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Sweet Valley Kids #60
The Amazing Jessica
Under The Big Top!
The circus has come to Sweet Valley! Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield love watching the shows and eating lots of cotton candy. But the most exciting part for Jessica is finding out that their great-great-grandmother Jessamyn was a bareback rider in the circus! Jessica imagines herself in Jessamyn's place -- on a beautiful pony,wearing a fancy costume and showing off in the spotlight.
Now Jessica knows for sure that performing is in her blood! Will she dare run away with the circus?
The Amazing Jessica
The circus has come to Sweet Valley! Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield love watching the shows and eating lots of cotton candy. But the most exciting part for Jessica is finding out that their great-great-grandmother Jessamyn was a bareback rider in the circus! Jessica imagines herself in Jessamyn's place -- on a beautiful pony,wearing a fancy costume and showing off in the spotlight.
Now Jessica knows for sure that performing is in her blood! Will she dare run away with the circus?
The Amazing Jessica
- GenresChildrensMiddle Grade
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,155 books1,870 followersFrancine 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.
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April 17, 2026The Amazing Jessica (Sweet Valley Kids)
The twins come home and excitedly announce the circus is in town and that the first show is that night at the park. Alice teases that she always thought the circus was kind of boring. Liz says she really wants to see the elephants. Alice straings them along for me a minute and then pulls out the tickets she’s already bought. Even Steven is excited.
The show starts. The elephants come out. The twins are so close to the center ring, they can throw peanuts at the elephants (so close they hit one of the babies in the head). Next come the jugglers. Then the clowns. Then the show ponies come out and Jessica is captivated! There’s a girl on one in red that looks like she’s the twins age. Both twins wish they could ride like her.
It says all the show riders did tricks like standing on their ponies and backflips. Jessica tells Alice she wants to be a show rider. Alice comments like her great-great-grandmother Jessayn. Jessica is like who, but Alice says she’ll tell her later. This is the story Alice tells. It’s REALLY shot. It goes “About a hundred years ago here were two sisters. They were identical twins. They both had blond hair and blue-green eyes. one of them was Jessamyn, your great-great-grandmother. And the other sister was your great-great-grandaunt Elisabeth”
“These two twins grew up about a hundred years ago in a place called Prairie Lakes, Minnesota. They lived a frontier life: farming, husking corn, and gathering around the hearth fire with their family at night. Now, Jessamyn was the wild twin. She liked to do things the boys did, like play baseball and ride horses. Sometimes she drove her parents crazy with her antics.”
"Elisabeth was the quiet sister. She liked to read whenever she could, under the shade of one of the big trees on the farm. She helped her mother keep up the house, and everyone loved her for her caring ways. Then one year the circus came to Prairie Lakes. Jessamyn fell in love with it at first sight. She loved the snake charmers, the strongman, and the elephants. But what she loved most was the horses. Jessamyn's dream was to become as good as the show riders she saw in the circus. She even took riding lessons from a Native American man she knew. Jessamyn was bored with the quiet life in Prairie Lakes. She promised herself that one day she would join the circus and travel all over the world, having exciting adventures.”
"One morning, when the twins were both sixteen years old, Elisabeth found a note in the kitchen. It was from Jessamyn. During the night, Jessamyn had snuck away from the farm and run off with the circus. She was very sorry to leave her family, but she couldn't pass up her one chance at happiness. Elisabeth was very sad, of course. But her mom and dad told her that Jessamyn would be happy, living the life she'd always dreamed of living. She became a very good show rider and went all over the country, doing her routines. Her dream came true.” The End!
That night in bed, Jessica fantasizes about her great-great-grandmother riding into a town on a horse looking beautiful and loving none of the men (just like her) SNORTS As we all know this will change VERY SOON! Then she sees herself as Jessmyn and people cheering for her in the spotlight. She tells Elizabeth from now on she’s going to go by the name Jessmyn. Elizabeth doesn’t respond. All night, she dreams about the circus.
Jessica makes this announcement at breakfast. All the Wakefields are amused. Steven says he also wants to change his name to Sinbad. Except Liz. She announces it at school. Mrs. Otis is cool with it and says she won’t ask why but if she likes it she loves it. Lila thinks it’s a dumb name. Amy thinks its pretty. The twins tell them about their great-great-grandmothers and Jessica tells them about how she’s going to be a show rider. Liz points out a good point. Jessica doesn’t even know how to ride (and wasn’t interested in anything to do with horses 12 hours ago). Jessica says if the girl in the circus can do it so can she.
