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Sweet Valley Twins #3
The Haunted House
Everyone at Sweet Valley Middle School has always said the Mercandy mansion is haunted. Strange lights flicker in the windows at night, and no one ever sees the owners come and go. So when Nora Mercandy moves into the run-down house, rumors spread fast. Jessica Wakefield and her friends are convinced that Nora is a witch. But Elizabeth, Jessica's identical twin, is certain that Nora is just an ordinary girl. She's determined to stick up for her new friend. She'll get to the bottom of the mystery of the Mercandy Mansion—even if it means losing her sister's friendship.
106 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
11 people are currently reading
625 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,845 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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December 15, 2024
"She probably needs some meat for her Halloween dinner. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to end up in any witches’ brew!"
The Wakefield twins are up to their old games again. They try to solve the mystery of is the new girl a witch? Or just weirdo? If we know the twins as good as we say then we know that this is going to be one crazy ride.
This was a lot of silly, middle school drama but loads of fun. Girls can be cruel when someone new moves to a small town and this shows you how warped their little minds can be. It was still a great read and you can’t go wrong with SVH!
The Wakefield twins are up to their old games again. They try to solve the mystery of is the new girl a witch? Or just weirdo? If we know the twins as good as we say then we know that this is going to be one crazy ride.
This was a lot of silly, middle school drama but loads of fun. Girls can be cruel when someone new moves to a small town and this shows you how warped their little minds can be. It was still a great read and you can’t go wrong with SVH!
September 19, 2025
Marian and I chose a banger to start this year's nostalgia re-readathon, and I'm going to take a page from her book and gush about this cover for a little bit. First of all, I just *love* these original SVT circle covers. They are really excellently done, with a nice cover image between the ribbons announcing the series and creator. I'm also a big fan of the original model(s) for the tweenage Wakefield twins - they always have great expressions! Here the twins look astonished by Nora, who basically looks like she could completely care less about their whispers/gossip/rumors because she KNOWS she's a total badass.
Unfortunately, book Nora doesn't quite live up to cover Nora.
As the book opens, it's a crisp fall day and the twins are speeding home from the library. They promised their mom they'd be home by 4 pm, but they both got caught up in their social studies homework (yes, even Jessica) so they are already half an hour late. This urgent need to get home doesn't stop them from slowing down as they pass the creepy old Mercandy mansion and staring at it - or the girl who emerges from it, calling for what turns out to be a black cat. Jessica and Elizabeth have heard the rumors that are swirling around town about the reclusive old Mercandy couple - she is a witch and she keeps her husband locked up in the attic - and they wonder about this new girl. Has the witch kidnapped her? She returns inside with her hands full of cat, but Jessica's not so sure. After all, Unicorn club president Janet Howell lives next door and has it on expert opinion that the Mercandys are evil.
When the twins arrive home, they are babbling about "the witch" but neither their parents nor Steven pay them much attention. The Wakefield parents are off to dinner and Steven soon escapes to his room, so the girls have their own dinner and Jessica decides to swim some laps in the above-ground pool. Liz warns her that it's too cold, but Jessica doesn't care...and when Jess wakes up the next morning with a sore throat, she probably really doesn't care because she can stay home from school. She begs Liz to get the scoop on the new girl from Janet and Lila.
Elizabeth doesn't need to rely on the rumor mill, because the new girl shows up in her homeroom. Her name is Nora Mercandy, and she recently moved to the Valley from Pennsylvania. Already there are under-the-breath cracks from their classmates (Lila is sure the teacher means Transylvania), and nobody raises their hand when the teacher asks for someone to show Nora around the school. Liz rather reluctantly volunteers at last, and she finds Nora to be a quiet but nice girl. She knows that all the kids think Nora is a witch and that's why they are treating her so badly, but does she tell Nora that? Oh, no - or else this already slim novel would be even shorter LOL.
Nora has to sit out gym class because she doesn't have gym clothes, so Liz promises to bring her some the next day. Unfortunately, Liz catches Jessica's sore throat and is absent from school. Nora is perplexed as to why Elizabeth, who was so kind to her the day before, is pointedly ignoring her today and sitting with the girls who teased her - until afternoon gym rolls around and Jessica introduces herself. She forgot the gym clothes that Liz made her promise to bring, so it looks like Nora is sitting out again - until it turns out that there is an uneven number, and the teacher wants Nora to face Lila on the tennis court.
Lila is confident that she will cream the witch - she has a private tennis teacher who used to be a professional men's player, and of course she has her own tennis court - but Nora was the junior tennis champion back home, and even in street clothes, she humiliates Lila on the court. Lila goaded her into a bet before they started playing, and Nora doesn't want her boon until Lila forces it on her - an expensive cloisonne pen, a gift from Lila's mother in Paris.
