Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield feel special because they're identical twins. For twelve years they've dressed alike, shared a room, and done everything together. But when they start Sweet Valley Middle School, everything begins to change.
Elizabeth wants to work on the class newspaper, but Jessica doesn't. Jessica would rather join the Unicorns, a snobby all-girls club. Even though Elizabeth isn't interested in the same things as her twin, she tries to tag along. But is she losing her best friend?
Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
This was a really powerful book for me because I felt psychologically pulled to identify with both Jessica and Elizabeth. Consequently, this sweet valley duality was the fountainhead of many years of existential anxiety for me. You see, what Pascal does that is so brilliant, is to present you with the choice between good and evil. Will I identify with wild, rule-breaking Jessica, popular and exciting? Or peaceful, rule-abiding Elizabeth, successful and righteous? It really tears you apart b/c you can't fall back on the ol' well-whose-prettier? option...they look exactly the same!!! Pascal is a truly cruel protagonist, but divinely so!
Loved this book series when I was young! Hard to rate the books, but I remember them with so much joy that at least 4 stars are they worth even though I probably wouldn't appreciate them now as much as I did when I was a teen.
This review stands for the whole series. Between the ages of 12 and 13 I maniacally sought and read all of SVK, SVT and SVH. There was magic in being a twin, and I wished I was one. I really identified with Elizabeth, bookish and clever who had great besties and an entertains sis. Then I started high school and realized that there were books out there that would make your mind explode. I outgrew the Wakefield twins long before they went to SVU.
These books were a part of my childhood. I remember them with fondness; but rereading them, bringing them into my adult world, would ruin those memories. They remain in my memory vault with Ninja Turtles, MacGuyver, Night Rider and Biker Mice- good memories to examine but not to relive
Oh, a trip down memory lane. I loved these and the SVH books as a kid - gobbled them up. And apparently I still love them because once I started reading, it all came back and it read just as well as they did then. For being turned out like they were, I can't help thinking they are pretty well done.
I did not realize what a sociopath Jessica was when I read them the first time around, but that girl is so beyond mean girl it isn't even funny. She fat-shames other students and is a selfish bitch, but alas, that's Jessica Wakefield. I can't wait to read them all again - I already ordered the next 5 from surrounding libraries :o)
This book was written the year I was born :o Crazyyy. What's even crazier is that it's still totally relatable today. It turns out in the past 27 years not much has changed with sibling relationships and middle school friendships. I don't remember if I read any of the Sweet Valley Twins series as a child, I do remember owning a few of the Sweet Valley High books. I thought I'd start with the Twins and bypass the Sweet Valley Kids series.
I read this book in one night, I can't say how long it really took as I was continuously interrupted by the children (at one point a glass of water being spilled all over me). But, the book is only about 100 pages so it's definitely a quick read.
I enjoyed the book quite a bit, even though the characters are in middle school I was still amused by their lives. I find I relate much more to Elizabeth, the bookworm sister. Jessica, the superficial dumb sister I don't really like at all and I can see her turning into a villain later. Elizabeth is a good person and isn't afraid to stand up for herself or others. Whereas, Jessica will say or do whatever it takes to be popular.
These were my favorite series of books from my tween years. How I yearned to be the best friend of Elizabeth Wakefield, or possess the power over the prepubescent boy crowd, like Jessica could. I have to give the 4 star rating based on how I devoured these books as a 11 year old girl, but in all reality I probably wouldn't want my daughter to read them.