Amy says Jessica can take lessons but Jessica says she doesn’t need them. Like Amy said its in her blood. Amy says maybe Liz and Jessica could be show riders and Liz says “maybe”. But it’s one of those half a** maybe’s you tell someone when you really just want to move on cause you have no interest in it at all. Amy asks if the other sister rode horses. Jessica says no she was broing. Liz storms off. We notice that no one is calling Jessica Jessmyn.
Later, Jessica is riding around on an invisible horse at home. Liz again questions how she’s gonna be a rider. Even Jessmyn took lessons but Jessica dismisses it and says lessons are boring. Jessica tries to do a cartwheel and breaks the lamp. Liz tells on her to Alice and Jessica gets sent to her room. Now Jessica is mad at Elizabeth. Jessica has this unrealistic fantasy that circus life is about her wearing her pretty costume everywhere, being called Jessmyn, and eating cotton candy all the time when she’s hungry. Alice wakes her up and makes her set the table as punishment. Liz won’t help her so, Jessica remains mad at her.
Jessica is disappointed that Elizabeth isn’t impressed by her reading a circus book. She thinks no one is taking her seriously. Elizabeth starts to do her homework. Jessica asks her if that’s all she ever does. She says yep. She’s the *boring* sister. So, Jessica suggests they go to the park. Jessica is fascinated by one of the circus people feeding a horse an apple. Liz is like that’s not new to me. I do it all the time. Jessica says that she’ll have people to do that. She might even hire Liz. This kills the mood and Liz says she’s ready to go home.
Jessica tries to make small talk on the way home about the circus, but Elizabeth says she doesn’t care about the circus. Jessica has the “bright” idea to try to stand up on her bicycle. She almost falls over but Elizabeth catches her. Jessica thinks for some reason she almost did it. The twins argue and Elizabeth tells her Jessmyn is all she talks about. Maybe she’d rather have her for a sister. Jessica says maybe she would. At home, they tell their parents what happened. They tell Jessica is she wants to be like Jessmyn she’ll have to take lessons. But she doesn’t want Elizabeth to think she’s right so she says no. They tell her fine but she can’t ride her bike for a week.
While Liz is at riding lessons the next day, Jessica packs a bag and heads out. She debates leaving a note but in the end doesn’t. Inside the tent, Jessica runs into the young girl and tells her she wants to be a show rider like her. The girl’s name is Daria. She attempts to give Jessica lessons. She’s happy because she doesn’t usually get to talk to kids her own age. Jessica discovers 1 horses are really smelly (Lila was right) 2 riding is uncomfortable (just sitting) and 3 its harder than she thought (standing up). She gets off Tony the pony feeling sick. Daria tells her maybe it’s just not meet to be. She says it has to be. She has to join the circus. She’ll do anything. Daira says that’s funny. She’ll do anything to leave.
She tells Jessica the reality of being in the circus 1. You have to travel a lot 2) there’s no one your age 3) She constantly has to practice. Theres no time for fun. She says she wants to quit the circus but doesn’t want to disappoint her parents (who work for the circus). Jessica beats her parents have really glamorous roles but her dad works with the ponies and her mom runs the peanut stand. They both say it’s too bad they can’t change places. (Although we can see Jessica is having second thoughts about the circus life).
They say they look like twins. Then Jessica starts to tell her about her twin. Then she starts to feel guilty about running away and wonders if Liz knows yet. Then she hears Liz calling to her. Liz apologizes and calls Jessica Jessmyn. She pleads with her to come home and says she was just mad because she wouldn’t take ridding lessons and because Jessica called her the boring twin. Jessica says the horses were smelly anyway. They convince Daria to give them a private show. She’s so good she jumps up in the air (while on Tony’s back) and does a back flip. Jessica says she wishes she can be in a show just once for her great-great-grandmother. Liz then has an idea and they tell Daria.
The next night, Jessica asks her mom if they can go to the circus again. So, they go the next night. They invite Amy and Lila. The twins ask can they get some more popcorn before the show starts. Jessica tells Mr.Brahm that Daria isn’t happy and he asks to speak with her. The Ringmaster announces Sweet Valley’s Own: The Amazing Jessmyn and Jessica rides out in her pretty pink costume on Tony. Jessica stands up on Tony and holds out a hoop. Daria rode right toward the hoop at top speed. At the very last second, she jumped. While the pony ran under the hoop, Daria flipped through it. She landed right on the pony's back again. One by one, the rest of the riders jumped through the hoop.