Lila has an ulterior motive, of course. The next day, when Nora takes out the pen to use in class, Lila very loudly proclaims that it's her pen and Nora stole it. They are sent to the principal's office, and Lila is extremely self-satisfied when the principal believes her lies and gets on Nora's case about making bets on school grounds. It might have stopped there, but Nora makes the ultimate mistake of talking to handsome new boy Rick Hunter, a fantastic tennis player that Lila has a crush on, and even makes a date to play tennis with him. No way is the Mercandy witch going to take Lila's boy!
Lila is a complete asshole in this book. She treats Nora horribly and ropes the rest of the Unicorns into bullying her, too. Even when Nora tries to make amends by introducing the school kids to her grandparents, it backfires when her grandfather makes an unexpected appearance and scares them all off because he walks stiffly and only seems able to say "Nor" over and over again. Lila leads the brigade of kids who believe Nora deliberately tried to scare them, and the Unicorns basically treat Nora as their own personal slave. Nora goes along because of the incident with the principal (why would grownups believe her, the new girl, against a known quantity like Lila?), and because Elizabeth and Amy seem to disappear off the face of the earth. Liz and Amy are working on a special Halloween edition of the Sixers, which apparently takes up all their free time, leaving Nora to the wolves.
Then Lila and the Unicorns promptly make an about-face, apologize for their horrid behavior, and start fawning over Nora. Elizabeth is suspicious, and Nora is wary, but none of them say anything because at least they aren't being bitches to Nora anymore. Lila is hyping everyone up for her big blowout Halloween bash, and she encourages Nora to attend as a witch. Nora still doesn't know that her classmates think she really is a witch, so she has no idea just how good her costume is when she turns up as such on Halloween at school, and then attends Lila's party.
Jessica, Lila, and Ellen Riteman are dressed as hula girls (and win the prize for prettiest costumes in their class), while Liz and Amy dress up as clowns because they are complete dorks. Everyone attends Lila's party, and Liz overhears Bruce Patman making plans with is goon friends to vandalize the Mercandy property with TP, rotten eggs, shaving cream, etc. Liz warns Nora, who runs off in a huff. Liz runs after her, Jessica runs after Liz, and eventually all 40 kids at the party follow them "a couple of blocks" from Fowler Crest to the Mercandy house. (Apparently Lila and Bruce are not yet living in the hills above the Valley, LOL.)
Nora hurls the rotten goodies at Bruce when she arrives home and disappears inside the mansion. Liz continues to chase her, and Jessica decides to chance stepping inside the forbidden house for fear of her sister's life. Again, all of the kids eventually follow them, climbing three flights of stairs to the attic, where they find Nora in tears and Liz trying to comfort her.
The boys start looking around the attic and recognize the posters of Marvelous Marvin, a world-famous magician who was taught the tricks of the trade by Houdini. Everyone is duly impressed, and Nora tells them that Marvin is her grandfather. He had a stroke ten years ago and requires around-the-clock care, which is why her grandmother never leaves the house. Nora lives with her grandparents now because her own parents have died as well. She offers to show them some of the tricks that Marvin has been teaching her (hence the lights flickering in the attic at night), and convinces Liz to give quite a performance when she saws her in half. Everyone is duly impressed, the grandparents arrive to see what's going on, and they basically end up having a party in the Mercandy attic. All's well that ends well!
Nora is a great character (especially once she's FINALLY clued in on all the rumors), and it's a shame that she's relegated to the background after this book. She's definitely more a friend of Liz's than Jessica's, and even ends up talking with Rick Hunter again at the party, so she even got the guy in the end.
Lila is absolutely terrible in this book, albeit in a very 1980s way instead of the upgraded awfulness in the graphic novel version. It's so early in the canon that, along with not living in the hills, she's also apparently in regular touch with her mother, and actually loves that her father is never around. The pathological lying is unfortunately a characteristic trait, but here she's treated as much more of a leader than Jessica, and even as if Jessica is in thrall of her and wants badly to impress her. Lila is Janet Howell's cousin, which is apparently where the power comes from, although Janet is completely useless now and in the rest of the series.
Also odd - apparently Bruce takes the Unicorns very seriously and is impressed by their club, which just seems wrong on all kinds of levels to me. He's a classic bully himself, so why he doesn't tease these girls instead is beyond me, but whatever. His falling in with Lila when it comes to playing mean tricks on Nora is definitely par for the course.
Nevertheless, early SV canon is a lot of fun, so I'm glad we chose this book as the opener for our 2025 re-readathon.
Unfortunately, book Nora doesn't quite live up to cover Nora.