Instead of a synopsis, I am going to do things a bit differently this time. Even though SVH came first, chronologically this is where it all began (oh shut up, I don't care about Sweet Valley Kids). Jessica seems to be the most sociopathic during the first 30 books of each series (not counting SY and JH). Here she's on a crusade against fat people, just the same as in "Double Love." I won't tell you the plot - it's pretty obvious anyway. Jess and Liz are growing apart for the first time in their lives. They are developing different interests. Liz is alternately okay and not okay with this. Jessica is just Jessica. But what I want to do this time is present to you a plethora of quotes from the book that will let you in on the plot but also let you eavesdrop on what is taking place in Wakefield Land. Bring a seat cushion. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
"'Did you see Lois Waller in gym class today?' Jessica asked. 'She was practically oozing out of her leotard. Fat everywhere. They shouldn't let a tub like her take ballet.'"
"Besides, [Elizabeth] was the one in charge. She had to remind Jessica to do practically everything, plus help her with her math, and pick up after her. Where would Jessica be without her?"
"'She's in the Unicorn Club,' Jessica told her sister. 'What's that?' Elizabeth asked. 'Did Lila's father buy her a unicorn?'"
"Every girl at the table was sensational-looking and dressed in great clothes. Jessica knew she could hold her own in the looks department. With her silky blond hair, blue-green eyes, and perfect features, there was no doubt about it."
"[Elizabeth] didn't know who made her feel worse -- herself, for waiting forever like a wimp, or Jessica, for having no consideration at all."
"How was [Jessica] going to keep her own twin sister from finding out the best thing that had ever happened to her?"
"Maybe that was how Jessica always got around her. She was so outrageous, it was funny."
"'I just decided Steven was right. We're too old to dress alike.' 'But you could have warned me. We've been dressing alike since nursery school.'
"Mrs. Arnette sighed. 'How sad it is that you and your sister aren't dressing alike! You used to look like two little dolls,' she said. We probably did, Elizabeth thought. Ugh."
"'Look, Jessica, we don't want you to drop out. I mean, how would it look? It's OK for us to kick people out, but it's different for somebody to quit.'" - Janet
"'Jessica, I'm sorry. I really want to be in the club with you, but I won't do that to Lois.' 'You are a priss. A first-class priss!'"
"Fun! Jessica had thought as she hung up. Eating in public with Lois would be about as much fun as having her head shaved."
"[Jessica] was feeling a little nervous about Lois. Suppose shaving cream was poison after all? Oh, don't be silly, she told herself. Lois's parents probably just got tired of looking at her and sent her off to a fat farm. That was much more likely. Anyhow, the Unicorn Club was the important thing."
"[Elizabeth] looked around Ellen's room. She had never seen so many rainbows in her life. They were on the walls, hanging from the ceiling, on her wastebasket. She even had them on her hairbrush and her telephone. Maybe she could count them. That would help her stay awake. ... Elizabeth felt as though her head were filling up with oatmeal."
"Elizabeth decided it was time she used Jessica's tactics on Jessica. 'I'm quitting the Unicorn Club, by the way.'" Jessica didn't try to keep the relief out of her voice. 'Well, I didn't think the club was exactly right for you.' 'That is, I'm quitting if you apologize to Lois.'"
"'But now I don't have to stick to you like glue. I can do what I really want to.' Jessica looked astounded. 'You mean you didn't before? I sure always did what I wanted!'"
"'Yep.' Steven bowed. 'Those Unicorns have great taste in men.' 'Maybe so, but they're not very nice.' Elizabeth couldn't resist bringing this up. 'I mean, picking on Lois Waller.... how mean can you get? I wonder how they would like it if everyone laughed at them.' Jessica raised her eyebrows. 'It's silly even to talk about. That could just NEVER happen.'"
"'Neato! If it works, I'll be so happy I'll-I'll go on a diet! I think you're a genius!'" -Lois
Alternate Title : "Double Vision," "Seeing Double," "Double or Nothing," "Double the Fun," ... I could keep going for days with this.
Tagline: "Elizabeth is afraid she's losing her best friend -- her twin sister!"
On a Scale of 1-10, How Annoying is Elizabeth? 0, I like her in this one.
On a Scale of 1-10, How Sociopathic is Jessica? 7. She's on one of her "fat is evil" kicks, and she's horrible to Lois Waller.