After the show, Daria tells Jeessica she’s quitting the circus. Her family is going to get jobs on a ranch. Steven asks Jessica how she pulled it off. She says she’ll never tell.
Rating: 5 I really would like to know too how you can go from not even being able to stay on a horse to in ONE DAY being able to stand up on a horse and do tricks. Sounds like bs to me! But I did like that this book was about the circus. Thinking about the circus always brings back good family memories *and* coicedently I saw tonight on the news that the Univer SOUL circus is back in town. It would be fun to go again and I wonder how much it’s changed from what I remember of it.
The twins come home and excitedly announce the circus is in town and that the first show is that night at the park. Alice teases that she always thought the circus was kind of boring. Liz says she really wants to see the elephants. Alice straings them along for me a minute and then pulls out the tickets she’s already bought. Even Steven is excited.
The show starts. The elephants come out. The twins are so close to the center ring, they can throw peanuts at the elephants (so close they hit one of the babies in the head). Next come the jugglers. Then the clowns. Then the show ponies come out and Jessica is captivated! There’s a girl on one in red that looks like she’s the twins age. Both twins wish they could ride like her.
It says all the show riders did tricks like standing on their ponies and backflips. Jessica tells Alice she wants to be a show rider. Alice comments like her great-great-grandmother Jessayn. Jessica is like who, but Alice says she’ll tell her later. This is the story Alice tells. It’s REALLY shot. It goes “About a hundred years ago here were two sisters. They were identical twins. They both had blond hair and blue-green eyes. one of them was Jessamyn, your great-great-grandmother. And the other sister was your great-great-grandaunt Elisabeth”
“These two twins grew up about a hundred years ago in a place called Prairie Lakes, Minnesota. They lived a frontier life: farming, husking corn, and gathering around the hearth fire with their family at night. Now, Jessamyn was the wild twin. She liked to do things the boys did, like play baseball and ride horses. Sometimes she drove her parents crazy with her antics.”
"Elisabeth was the quiet sister. She liked to read whenever she could, under the shade of one of the big trees on the farm. She helped her mother keep up the house, and everyone loved her for her caring ways. Then one year the circus came to Prairie Lakes. Jessamyn fell in love with it at first sight. She loved the snake charmers, the strongman, and the elephants. But what she loved most was the horses. Jessamyn's dream was to become as good as the show riders she saw in the circus. She even took riding lessons from a Native American man she knew. Jessamyn was bored with the quiet life in Prairie Lakes. She promised herself that one day she would join the circus and travel all over the world, having exciting adventures.”
"One morning, when the twins were both sixteen years old, Elisabeth found a note in the kitchen. It was from Jessamyn. During the night, Jessamyn had snuck away from the farm and run off with the circus. She was very sorry to leave her family, but she couldn't pass up her one chance at happiness. Elisabeth was very sad, of course. But her mom and dad told her that Jessamyn would be happy, living the life she'd always dreamed of living. She became a very good show rider and went all over the country, doing her routines. Her dream came true.” The End!
That night in bed, Jessica fantasizes about her great-great-grandmother riding into a town on a horse looking beautiful and loving none of the men (just like her) SNORTS As we all know this will change VERY SOON! Then she sees herself as Jessmyn and people cheering for her in the spotlight. She tells Elizabeth from now on she’s going to go by the name Jessmyn. Elizabeth doesn’t respond. All night, she dreams about the circus.
Jessica makes this announcement at breakfast. All the Wakefields are amused. Steven says he also wants to change his name to Sinbad. Except Liz. She announces it at school. Mrs. Otis is cool with it and says she won’t ask why but if she likes it she loves it. Lila thinks it’s a dumb name. Amy thinks its pretty. The twins tell them about their great-great-grandmothers and Jessica tells them about how she’s going to be a show rider. Liz points out a good point. Jessica doesn’t even know how to ride (and wasn’t interested in anything to do with horses 12 hours ago). Jessica says if the girl in the circus can do it so can she.
Amy says Jessica can take lessons but Jessica says she doesn’t need them. Like Amy said its in her blood. Amy says maybe Liz and Jessica could be show riders and Liz says “maybe”. But it’s one of those half a** maybe’s you tell someone when you really just want to move on cause you have no interest in it at all. Amy asks if the other sister rode horses. Jessica says no she was broing. Liz storms off. We notice that no one is calling Jessica Jessmyn.