As the book opens, it's a crisp fall day and the twins are speeding home from the library. They promised their mom they'd be home by 4 pm, but they both got caught up in their social studies homework (yes, even Jessica) so they are already half an hour late. This urgent need to get home doesn't stop them from slowing down as they pass the creepy old Mercandy mansion and staring at it - or the girl who emerges from it, calling for what turns out to be a black cat. Jessica and Elizabeth have heard the rumors that are swirling around town about the reclusive old Mercandy couple - she is a witch and she keeps her husband locked up in the attic - and they wonder about this new girl. Has the witch kidnapped her? She returns inside with her hands full of cat, but Jessica's not so sure. After all, Unicorn club president Janet Howell lives next door and has it on expert opinion that the Mercandys are evil.
When the twins arrive home, they are babbling about "the witch" but neither their parents nor Steven pay them much attention. The Wakefield parents are off to dinner and Steven soon escapes to his room, so the girls have their own dinner and Jessica decides to swim some laps in the above-ground pool. Liz warns her that it's too cold, but Jessica doesn't care...and when Jess wakes up the next morning with a sore throat, she probably really doesn't care because she can stay home from school. She begs Liz to get the scoop on the new girl from Janet and Lila.
Elizabeth doesn't need to rely on the rumor mill, because the new girl shows up in her homeroom. Her name is Nora Mercandy, and she recently moved to the Valley from Pennsylvania. Already there are under-the-breath cracks from their classmates (Lila is sure the teacher means Transylvania), and nobody raises their hand when the teacher asks for someone to show Nora around the school. Liz rather reluctantly volunteers at last, and she finds Nora to be a quiet but nice girl. She knows that all the kids think Nora is a witch and that's why they are treating her so badly, but does she tell Nora that? Oh, no - or else this already slim novel would be even shorter LOL.
Nora has to sit out gym class because she doesn't have gym clothes, so Liz promises to bring her some the next day. Unfortunately, Liz catches Jessica's sore throat and is absent from school. Nora is perplexed as to why Elizabeth, who was so kind to her the day before, is pointedly ignoring her today and sitting with the girls who teased her - until afternoon gym rolls around and Jessica introduces herself. She forgot the gym clothes that Liz made her promise to bring, so it looks like Nora is sitting out again - until it turns out that there is an uneven number, and the teacher wants Nora to face Lila on the tennis court.
Lila is confident that she will cream the witch - she has a private tennis teacher who used to be a professional men's player, and of course she has her own tennis court - but Nora was the junior tennis champion back home, and even in street clothes, she humiliates Lila on the court. Lila goaded her into a bet before they started playing, and Nora doesn't want her boon until Lila forces it on her - an expensive cloisonne pen, a gift from Lila's mother in Paris.
Lila has an ulterior motive, of course. The next day, when Nora takes out the pen to use in class, Lila very loudly proclaims that it's her pen and Nora stole it. They are sent to the principal's office, and Lila is extremely self-satisfied when the principal believes her lies and gets on Nora's case about making bets on school grounds. It might have stopped there, but Nora makes the ultimate mistake of talking to handsome new boy Rick Hunter, a fantastic tennis player that Lila has a crush on, and even makes a date to play tennis with him. No way is the Mercandy witch going to take Lila's boy!
Lila is a complete asshole in this book. She treats Nora horribly and ropes the rest of the Unicorns into bullying her, too. Even when Nora tries to make amends by introducing the school kids to her grandparents, it backfires when her grandfather makes an unexpected appearance and scares them all off because he walks stiffly and only seems able to say "Nor" over and over again. Lila leads the brigade of kids who believe Nora deliberately tried to scare them, and the Unicorns basically treat Nora as their own personal slave. Nora goes along because of the incident with the principal (why would grownups believe her, the new girl, against a known quantity like Lila?), and because Elizabeth and Amy seem to disappear off the face of the earth. Liz and Amy are working on a special Halloween edition of the Sixers, which apparently takes up all their free time, leaving Nora to the wolves.
Then Lila and the Unicorns promptly make an about-face, apologize for their horrid behavior, and start fawning over Nora. Elizabeth is suspicious, and Nora is wary, but none of them say anything because at least they aren't being bitches to Nora anymore. Lila is hyping everyone up for her big blowout Halloween bash, and she encourages Nora to attend as a witch. Nora still doesn't know that her classmates think she really is a witch, so she has no idea just how good her costume is when she turns up as such on Halloween at school, and then attends Lila's party.