The Big Deal: Jessica's Unicorn Club initiation
Lingering Questions: In SVJH, which isn't that long after this, Liz says that she and Jess quit dressing alike in the 5th grade. But here, at the very beginning of the book, Liz and Jess are still dressing identical... and they are 12 years old.
Cover: Good or Bad?: Awww, as evil as they are, their beauty can't be denied. I loved when the twins looked like this, before Mathewuse got lazy. And, once again, what is it with the twins and striped shirts?
Moral of the Story: If you look alike on the outside, you are actually VERY DIFFERENT on the inside.
I wondered when I reread the first Sweet Valley Kids book just how long it would take for Jessica's true sociopathic colours to show—and we have a partial answer. In this first book of the middle-school series, Jessica is already wreaking havoc, and not one of the other characters is in the slightest surprised. (Note: There are untagged spoilers below the fold, if you're worried about spoilers for a very outdated, toxic-ideals book published 38 years ago.)
There are yellow sweatsuits in this one as well as in the first SV Kids book, which makes me wonder whether the sweatsuits in the SV Kids book (which was written later) were a nod to the ones here or whether sweatsuits were just really, really popular in the 80s. But mostly it's all about the drama:
The big to-do of the book is Jessica's quest to join the Unicorn club, which is made up of popular girls whose great quest is to maintain their popularity, mostly through putting down anyone who is not a Unicorn themselves. (This is right up Jessica's alley.) Anyway, Jessica's in, but next it's Elizabeth's turn because...twins have to do everything together, right? Right? Wrong. Jessica's hazing tasks have been relatively mild, but—because the Unicorns don't want Elizabeth any more than Elizabeth wants them—Elizabeth is tasked with publicly humiliating Lois, the local Unpopular Girl.
You can guess how this goes. Elizabeth refuses (because, though she doesn't recognise a sociopath when she lives with one, she's not one herself), Jessica is horrified about what Elizabeth's refusal will mean for Jessica's reputation, Jessica decides to take matters into her own hands, Jessica goes forth and humiliates Lois. (The fat-shaming starts early in these books—the first SV High one is full of it too.)
Now...none of this is surprising, because...Jessica. But what's interesting to me is this: When Elizabeth and Lois get revenge, Jessica gets off scot-free. She wouldn't view it that way, of course (if the Unicorns are humiliated, Jessica is humiliated), but to me it looks an awful lot like Jessica doing awful things and then suffering no consequences...which, if I remember correctly, rapidly becomes something of a theme in these books. Suddenly the Jessica of Sweet Valley High makes a lot more sense...
I read these books as a kid and recently just found the entire series at a used book store and re-read them for nostalgia. Just as special as I remembered them, young adult books aren’t written like this these days.
I've been wanting to read this series again (because I'm overly sentimental). So I'm starting with book one, and all I can say is I must be getting old because Jessica annoyed me to no end! 😩😂
Was interesting to see what the pledge taskWord and I can’t wait for book 2 which I have the whole series it was really good to see that they were twins
This time last year, I re-read a Ramona Quimby book to revisit my childhood. This year, it was the first book of the Sweet Valley Twins. I LOVED these books as a kid. I read them in order and collected 40 books from the set. Then I read Sweet Valley High. As an adult, I’m annoyed by all the whiteness—repetitious blond hair, green eyes, and perfect features references—but in 1986, little black girls didn’t have 40 book series about girls who looked like them. Actually, do we even have that now? I read YA sci-fi and sometimes there’s a series, but 40 books? Nah. The indoctrination is real. Race aside (which I could do better as a kid than I can now), I can see why I liked the books. Even without a sister, the plot is all about individuation, determination, and setting boundaries. There’s a morality angle with the mean girls getting a comeuppance. And there’s the lesson that friends, sisters, family can be complete opposites and still respect each other. Family stories and soap operas appeal me to this day. Maybe growing up on series like this, where the main characters were girls who prioritize family amidst the drama is the reason why.
