The Long-lost Brother (Sweet Valley High) by Kate William

Sweet Valley High #79

by Francine Pascal

Book by

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a favorite- a nobody character named Sara, whose most memorable and only defining attribute in the series is that she has a country club boyfriend named Bob, has a twin brother who lives on the east coast. She's only told her friends that her brother stayed back east with her dad when her parents divorced, but really, he's beein in juvenile detention for stealing a car while either drunk or high (book is not clear on if he's a druggie or a drunk, but Elizabeth sees him at an AA meeting, so...? Nobody seems to think it was weird or voyeuristic or rude for her perfect Wakefield ass to go sit in and watch an AA meeting? Oh, Sweet Valley....)-- kid has apparently made some poor choices that resulted in Sara losing friends before because - ew, who wants to be friends with a a girl whose brother is a delinquent? At any rate, Tim has turned over a new leaf and wants a chance to be part of Sweet Valley and its aura of perfect California teen-dom, but Sara wants him to pretend he's normal. That doesn't work out when a van goes missing and Tim's a suspect. Will these two minor characters that nobody cares about reconcile their sibling bond? Will Tim be accepted by the 1950s kids at SVH? Who really cares? Not me. The reason this book gets two stars instead of one is because as Miss Teen Sweet Valley, Jess is expected to had out meat samples at a grocery store, which she somehow talks Elizabeth into doing for her, and I think that's worth an extra star.

[Tiffany Spencer]

Long Lost Brother
Elizabeth is doing an interview for the Oracle with a lady that works at a shelter for battered women. Elizabeth can understand how women with little education, or finances, or self-esteem can stay with an abusive partner, but why the others don’t just pack their bags? The lady says there’s no easy answer., but a lot just don’t have the confidence. She says they start with conseling and bring them there until something can be worked out permanently. She says she can’t tell where the shelter is. The police bring them there are there’s a domestic disturbance. They then see if any medical attention is needed. Then they provide, food, clothes, and whatever else. Unfortunately, most women return and it gets worse. But they’re getting the word out that violence isn’t the answer. Elizabeth asks if she can visit the shelter and the lady says yes but she has to keep it a secret.

Meanwhile, Sarah Eastborne and her best friend Amanda Hayes are at her house. She checks the mail and sees there’s a letter from her father and her Tim brother Tim. She tells Amanda there’s nothing for her. Amanda notices her change of mood and asks her about it. She wishes she could tell someone about Tim but doesn’t want to bring him up. Instead, she talks about the support check and how she wishes her dad show more interest. Amanda asks about her brother but she just shrugs. She tells her after the divorce Tim decided to stay in Connecticut with their dad. Amanda asks if she misses him and she says not really. (Although she’s thinking the opposite).

Later, Sarah’s mother proudly looks at Tim’s letter and announces Tim is taking a special class in car repair at vocational school. (We learn that Tim stole a car). Her mom says she misses Tim. Sarah says she has a date with Bob. Her mother says they need to talk. Sarah says there’s nothing to talk about he drank, he used drugs, and now he’s in reform school. Her mom says he’s trying. Now he’s making good grades and in AA. Sarah reminds her of how much of a manipulator he was. Her mom says people make mistakes. But Sarah doesn’t consider her brother a part of the family anymore. Her mother suggests she go to a program at the community center for relatives of an alcholoic. She’s been going to the adult version. But she brushes it off and says she has to get ready for her date.

Bob will be taking her to meet his parents at a Country Club. Sarah thinks about how she and her family use to belong to a contry club and how she use to be apart of the in club. His mother is stiff. Her father is uninterested, distracted, and a bit superficial. Bob later tells her she’s blown it with his parents. She apologizes and says there have been things on her mind. Bob asks what things and she makes up an excuse. He asks her to a party at Lila’s. He tells her to wear her white swimsuit. He wants all the other guys to be jealous. Tim calls the next morning. She stays on the phone and listens for a minute while he and her mom talk. Her mom asks if she’s seen his dad and she says only for a few minutes. Sarah isn’t interested in hearing about Tim’s pain and how their dad probably paid his school a visit and gave him an expensive present. Amanda calls and asks her to go to the mall but she has to turn her down. Amanda did get invited but Lila’s friends really aren’t her type. Mr. Eastborne calls for her mother but she’s not there. By the end of the call Sarah is in tears.