Jessica, Lila, and Ellen Riteman are dressed as hula girls (and win the prize for prettiest costumes in their class), while Liz and Amy dress up as clowns because they are complete dorks. Everyone attends Lila's party, and Liz overhears Bruce Patman making plans with is goon friends to vandalize the Mercandy property with TP, rotten eggs, shaving cream, etc. Liz warns Nora, who runs off in a huff. Liz runs after her, Jessica runs after Liz, and eventually all 40 kids at the party follow them "a couple of blocks" from Fowler Crest to the Mercandy house. (Apparently Lila and Bruce are not yet living in the hills above the Valley, LOL.)
Nora hurls the rotten goodies at Bruce when she arrives home and disappears inside the mansion. Liz continues to chase her, and Jessica decides to chance stepping inside the forbidden house for fear of her sister's life. Again, all of the kids eventually follow them, climbing three flights of stairs to the attic, where they find Nora in tears and Liz trying to comfort her.
The boys start looking around the attic and recognize the posters of Marvelous Marvin, a world-famous magician who was taught the tricks of the trade by Houdini. Everyone is duly impressed, and Nora tells them that Marvin is her grandfather. He had a stroke ten years ago and requires around-the-clock care, which is why her grandmother never leaves the house. Nora lives with her grandparents now because her own parents have died as well. She offers to show them some of the tricks that Marvin has been teaching her (hence the lights flickering in the attic at night), and convinces Liz to give quite a performance when she saws her in half. Everyone is duly impressed, the grandparents arrive to see what's going on, and they basically end up having a party in the Mercandy attic. All's well that ends well!
Nora is a great character (especially once she's FINALLY clued in on all the rumors), and it's a shame that she's relegated to the background after this book. She's definitely more a friend of Liz's than Jessica's, and even ends up talking with Rick Hunter again at the party, so she even got the guy in the end.
Lila is absolutely terrible in this book, albeit in a very 1980s way instead of the upgraded awfulness in the graphic novel version. It's so early in the canon that, along with not living in the hills, she's also apparently in regular touch with her mother, and actually loves that her father is never around. The pathological lying is unfortunately a characteristic trait, but here she's treated as much more of a leader than Jessica, and even as if Jessica is in thrall of her and wants badly to impress her. Lila is Janet Howell's cousin, which is apparently where the power comes from, although Janet is completely useless now and in the rest of the series.
Also odd - apparently Bruce takes the Unicorns very seriously and is impressed by their club, which just seems wrong on all kinds of levels to me. He's a classic bully himself, so why he doesn't tease these girls instead is beyond me, but whatever. His falling in with Lila when it comes to playing mean tricks on Nora is definitely par for the course.
Nevertheless, early SV canon is a lot of fun, so I'm glad we chose this book as the opener for our 2025 re-readathon.
Read
December 7, 2022This is an extremely difficult book to read because it's full of terrible bullying and doesn't even resolve the bullying storyline in a satisfying manner.
All the kids in Sweet Valley know that the Mercandy house is haunted and Mrs Mercandy is a witch. So when Elizabeth and Jessica discover that a girl their age has moved in, they assume that she must be a witch as well.
When Nora Mercandy starts attending school at Sweet Valley Middle School, however, Elizabeth begrudgingly offers to show her around, and soon realises that Nora is just a normal girl—one she genuinely likes.
The Unicorns are not as easily persuaded.
The Sweet Valley books usually feel a need to punish Jessica for the smallest things, but when really nasty stuff goes on, like it does in this book, it's just shrugged off. Uncool.
Lila's my favourite character, but even I can't stand her in this one.
Moral of the Story? Bullies will get off scot free.
[re-read - previously read a couple of times]
All the kids in Sweet Valley know that the Mercandy house is haunted and Mrs Mercandy is a witch. So when Elizabeth and Jessica discover that a girl their age has moved in, they assume that she must be a witch as well.
When Nora Mercandy starts attending school at Sweet Valley Middle School, however, Elizabeth begrudgingly offers to show her around, and soon realises that Nora is just a normal girl—one she genuinely likes.
The Unicorns are not as easily persuaded.
The Sweet Valley books usually feel a need to punish Jessica for the smallest things, but when really nasty stuff goes on, like it does in this book, it's just shrugged off. Uncool.
Lila's my favourite character, but even I can't stand her in this one.
Moral of the Story? Bullies will get off scot free.
[re-read - previously read a couple of times]
August 23, 2019
The only thing that could’ve slightly redeemed this piece of shit is if Nora was an actual witch. Who then went all Fairuza Balk in “The Craft” on those psychos-in-training, the Unicorns.
Read
September 16, 2025Let spooky season begin! We start our annual re-read with The Haunted House, featuring one of my favorite lesser used SV characters, Nora Mercandy. Look at that cover. Even Elizabeth is scandalized by how awesome Nora is and how little she'll be used later. The look on Nora's face is just fantastic as the twins gossip RIGHT THERE. Love her. It's criminal how little they utilize her after this book and I will forever be upset about this. Nora!
