave the house Monday at 8 am, all telling their parents they had to get to school early. Stephanie’s father usually leaves for work at 8:15 so that is when they are going to start trying to follow him. Lauren hopes that following Mr. Green won’t make them late for school, or else they all have to eat lunch in the principal’s office. Long story short- the girls follow Stephanie’s dad to a bank, where he is taking out a big loan! Stephanie is convinced that Mr. Green taking out a big loan means that he needs money because he lost his job. The girls decide to try to find ways to help Stephanie raise money to give to her dad. They decide to enter tons of contests where they could win things or money – I guess so if they won stuff they could sell it and give the profits to the Greens??? They also decide that Stephanie could hold a yard sale. The girls end up being late to school and having to eat in the principal’s office after Jenny Carlin apparently told Mrs. Mead that she saw the Sleepover Friends bike right past school. I guess that is how Jenny gets even.
The yard sale will be at Kate’s house on Saturday. On Tuesday, Patti and Lauren look through magazines and enter bunches of contests. Meanwhile, Kate and Stephanie are at Stephanie’s looking through things Stephanie can sell. Stephanie ends up wanting to sell some of the new clothes she got in ” the city” and her black, red and white leather jacket! Lauren loves that jacket, and Stephanie ends up selling it to her for 20 bucks. We learn that it fits Lauren because even though Lauren is tall- Stephanie is ummm wide?? and that is how the jacket fits Lauren. No wonder Stephanie always worries about weight with Lauren calling her wide and what not! Patti and Kate buy 2 more clothing items from Steph. Lauren, Kate and Patti are going to sell things for the yard sale too in order to help the Greens. By the end of the week, some boys in Lauren’s class like Mark Freedman and Larry Jackson are going to sell things at a table at the yard sale, and so is Donald Foster, as well as Kate’s sister Melissa and a friend of Melissa’s.
The tag sale Saturday is a huge success for all and the clothes are selling quickly, especially Stephanie’s. Suddenly, Mrs. Beekman, Kate’s mom, and Lauren’s mom Mrs. Hunter ( Mrs. Beekman’s first name is Barbara and Mrs. Hunter’s is Ann so you kn0w) notice that the clothes Stephanie is selling look very new, and they get very suspicious. Mrs. Hunter asks Lauren if Mrs. Green knows that Stephanie is selling new clothes and Lauren says yes but the parents aren’t buying it. Mrs. Green comes over when Mrs. Beekman calls her, and Mrs. Green notices that Stephanie’s closet are half empty!!! Mrs. Green demands to know why and says if Steph needed money she could ask her parents and Stephanie says she was trying to help because Mr. Green lost his job! Mrs. Green says no way, and says she was going to tell Stephanie the secret that night but she may as well say it now- Mr. and Mrs. Green are expecting a BABY! Mr. Green took out a loan because they are building an addition to the house so that the baby can have his or her own room. The girls decide that their profits can go the Children’s Hospital.
It’s the night of the talent show. Jenny Carlin FLOPS- her clarinet squeaks and squeaks, and when she blows really hard out flies a silk scarf that Henry Larkin stuck up her clarinet- Henry and Larry Jackson had it for a magic act. The magic act is great, by the way, and Karla Stamos is actually a good ballet dancer. The Sleepover Friends lip sync and dance is a huge hit as well even though Jenny tried to sabotage it by putting in the wrong music. The girls dance anyway to the wrong music and the audience loves it.
At the end of this book, guess what- Lauren got a winning prize in a contest- a FUCKING DONKEY! Yep a real fucking donkey! And you know Stephanie will get to keep it. And they are naming the donkey Sleepover. Oh, boy. And I thought Elvira the goat in the BSC was a silly plotline.
I loved this book as a kid, as an adult I realize that this book was pretty darn boring. And I feel the Sleepover Friends ” jumped the shark” once Stephanie’s twin brother and sister were born ( yep Stephanie’s mom ends up having twins- Emma and Jeremy- great names BTW). In terms of ” jumping the shark”- so kids when do you feel other YA novels jumped the shark? For me, I am not sure if SVH jumped the shark once Todd moved back from Vermont back to Sweet Valley, or with the Jungle Prom. I’d love everyone’s thoughts!
Coming up next week- Sweet Valley Twins 44 Amy Moves In.
Other books coming up ( not necessarily in that order) are SVH Super Special- Special Christmas, Sleepover Friends #26 The New Kate, BSC Little Sister Super Special Karen’s Wish, Sweet Valley Kids Super Snooper the Case of the Secret Santa, Sweet Valley High #13 Kidnapped and Sweet Valley High #3 Playing with Fire.