At the party, Sarah is distracted and not having a good time but she throws herself I nto a volleyball game. By the end of the date, Bob says if she didn’t want to go she should have just said so. Then he asks what’s wrong. She says they can talk about it another time. Bob is ticked. He doesn’t say he’ll call or kiss her or say he’d like to see her again. Her mother tells her Tim wants to come there to live to make a new start.

Liz thinks about the big, Victorian, house she visited called “The Sanctuary”. Enid calls to check on the progress of her article and she admits she hasn’t started it. Enid suggests they go out and they decide to play tennis. Sarah is distracted during dance class. When Tim comes all her classmates will discover the truth about him. Amanda tells her after class she wishes she’d talk to her but if not she wants her to know she values her friendship. At the mall after seeing the twins, Sarah recounts a fond memory of how she and Tim use to have their own language. Amanda says she wants to meet Tim and Sarah says he’ll be there Friday. Amanda notices she doesn’t seem happy. Again Sarah wants to tell her about Tim but she thinks about her old friend Darlene who snubbed her because of her brother.

Liz meets with Mrs. Marstove to talk about how she wants to expand her article to be about trouble familed and the effects of alcohol and drugs to see if she can sit in on a few self-help meetings. She agrees and then hands over her notebook so the kids won’t be uncomfortable if they see her taking notes. At the meeting, she sees Tom McKay.

Sarah comes home from school and her brother is there. He’s there early. He and Bob size each other up. Sarah is uncomfortable with them there. Sarah dismisses Tim, but Tim tells her they need to talk later. Bob questions why he didn’t tell her her brother was coming. She knows he won’t understand and will probably dump her. She says they don’t get along very well. Bob says he seems nice enough. He leaves soon after. Tim and Saah talk about their father after he leaves. He says he’s the same but he had to sign him out. Sarah says it’s his fault and asks how he’s supposed to stay in the state. He says he’ll have a probation officer while he’s there.

Sarah’s mother has another talk with her and tells her to let go and get over it (basically). Sarah expresses her anger and her mother tells her had it been her would she have wanted to be treated the same way. She says she wouldn’t have gotten thrown into reform school. She questions what her mother will do when he starts acting up again. She says he won’t. Her mother says Her mother again points out he’s trying but Sarah thinks if she gives him another chance he’ll just screw up again.

Jessica keeps trying to blow off her responsibilities as Mrs. Sweet Valley Teen (like go to Lila’s party and the mall) but Liz tells her NOPE! You wanted this. She then goes to help out at the shelter. (She wants Liz to trade). Sarah needs someone to talk to and decides to call Project Youth. She gets Barry and tells him everything. Sarah asks Barry what she should do, but he says the line is just for listening. Most of the time people already know what to do.

Liz and Endi have an Olympics for some of the kids at the Sanctuary. Bob cancels a date with Sarah and she wonders if he knows. So, her mom makes them talk. They talk about how Tim is taking art and might want to be an architect and her dance class. When their mom leaves, she throws accusations at him about him making her lose her friends. Then she says she’s told people he’s a good athlete and has been living with their dad. She tells him he’d better back up her story. He says no. That’s not what he was taught in AA but then he says he wants to make it up to her. So he’ll go along with it. Liz attends an AA meeting and the topic is honesty. Tim is there and he starts to talk about his situation. His story touches her. She, Jess, and Steve have had their issues but they’ve never been embarrassed of each other. After the meeting, she and Tim talk. She finds out he’s in her class. He seems familiar to her. He asks if she has a boyfriend and she says she does but they can be friends. She tells him to look her up on Monday tho.