Anyway, Nora's new in town and no one's met her yet, though the twins did see her get eaten by the old Mercandy mansion at the end of the previous book. It's funny how Janet freakin' Howell doesn't seem to see much of the Mercandys despite living literally next door but Janet remains useless in general so eh, whatcha gonna do? I suppose that's also the point; no one really seems to know anything about the Mercandys, so rumors abound. They've decided old lady Mercandy is a witch who keeps her crazy husband locked up in the attic, where lights are forever going on and off at all hours of the night.
The truth is much simpler and much sadder, but we'll get to that in a bit.
After the twins glimpse Nora calling for a cat named Boris, they rush home, all atwitter over the new girl and whether she's a witch, or being held captive by the Mercandys. We get a brief glimpse at the Wakefield family unit before Ned and Alice head off to meet friends for dinner (but fear not, for Alice made sure the kids had their own dinner before dipping out for the evening), which leaves Jessica free to take a dip in the now unheated above-ground pool. It's funny re-reading something and realizing little things that got changed/tweaked, though it makes some sense since I'm pretty sure SVH mentions that the in-ground pool is new, and it'll be a little later that this is retconned for SVT.
Anyway, nerding out aside, Jessica comes down with a cold due to her after dinner swim (not sure how that tracks but it's 1986 and still very much a time where going out in the rain would lead to being sick so I'll hush) which means Lizzie heads off to school alone and gets roped into being the welcome wagon for the new girl. I'm a little disappointed in how long it takes her to rise to the challenge and offer to do so when everyone else in class keeps poor Nora hanging, but I do have to remind myself that for Elizabeth, a potential witch is not a selling point, whereas kid!me would've only been held back by social anxiety/shyness.
Elizabeth realizes pretty quickly that Nora is a normal, if a little shy, girl, but since the two don't really have many classes together, is unable to shield the poor girl from SV Middle's particular brand of cruelty. Right away Lila Fowler and the rest of the Unicorns decide to make sure to make an enemy of the new girl/witch, which just proves they're pretty friggin' dumb since anyone with a working braincell (so Ellen is excused from this) would think to maybe NOT antagonize someone who could turn them into a toad, or at least get their grandmother to do so on command.
In any case, Jessica passes her cold on to Liz and the next day Nora is completely baffled by her new friend being called 'Jessica' and ignoring her in favor of the very girls who've been making her life miserable. During gym Jessica clears up the confusion when she finally remembers to apologize for forgetting to bring the extra gym suit that Liz tried to send along. Because plot's gotta plot, the gym teacher relaxes the rule about no one participating out of uniform so that Nora can play tennis against Lila.
This totally seems fair, right? New, obviously poor girl going up against "my daddy pays a former professional tennis player to give me lessons" Lila Fowler? God, gym class had so many layers of hell. And in this case, it's not that the match is tipped in Lila's favor; it's that Lila is so sure that she'll beat the pants off Nora that she makes a bet about winning and then Nora thoroughly trounces her. Lila is FURIOUS and throws a tantrum right there on the court for all to see and not once does anyone ever think to refer back to this (and the fact that the gym teacher totally saw this and would remember it) when Lila kicks her "torture Nora" plan into high gear.
Lila makes good on her bet, giving her fancy pen to Nora even though Nora really doesn't want any part of it, and then does exactly what you'd expect her to do the next day- she reports it missing and then suddenly is SHOCKED, shocked I say, when Nora has it. The girls get sent to the vice principal's office where Lila, who we're told is a very accomplished liar, lies like crazy. Despite the fact that she's very clearly a liar, Lila gets her way and Nora is scolded for making bets and then accepting such an expensive pen when she won. The. FUCK. My outrage then and my outrage now are pretty much the same since adults really have been this gullible and terrible since the dawn of time.
Like I said, Liz can't really shield Nora from this because even when she's not missing school because she's sick, or out working on a special edition of the Sixers (seriously, wtf?), she doesn't really have many classes with the poor girl. Nora's drowning while the Unicorns continue to pile misery on her and Nora can't figure out why everyone was so dead-set against her to begin with. Eventually Amy and Elizabeth kind of tell her the truth, that everyone thinks her grandparents are uh, hermits, yeah, hermits.
It's October, Elizabeth, this is the only time telling her they think her grandmother is a witch will make ANY sense. Lean into it! Sigh.
Nora's brilliant idea is to invite the Unicorns over to meet her grandmother and that'll smooth everything over. Liz and Amy agree to varying degrees, and then Liz gets blackmailed by Jessica in order to guarantee the Unicorns show up in the first place. Seriously, I cannot stress this enough, Janet lives NEXT DOOR. You don't have to work this hard, Nora.