Oh my. Where to begin. I started reading these books when I was in second grade. I got the first four for Christmas and devoured them. And then they went around to every other girl in my class. The stories are a nice, sweet escape for an eight-year-old going through a tough time. Elizabeth and Jessica took me through many adventures through six years: starting with Twins, moving up to Sweet Valley High, then on to the Sagas and Sweet Valley University. The Sweet Valley Twins books remained my favorites (though I remember the Sagas most clearly). Elizabeth and Jessica make a great team with each speaking to different parts of my personality: Jessica encouraged me to be a bit more assertive, and Elizabeth let me know it was perfectly okay to be a bookworm. :)
I LOVED the Sweet Valley Twins Series. I think I started reading them in Grade 4-5, along with the Baby-Sitter's club books. They were totally formulaic but the nice thing was you didn't necessarily have to read them in order. Elizabeth was my favorite twin. Jessica was kind of mean. I felt like I hit the jackpot if I found at least one in the local library. They were easy to find by their pastel-covered spines along the rows of books.
By grade 6 I think I read them all and started reading the Sweet Valley High series, which were ok, not as fun as these.
It's weird to see that school in Sweet Valley seems like it will benefit them more in life. Yeah we get to choose one of our electives but they have cooking as a class which seems more helpful in life than building a rocket. I'm saying this because when you,hopefully, graduate college you might need to make a fancy dinner. Cooking is more useful than building a rocket, unless you are a rocket engineer.
I knew this wasn't my favourite but it has more redeeming features than I remembered. It also made me think that Jessica was a real piece of work! Love the scene setting and character building and it made me reminiscence about how much love I had for this series.
And the Dairi Queen revenge scene - I cheered. #saynotofatshaming
I'm only going to rate this one because I read them so long ago that I can't remember which ones I read. I did enjoy reading them as a pre-teen & teenager.
Saw someone reviewing one of these books and talking about the TV show . Which brought back my memories of the TV show and decided to read one of the books. Went straight to book one, ah Jessica and Elizabeth are in 6th grade and just starting to think of doing there own things. It's harder on Elizabeth as she really wants to continue doing stuff together with Jessica. Jessica is a free spirit and seems very self centred. But hey this is a kids book serious that my 9 year old niece am sure would love.
Jessica and Elizabeth are such cliche twin characters, one being the sweet and innocent one, while the other is vindictive and sly. I found the book to be very predictable and the characters lacked any real depth.
Es uno de los primeros libros que leí por gusto como a ñas 8 años y, ahora que lo volví a leer, puedo darme cuenta por qué me gustaban tanto jaja Obviamente son libros infantiles, con un lenguaje muy sencillo y, aunque no hay mucha trama, te enganchas con la vida de las gemelas.
Best Friend Plot: Jessica catches up with Elizabeth whose leaving SVMS. Right away we can see, Jessica is more interested in ballet and putting down the “undesirables” of her school (such as Lois Waller who’s heavy-set). Elizabeth is more interested in starting the first sixth-grade newspaper. Elizabeth asks Jessica to be a part of the paper, but she doesn’t have an interest in it. Elizabeth is shocked because she and Jessica have always done everything together. At home, Steven gets on the twins a little bit for still dressing alike at 11. But they both say they like being the only twins at their school. Jessica gets a call from Lila Fowler (the richest girl at school) and Elizabeth can’t see the appeal. Just like at dinner, Jessica can’t see the appeal of inviting Amy Sutton and Julie Porter to join the paper. Since Jessica is so dedicated to ballet Mrs. Wakefield offers to let them both teach lessons at the studio. Jessica is ESCATIC! Elizabeth is nonchalant.