The next day they see each other at school and she introduces him to Todd. Liz realizes by their last names he and Sarah are siblings. Liz feels bad because Sarah isn’t looking at him and she thinks how families need support. She confronts him with this. He tells her to keep it a secret what he said at the meeting. She says she won’t tell and then she introduces him around. Jessica approves. He seems just as taken with her. Penny knows about Tim’s past from someone and says knowing them it won’t be secret very long. Amanda wants to meet Tim, so Sarah makes the introductions. Amanda seems just as into him as the rest of the girls. Sarah decides to get outta there and says she can’t show him around. Amanda is all too happy to volunteer. Tim sees what’s going on and says he’ll just go home and cut the grass. Amanda tho isn’t giving up and they go off together.

Later, he seems happy. He tells Sarah he didn’t say anything. Her brother says he should tell her the truth before all her lies come crashing down. But she says NO. He tells her the truth always comes out. For a moment, they share a memory of their dad being mad at their language but it’s broken when their mother comes home. Her mom invites Sarah to a meeting, but she says she has to help Bob with homework. She tells her she needs to help her brother. Tim rambles on at dinner about his day, the twins, and Liz wanting to interview him. Sarah looks dismayed but he tells her to chill. He’s allowed to have friends. After this Bob cancels on her again.

Tim asks Liz if she’s put off by his past, but she tells him to keep doing what he’s doing and Sarah will come around. Liz finds out in the interview, he has a learning disability. HE says he doesn’t have much interest in college. Liz thinks of how this contradicts with the things Sarah’s said. Sarah starts to worry. Tim has gotten popular and joined the photography club and taken an interest in her best friend. Now she feels lonely. Amanda doesn’t have time for her anymore and Bob is MIA. Tim tries to apologize after picking up Sarah from dance class but she’s still on the same old thing. The tension eases a little at the pizza place while they play arcade games, but it’s back when she finds Amanda at her house. Later, Sarah goes off on him about Amanda and Tim tells her there’s no reason for it. No one could replace her in Amanda’s life. Tim finally gets to the heart of the problem. Sarah blames him for their parent's divorce. He points out they were having problems LONG before.She starts to walk away but he stops her. He says they’ll never get anything resolved. But she says she can’t and goes to her room,

On Sunday, Sarah finds two policemen standing on the steps. They accuse him of stealing McAllister’s van and they tell him to come to the station to be questioned. They advise her to call her attorney (whose daughter is one of Sarah’s friends). He is able to leave the station tho. The police don’t have enough evidence to hold him. Sarah asks if there’s anything she can do. Sarah’s mom says she can believe in her brother. Later, their mom says their dad will be coming out. When he gets there Tim tells them he didn’t steal the van. He tells them how he took Amanda to the movies, took her home early, saw the van, and admired it. Then he went to the Dairi Burger friends am Then he came home. Sarah h wants to believe him but can’t quite do it. The police tho think he might have come back later.

On the way to school, Tim encourages her to go to a meeting, but Sarah says she doesn’t need to. Jerry is waiting for Tim and school, demands to know where his car is, and then punches him in the face. But it’s broken up by the principal and teachers. Amanda accus shier of not telling her what to expect. Elizabeth comes up to her and tells her she doesn’t believe her brother stole the van and offers her ear if she needs to talk. Tim gets sent home because of the fight. The incident is in the paper. Tim says he wishes he never came there. Sarah thinks the same. Her dad says they should all go out to dinner. Sarah wishes at dinner this is how it should have been. Sarah asks her mom if they’re getting back together and she says no her dad just came back for them and asks she not push him away. Bob comes by later and breaks up with her. She’s bad for his “dads” reputation. Tim angrily says Bob is a jerk for blaming his problems on her. He calls Amanda and she won’t come to the phone. Tim tells her his dad offered to take him back to Connecticut for good (which should make her happy). Sarah tries to talk to Amanda but it doesn’t go well. She’s mad they both weren’t honest. After school Liz invites Sarah to a ALA teen meeting. She doesn’t get much out of it. Liz tells her you just have to keep going back. When she gets home, her dad is there. Over a walk, he asks that she come visit him and asks for a second chance. He assures her it’ll all work out. He promises at the end of their outing, he’ll see her before he leaves, Sarah realizes that she doesn’t have to be ruled by other people’s judgements. Her dad one day says they found the van and the fingerprints belonged to a car thief in the town next over. Dad then says he meet a woman and he’s thinking of marrying her. Sarah has mixed feelings on this by then decides she’s okay with it and tells him she’s happy for him. Sarah finds a note from Tim saying goodbye. He says he’ll be going to a boarding school. Now things can go back to being simple.