Jessica manages to work her magic, but only when she's motivated by all the things she's convinced Elizabeth to give her in return, and the Unicorns head to Nora's, where they pick up Bruce Patman along the way. Everyone cautiously makes their way to the Mercandy backyard and things seem to be going okay until an old man with crazy hair stumbles out of the house, mumbling "Nor, Nor" over and over. Because they're kids, they assume he's a zombie and run like hell.
The Unicorns, lead by Lila, declare war on Nora AGAIN because how DARE she invite them all over to embarrass them like that?! Who does she think she is? So, in keeping with this being the 80's, they decide to treat her like their own personal slave, and make her do various errands and odd jobs that could get her in trouble (like leaving campus to run and get them cookies, but at least Lila thinks to pay, which I guess is also pretty insulting) and when Nora is finally able to tell Liz and Amy about this, Liz's great idea is to just... roll with it until the Unicorns get bored and move onto some other poor sucker?
I mean points given for believability, I guess. Eventually, Lila decides to level up her cruelty and calls off the all out hostility. Instead, she has everyone pretend to be nice to Nora and apologize for their cruelty, then asks her to come to Lila's Halloween party, dressed as a witch. Since neither Amy or Elizabeth ever did mention the whole Mercandy Witch thing, Nora doesn't really see anything wrong with it, and agrees to do so.
My heart breaks for how hopeful she is that things have finally changed for the better, especially since Lila is smart enough to realize that they have to keep her away from Liz and Amy who will be able to see through this newfound friendship and warn Nora away. I did chuckle a bit (and always do) when Nora notices that when Lila's not being a hateful brat she's actually pretty, but it's taken her until now to notice on account of her being such a raging bitch this whole time.
Halloween comes and Nora is the scariest witch anyone has seen, leading to more speculation that she just HAS to be a real witch, especially when she mentions that her grandmother had the costume bits at home already. Oh, Nora.
At the party, any hope of Lila thawing before the prank is pulled are dashed when the new guy, Rick Hunter, that Lila's got her eye on asks Lila if she's seen Nora, since he wants to make a tennis date with her as well. Oof.
Bruce, Charlie, and Jerry (the asshole boys) have gone off to egg and TP Nora's house while Nora finds out the new, friendlier Unicorns are just the same cruel girls they always have been. Lila, Jessica, and Ellen go in on how nice it is to have a real, ugly witch at the party and honestly, this part has always kind of baffled me since... it's a costume? On Halloween? And again, if Nora's really a witch, why are you setting yourself up for revenge like that? Focus, Fowler! Anyway, Nora realizes the plan was to draw her away from the house so the boys could fuck shit up, and she finally tells Lila and co where they can shove it, and runs home. Literally.
Liz takes half a second to bawl out Jessica before running after Nora, and Jessica starts after her sister, but does pause long enough to tell Lila no when she suggests just letting Elizabeth go chasing after a witch on Halloween alone. Rick and Amy immediately follow Jessica, and the thing you know, EVERYONE including Lila is running to the old Mercandy haunted house.
This all happens on Halloween, and not one adult is out trick or treating with their kid, or out on their porch enjoying the evening and sees like, twenty middle-schoolers run down the street and thinks, "huh. Weird."?
Nora gets home in time to scare Bruce by screaming at him to stop, then throws his supplies at him and runs inside, where Elizabeth follows shortly thereafter. Jessica's panicked because who knows what'll happen to her INSIDE the haunted house?! She tells Lila off and then follows her twin inside. The rest of the kids debate whether its worth risking the wrath of the old Mercandy Witch before Rick suggests that there's safety in numbers, so everyone else follows the twins inside and up to the attic.
We finally learn that Nora's grandfather is the Marvelous Marvin , a world famous magician, who studied with Houdini himself, and I get to snickersnort at Bruce mentioning he's heard of Houdini. Turns out he had a stroke a decade or so back and hasn't been able to leave the house since, which means Nora's grandmother also can't leave the house since she can't leave him. He can't talk all that well but does understand what's going on, and he's been teaching Nora his magic, which she offers to show the crowd by sawing someone in half. Elizabeth gets roped in and makes a delightful assistant, even going so far as to pretend to faint during the act, though this does activate Jessica's protective instincts.
The day is saved and Nora's shown everyone that her family isn't scary, just different. We move on to teasing Ken about being short and setting up the Boosters cheerleading bit for the next book, and Nora remains friggin' awesome and why didn't we get more of the superior Nora? WHY? She does magic and plays tennis and won the boy without even trying! Sigh.