Later, Jessica is riding around on an invisible horse at home. Liz again questions how she’s gonna be a rider. Even Jessmyn took lessons but Jessica dismisses it and says lessons are boring. Jessica tries to do a cartwheel and breaks the lamp. Liz tells on her to Alice and Jessica gets sent to her room. Now Jessica is mad at Elizabeth. Jessica has this unrealistic fantasy that circus life is about her wearing her pretty costume everywhere, being called Jessmyn, and eating cotton candy all the time when she’s hungry. Alice wakes her up and makes her set the table as punishment. Liz won’t help her so, Jessica remains mad at her.
Jessica is disappointed that Elizabeth isn’t impressed by her reading a circus book. She thinks no one is taking her seriously. Elizabeth starts to do her homework. Jessica asks her if that’s all she ever does. She says yep. She’s the *boring* sister. So, Jessica suggests they go to the park. Jessica is fascinated by one of the circus people feeding a horse an apple. Liz is like that’s not new to me. I do it all the time. Jessica says that she’ll have people to do that. She might even hire Liz. This kills the mood and Liz says she’s ready to go home.
Jessica tries to make small talk on the way home about the circus, but Elizabeth says she doesn’t care about the circus. Jessica has the “bright” idea to try to stand up on her bicycle. She almost falls over but Elizabeth catches her. Jessica thinks for some reason she almost did it. The twins argue and Elizabeth tells her Jessmyn is all she talks about. Maybe she’d rather have her for a sister. Jessica says maybe she would. At home, they tell their parents what happened. They tell Jessica is she wants to be like Jessmyn she’ll have to take lessons. But she doesn’t want Elizabeth to think she’s right so she says no. They tell her fine but she can’t ride her bike for a week.
While Liz is at riding lessons the next day, Jessica packs a bag and heads out. She debates leaving a note but in the end doesn’t. Inside the tent, Jessica runs into the young girl and tells her she wants to be a show rider like her. The girl’s name is Daria. She attempts to give Jessica lessons. She’s happy because she doesn’t usually get to talk to kids her own age. Jessica discovers 1 horses are really smelly (Lila was right) 2 riding is uncomfortable (just sitting) and 3 its harder than she thought (standing up). She gets off Tony the pony feeling sick. Daria tells her maybe it’s just not meet to be. She says it has to be. She has to join the circus. She’ll do anything. Daira says that’s funny. She’ll do anything to leave.
She tells Jessica the reality of being in the circus 1. You have to travel a lot 2) there’s no one your age 3) She constantly has to practice. Theres no time for fun. She says she wants to quit the circus but doesn’t want to disappoint her parents (who work for the circus). Jessica beats her parents have really glamorous roles but her dad works with the ponies and her mom runs the peanut stand. They both say it’s too bad they can’t change places. (Although we can see Jessica is having second thoughts about the circus life).
They say they look like twins. Then Jessica starts to tell her about her twin. Then she starts to feel guilty about running away and wonders if Liz knows yet. Then she hears Liz calling to her. Liz apologizes and calls Jessica Jessmyn. She pleads with her to come home and says she was just mad because she wouldn’t take ridding lessons and because Jessica called her the boring twin. Jessica says the horses were smelly anyway. They convince Daria to give them a private show. She’s so good she jumps up in the air (while on Tony’s back) and does a back flip. Jessica says she wishes she can be in a show just once for her great-great-grandmother. Liz then has an idea and they tell Daria.
The next night, Jessica asks her mom if they can go to the circus again. So, they go the next night. They invite Amy and Lila. The twins ask can they get some more popcorn before the show starts. Jessica tells Mr.Brahm that Daria isn’t happy and he asks to speak with her. The Ringmaster announces Sweet Valley’s Own: The Amazing Jessmyn and Jessica rides out in her pretty pink costume on Tony. Jessica stands up on Tony and holds out a hoop. Daria rode right toward the hoop at top speed. At the very last second, she jumped. While the pony ran under the hoop, Daria flipped through it. She landed right on the pony's back again. One by one, the rest of the riders jumped through the hoop.
After the show, Daria tells Jeessica she’s quitting the circus. Her family is going to get jobs on a ranch. Steven asks Jessica how she pulled it off. She says she’ll never tell.
Rating: 5 I really would like to know too how you can go from not even being able to stay on a horse to in ONE DAY being able to stand up on a horse and do tricks. Sounds like bs to me! But I did like that this book was about the circus. Thinking about the circus always brings back good family memories *and* coicedently I saw tonight on the news that the Univer SOUL circus is back in town. It would be fun to go again and I wonder how much it’s changed from what I remember of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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August 18, 2024Jessica sets her sights on becoming a circus rider, just like her great great grandmother Jessamyn, but Liz feels left out and gets Jessica in trouble with their parents.