She calls the airport and tells them to leave him a message not to get on the plane but they say they can’t. So she rushes to the airport. Of course, they make up and Sarah convinces him to come home. Jerry apologizes and says he was jealous because he’s liked Amanda for a while. Amanda and Sarah make up and sit with Enid and Elizabeth at lunch. Elizabeth invites them to a party she and Jess are having. Tim comes over. Amanda gets up and leaves. Sarah tells her she’ll be missing out if she doesn’t makeup with Tim. Of course, they make up. Bob tries to make up with Sarah, but by this time she realizes she’s over him. He’s shallow. He asks her to the party but she tells him she’d rather go alone. Amanda says she never liked him but she was scared to tell her. Sarah acted like she always needed a date. Sarah says she’s going to work on liking herself more before she gets to know someone else. The party goes well. Sarah that night finds out that her mother is already dating someone (Frank) and she’s invited him to dinner one night soon.

My Thoughts
I would like to say that if my brother had somehow gotten into trouble and taken drugs, drank, and stole a car and then years later tried to straighten himself out that I would have given him another chance. It was late in life when I learned I had a brother. At first, I really felt like he was trying because he wanted to get to know the family he didn’t know. Don’t ask me how it went from that to rarely communicating with each other. It’s not what I want at all. So when I read this, I couldn’t help but thinking your lucky your brother *wants* to have to have a relationship with you. I would *love* to have that. It just seemed soooo small to me that Sarah was worried about how her brother’s past would look to her friends. She should have *THANKED* Tim for showing her what an ass Bob was. Not that I don’t know why it even *took* her brother to see it. But then I thought about it another way. I also know what it’s like to have a sibling and they do something to kind of put you off to them and damage your trust in some way. I can say from personal experience that it does kind of take a minute to warm back up to them. It’s a wary feeling like you don’t really know how much to let them back in. In Sarah and Tim’s case she found it. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you just kind of handle the sibling with a long-handled spoon. But I think it’s a process. IT comes slowly. I =process. But I do believe in second chances if the other party really is sincere. I was also glad to see Sarah’s father stepping up and trying to be a better father.

Rating: 6

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m actually pretty sure I hadn’t read this one before, because absolutely none of it was familiar. But, it was a quick and fun read as always.

I love that Jessica’s Miss Teen Sweet Valley role has carried over in the last several books. Usually plots are dropped very quickly in this series, but in the last few books Jessica is constantly complaining about all the duties she has to perform. I can’t remember if she ever gives up her title or not, so I’m curious to see how it plays out.

[K.L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

He wasn't all that long lost to be honest, everyone in SVH knows Sara has a brother, they just think he's an Ivy League athlete and superman, when in fact t he's been in reform school for theft and alcohol abuse. Imagine her horror when he's released on probation and starts school at SVH!!!!

[Doris Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Nell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one centered around Sara and her returning from juvie brother Tim. Sara was a self-involved selfish unpleasant brat for most of the book and her boyfriend, Bob, was pretty much the worst so it made it a bit hard to enjoy this one.

Nice that she finally saw her way clear at the end of the book, but I found it hard to enjoy the journey there.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the cover but just not the story.