I'd forgotten that Nora's an orphan when she's forced to come to Sweet Valley, and this is incredibly heartbreaking once you find out what's actually going on with her grandparents and how likely it is that there's a very good reason we don't see Nora in SVH. :/
I'd also forgotten just how much casual fat shaming there is in these books, as we get a crack thrown in at Jerry for being overweight and having like, one line, and it's about food, yet later Jessica will be mentioned to be teased by her family for eating like a lumberjack and ain't no one is ever gonna be able to call her fat. (This is actually something that does carry through the various series, so I'm on board for continuity.)
We also have a moment where Lila's asked if she misses having her parents around, and she points out that she's used to her dad flitting in and out of her life, and she sees her mother for two weeks every summer, though that's something pretty quickly retconned. Honestly, I prefer them committing to Grace Fowler just dipping out of her daughter's life and hate how that'll be spun years from now, but in any case, it's still interesting to see what they were still working on this early in both SVT and SVH.
I'm not sure I can rate this one because my love for Nora is so strong but the bullying really is awful and does bring back painful memories of my own middle/high school hell, so instead I'll leave you with the mental image of a fully made up Jessica trying to wolf down her breakfast when one of her massive fake lashes flutters down and lands in the pile of grape jelly Jessica's heaped on her toast.
Anyway, Nora's new in town and no one's met her yet, though the twins did see her get eaten by the old Mercandy mansion at the end of the previous book. It's funny how Janet freakin' Howell doesn't seem to see much of the Mercandys despite living literally next door but Janet remains useless in general so eh, whatcha gonna do? I suppose that's also the point; no one really seems to know anything about the Mercandys, so rumors abound. They've decided old lady Mercandy is a witch who keeps her crazy husband locked up in the attic, where lights are forever going on and off at all hours of the night.
The truth is much simpler and much sadder, but we'll get to that in a bit.
After the twins glimpse Nora calling for a cat named Boris, they rush home, all atwitter over the new girl and whether she's a witch, or being held captive by the Mercandys. We get a brief glimpse at the Wakefield family unit before Ned and Alice head off to meet friends for dinner (but fear not, for Alice made sure the kids had their own dinner before dipping out for the evening), which leaves Jessica free to take a dip in the now unheated above-ground pool. It's funny re-reading something and realizing little things that got changed/tweaked, though it makes some sense since I'm pretty sure SVH mentions that the in-ground pool is new, and it'll be a little later that this is retconned for SVT.
Anyway, nerding out aside, Jessica comes down with a cold due to her after dinner swim (not sure how that tracks but it's 1986 and still very much a time where going out in the rain would lead to being sick so I'll hush) which means Lizzie heads off to school alone and gets roped into being the welcome wagon for the new girl. I'm a little disappointed in how long it takes her to rise to the challenge and offer to do so when everyone else in class keeps poor Nora hanging, but I do have to remind myself that for Elizabeth, a potential witch is not a selling point, whereas kid!me would've only been held back by social anxiety/shyness.
Elizabeth realizes pretty quickly that Nora is a normal, if a little shy, girl, but since the two don't really have many classes together, is unable to shield the poor girl from SV Middle's particular brand of cruelty. Right away Lila Fowler and the rest of the Unicorns decide to make sure to make an enemy of the new girl/witch, which just proves they're pretty friggin' dumb since anyone with a working braincell (so Ellen is excused from this) would think to maybe NOT antagonize someone who could turn them into a toad, or at least get their grandmother to do so on command.
In any case, Jessica passes her cold on to Liz and the next day Nora is completely baffled by her new friend being called 'Jessica' and ignoring her in favor of the very girls who've been making her life miserable. During gym Jessica clears up the confusion when she finally remembers to apologize for forgetting to bring the extra gym suit that Liz tried to send along. Because plot's gotta plot, the gym teacher relaxes the rule about no one participating out of uniform so that Nora can play tennis against Lila.
This totally seems fair, right? New, obviously poor girl going up against "my daddy pays a former professional tennis player to give me lessons" Lila Fowler? God, gym class had so many layers of hell. And in this case, it's not that the match is tipped in Lila's favor; it's that Lila is so sure that she'll beat the pants off Nora that she makes a bet about winning and then Nora thoroughly trounces her. Lila is FURIOUS and throws a tantrum right there on the court for all to see and not once does anyone ever think to refer back to this (and the fact that the gym teacher totally saw this and would remember it) when Lila kicks her "torture Nora" plan into high gear.
Lila makes good on her bet, giving her fancy pen to Nora even though Nora really doesn't want any part of it, and then does exactly what you'd expect her to do the next day- she reports it missing and then suddenly is SHOCKED, shocked I say, when Nora has it. The girls get sent to the vice principal's office where Lila, who we're told is a very accomplished liar, lies like crazy. Despite the fact that she's very clearly a liar, Lila gets her way and Nora is scolded for making bets and then accepting such an expensive pen when she won. The. FUCK. My outrage then and my outrage now are pretty much the same since adults really have been this gullible and terrible since the dawn of time.