The twins walk to school together the next day and when they get there the richest boy at SVMS (Bruce Patman) whose in the seventh grade teasingly calls them “Blondie”. Elizabeth is annoyed. Jessica is thrilled and takes it as a sign that he’s into her. At lunch, they start to sit together but remember they got separate invitations. Jessica was invited to sit with the Unicorns (the most popular girls in school) and Elizabeth invited Amy and Julie to sit with her so she can tell them about the paper. Amy and Julie love the idea and immediately that start writing down ideas for different features (movie reviews, sports, poetry, gossip). Then speaking of the biggest gossip in the school (Caroline Pearce) drops by (uninvited) and does what she does best. She tells that that Mr. Nydick (the history teacher) is getting fired because he must have done something bad. And that an SVMS student Roberta got grounded for seeing a high schoolboy. At the Unicorn table, the Unicorns fill Jessica in on what the club is about (which is talking about boys, wearing purple, and throwing parties). Janet says it’s exclusive but there might be room for one more. Jessica takes this as she’s as good as in.
Jessica (and Elizabeth) wear purple the next day. (Side note: If this were a REAL sorority this would be an OFFENSE to wear the colors and you weren’t a member yet). Jessica promises Elizabeth she’ll help her clean up (mainly all the mess is hers) and Elizabeth is looking forward to it. But after school, Lila invites Jessica to the Dairi Burger (where the high school kids hang out) and Janet officially invites her to be a Unicorn. Only she has to complete three pledge tasks 1) She has to hide Mrs. Arnette’s lesson plan book and get it back in her bag by the end of the period 2) she has to tell three girls the bathroom is flooded and send them to use the boy's bathroom and 3) She has to come to school looking so different from Elizabeth no one will know their twins. Janet says there’s room for two girls and Jessica thinks Elizabeth is the other. But Janet says the other girl is Tamera Chase and they weren’t really considering Elizabeth because she wasn’t Unicorn material. Jessica feels bad about this for a hot minute but decides to keep everything a secret from her twin and fix it when she becomes a member.
Jessica pulls off all her tasks without so much as a hitch (Elizabeth doesn’t take her new look well) and Janet says they’ll vote on her by the end of the week. On the day that Jessica wears her hair differently (curly), Elizabeth tries a new style (parted and pulled back) and all their classmates complement the,. Elizabeth decides it’s not as bad as she originally made it out to be (earlier) and she actually likes looking different. Jessica tho says she won’t mind dressing alike occasionally when their parents and Steven compliment them. Eventually, Elizabeth finds out through Caroline about Jessica joining the Unicorns. Even though, Madame Andre has a girl crush on Elizabeth and praises her all the ballet lessons she runs home in tears. Her mother tells that it’s good for twins to have
The next day is their first ballet lesson. It goes BADLY! Jessica is late joining the class and when she does she has on a purple leotard, leg warners, streamer baretters, looses her hair, and has on eye shadow. Madame Andrew chews her a new one (Side note: Interestingly pink is an acceptable color for a leotard but purple isn’t). On top of that all the positions Jessica uses does perfectly she messes up and trips. Madame Andre gives her the cold shoulder and just kepts complimenting Elizabeth and everyone else. By the end of the class Jessica is thinking maybe doing this was a mistake. separate interest. She tells Jessica she knows about it but deep down she’s scared the Unicorns will take her sister away. Since Elizabeth is stuck in the past years of nostalgia, Jessica promises she’ll get her into the club once she gets in. And she does get in. But Elizabeth doesn’t even give Jessica her moment before she’s bugging her when can she get her in. Jessica needs her to help her with her math so she says maybe by the second meeting. Jessica convinces Janet to give Elizabeth a chance. They meet with her but when they tell her the one pledge task she has to do-invite Lois to the Dairi Burger and switch her sundae’s whip cream with shaving crème- she says no and walks away. So Jessica decides to do a twin swap. The prank goes off. Elizabeth is gone to the dentist. Louis walks out hurt.