One of the less believable tales, but I can see kids being as excited by the thought of becoming a circus performer as Jessica is.
One of the less believable tales, but I can see kids being as excited by the thought of becoming a circus performer as Jessica is.
January 20, 2025
Didn't like Jessica's attitude in this one...
December 5, 2021
AKA - one of the last books I added to my collection - and it was worth the wait!
The circus is in town, and Jess is in awe of the show riders, especially when she sees a girl her own age. Alice tells the twins the story of Elisabeth and Jessamyn (yay!) and how Jessamyn (their great great grandmother) ran away from home and her twin to join the circus. Jess announces she’s now to be known as Jessamyn, and starts doing ‘tricks’ on her bike, in the house, anywhere, and Liz gets more and more annoyed, especially because Jess refuses to take riding lessons with her. Jess decides she hates Liz and runs away to the circus - where she meets Daria. Daria (the girl in the show their age) has the opposite problem and is sick of the circus. Anyway, Jessamyn tries to be a show rider but can’t stand the horse, and can’t stand on the horse (haha), and then Liz runs in. She figured it out and they make up, and hatch a plan with Daria for Jess to be in one show. After ONE practice, Jess is ready and their friends and family go back to the circus, and of course Jess is in it - holding the ring standing on her pony while the others jump through it. Very impressive for a 7 year old with an hour of practice 🤔 Anyway, Jess is over the circus, Darias family is quitting, and Jess is happy being the centre of attention. Bravo!
My rating - 6/10 - my highest rating yet - I just loved all the references to the SV family sagas 🙌🏻.
The circus is in town, and Jess is in awe of the show riders, especially when she sees a girl her own age. Alice tells the twins the story of Elisabeth and Jessamyn (yay!) and how Jessamyn (their great great grandmother) ran away from home and her twin to join the circus. Jess announces she’s now to be known as Jessamyn, and starts doing ‘tricks’ on her bike, in the house, anywhere, and Liz gets more and more annoyed, especially because Jess refuses to take riding lessons with her. Jess decides she hates Liz and runs away to the circus - where she meets Daria. Daria (the girl in the show their age) has the opposite problem and is sick of the circus. Anyway, Jessamyn tries to be a show rider but can’t stand the horse, and can’t stand on the horse (haha), and then Liz runs in. She figured it out and they make up, and hatch a plan with Daria for Jess to be in one show. After ONE practice, Jess is ready and their friends and family go back to the circus, and of course Jess is in it - holding the ring standing on her pony while the others jump through it. Very impressive for a 7 year old with an hour of practice 🤔 Anyway, Jess is over the circus, Darias family is quitting, and Jess is happy being the centre of attention. Bravo!
My rating - 6/10 - my highest rating yet - I just loved all the references to the SV family sagas 🙌🏻.
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October 19, 2016READ WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY BETWEEN AGES 6-10.
REVIEW INTENDED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
1. For parents looking for something to give their elementary grade kids
2. For myself to look back to if I will ever be in need of Sweet Valley recommendations for kids these days who might choose a book over their Ipads or who knows, my future kid might be a reader too
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This is Jessica's story and attempt to claim circus fame. After knowing about their ancestors' roots and history, Jessica suddenly had the urge to follow in her ancestor, Jessamyn's footsteps. All of a sudden, she wanted to be like her then TO BE HER. Elizabeth was feeling down because she felt that Jessica was slipping away and suddenly wanted a new persona.
Moral lesson: Accept individuality. We are our own selves and kids may idolize certain persons growing up but it is always important to remind them that their OWN version of themselves is still the best.
REVIEW INTENDED FOR THE FOLLOWING:
1. For parents looking for something to give their elementary grade kids
2. For myself to look back to if I will ever be in need of Sweet Valley recommendations for kids these days who might choose a book over their Ipads or who knows, my future kid might be a reader too
----------------------
This is Jessica's story and attempt to claim circus fame. After knowing about their ancestors' roots and history, Jessica suddenly had the urge to follow in her ancestor, Jessamyn's footsteps. All of a sudden, she wanted to be like her then TO BE HER. Elizabeth was feeling down because she felt that Jessica was slipping away and suddenly wanted a new persona.
Moral lesson: Accept individuality. We are our own selves and kids may idolize certain persons growing up but it is always important to remind them that their OWN version of themselves is still the best.
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
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