At ballet class, Jessica dances her heart out and does a perfect jump, but all Madama Andre says is keep her back straight next time. She’s about to quit, but Elizabeth says give it one more class. The next class Madame Andre talks about an upcoming performance of Coppelia. Jessica knows right then and there she’ll get the lead as Swanilda. Elizabeth goes to the first meeting and she’s bored silly. At the end of it Ellen congratulates her on her task, she puts two and two together, blows up at Jessica, and runs home. Her mom is there and she gives her a half-version (leaving out what Jessica did). Her mom gives her the same advice. It’s time to do her. Elizabeth calls Louis and tells her the truth and then she blackmails Jessica into giving Louis an apology or she’ll tell her mother and the rest of the Unicorns what Jessica did. Jessica and Elizabeth get their own rooms and they find out that their brother Steven was the guy Roberta was seeing. She dumped him for a college guy and she was the one who quit the Unicorn Club. She and Janet had a thing for Steven. Elizabeth has an idea to get back at the Unicorns. Louis goes to the Dairi Burger and plays it like she’s cool with what the Unicorns did. All the while she’s putting shaving cream on Lila’s sundae. Elizabeth warns them but they’re like Louis wouldn’t dare. They all take a taste. All of theirs is fine. But Lila gets a mouthful of shaving cream. Amy snaps a picture. The end leads into Teacher’s Pet.
My Thoughts: The Unicorn Club vs The Sixers: Both have their different appeals. I LOVE to write (especially review). So the “Elizabeth” in me could see myself doing either a book review column, or a movie (or tv show) column, or a food review column. The last is something I always thought would be fun because I use to watch people go to the Magic Kingdom and just hit up all the restaurants and do video blogs. I’d be thinking to myself now THAT’S a JOB! Probably if this series were updated the Sixers would probably be a VLOG or a YouTube channel.
I don’t necessarily agree with how nasty the Unicorns can be (making people eat shaving crème) but I do see the appeal of being one of the most influential girls at the school. And again I think of a more modern version where these girls are like Julian on the new Gossip Girl. I never really cared in middle school or high school if I was popular or not. But when I got to college, I was part of a group that supported a frat that had a call, a sign, and wore matching clothes, and planned events as a group. I do remember it being a BIG RUSH! And I remember it felt really good to *belong*.
Different Identities: I thought two big a deal was made about them not wanting to do the same things. Elizabeth makes a big deal out of Jessica not wanting to join the paper. Then she (shortly) makes a big deal out of her not wanting to dress alike anymore (She actually cries in the bathroom over this). Jessica wants Elizabeth to get into the Unicorns. Elizabeth feels like she has to take ballet so she and Jessica won’t grow apart. I’m an only child. Don’t know any twins. But if I had twins., I’d teach both my twins to be INDIVIDUALS! I’d never dress them alike from the jump just because it was cute. (How the heck would I even know them apart? And it starts a bad prequel). I would give them stupid rhyming names. (I don’t even like when men name their sons after them and them their son continues this idiocy. WHY? Give the kid HIS OWN LEGACY). I certainly would try to pay attention to what each liked SEPERATELY. Mrs. Wakefield didn’t even seem to realize Elizabeth wasn’t all that enthusiastic about ballet. Tho “that’s nice” is a big clue. But then they didn’t even pay any attention to EACH OTHER. It actually kind of put a bitter taste in my mouth because I remember when a family member told me I needed to start doing vlogs on my reviews and I said not my thing. But she just kept on talking and kept on talking. You do NOT have to be or do who SOMEONE ELSE wants you to be (look, act, dress like, believe in, NONE OF IT)!
Then there’s the message of thinking you want something and obsessing over it and when you get it it’s a HUGE disappointment. (I just bought a device like that). It ended good but I probably would have went after ALL of them and shaving creamed all their sundaes. Why just Lila? All of em were in on it. And I definitely wouldn’t have warned them.