Like I said, Liz can't really shield Nora from this because even when she's not missing school because she's sick, or out working on a special edition of the Sixers (seriously, wtf?), she doesn't really have many classes with the poor girl. Nora's drowning while the Unicorns continue to pile misery on her and Nora can't figure out why everyone was so dead-set against her to begin with. Eventually Amy and Elizabeth kind of tell her the truth, that everyone thinks her grandparents are uh, hermits, yeah, hermits.
It's October, Elizabeth, this is the only time telling her they think her grandmother is a witch will make ANY sense. Lean into it! Sigh.
Nora's brilliant idea is to invite the Unicorns over to meet her grandmother and that'll smooth everything over. Liz and Amy agree to varying degrees, and then Liz gets blackmailed by Jessica in order to guarantee the Unicorns show up in the first place. Seriously, I cannot stress this enough, Janet lives NEXT DOOR. You don't have to work this hard, Nora.
Jessica manages to work her magic, but only when she's motivated by all the things she's convinced Elizabeth to give her in return, and the Unicorns head to Nora's, where they pick up Bruce Patman along the way. Everyone cautiously makes their way to the Mercandy backyard and things seem to be going okay until an old man with crazy hair stumbles out of the house, mumbling "Nor, Nor" over and over. Because they're kids, they assume he's a zombie and run like hell.
The Unicorns, lead by Lila, declare war on Nora AGAIN because how DARE she invite them all over to embarrass them like that?! Who does she think she is? So, in keeping with this being the 80's, they decide to treat her like their own personal slave, and make her do various errands and odd jobs that could get her in trouble (like leaving campus to run and get them cookies, but at least Lila thinks to pay, which I guess is also pretty insulting) and when Nora is finally able to tell Liz and Amy about this, Liz's great idea is to just... roll with it until the Unicorns get bored and move onto some other poor sucker?
I mean points given for believability, I guess. Eventually, Lila decides to level up her cruelty and calls off the all out hostility. Instead, she has everyone pretend to be nice to Nora and apologize for their cruelty, then asks her to come to Lila's Halloween party, dressed as a witch. Since neither Amy or Elizabeth ever did mention the whole Mercandy Witch thing, Nora doesn't really see anything wrong with it, and agrees to do so.
My heart breaks for how hopeful she is that things have finally changed for the better, especially since Lila is smart enough to realize that they have to keep her away from Liz and Amy who will be able to see through this newfound friendship and warn Nora away. I did chuckle a bit (and always do) when Nora notices that when Lila's not being a hateful brat she's actually pretty, but it's taken her until now to notice on account of her being such a raging bitch this whole time.
Halloween comes and Nora is the scariest witch anyone has seen, leading to more speculation that she just HAS to be a real witch, especially when she mentions that her grandmother had the costume bits at home already. Oh, Nora.
At the party, any hope of Lila thawing before the prank is pulled are dashed when the new guy, Rick Hunter, that Lila's got her eye on asks Lila if she's seen Nora, since he wants to make a tennis date with her as well. Oof.
Bruce, Charlie, and Jerry (the asshole boys) have gone off to egg and TP Nora's house while Nora finds out the new, friendlier Unicorns are just the same cruel girls they always have been. Lila, Jessica, and Ellen go in on how nice it is to have a real, ugly witch at the party and honestly, this part has always kind of baffled me since... it's a costume? On Halloween? And again, if Nora's really a witch, why are you setting yourself up for revenge like that? Focus, Fowler! Anyway, Nora realizes the plan was to draw her away from the house so the boys could fuck shit up, and she finally tells Lila and co where they can shove it, and runs home. Literally.
Liz takes half a second to bawl out Jessica before running after Nora, and Jessica starts after her sister, but does pause long enough to tell Lila no when she suggests just letting Elizabeth go chasing after a witch on Halloween alone. Rick and Amy immediately follow Jessica, and the thing you know, EVERYONE including Lila is running to the old Mercandy haunted house.
This all happens on Halloween, and not one adult is out trick or treating with their kid, or out on their porch enjoying the evening and sees like, twenty middle-schoolers run down the street and thinks, "huh. Weird."?
Nora gets home in time to scare Bruce by screaming at him to stop, then throws his supplies at him and runs inside, where Elizabeth follows shortly thereafter. Jessica's panicked because who knows what'll happen to her INSIDE the haunted house?! She tells Lila off and then follows her twin inside. The rest of the kids debate whether its worth risking the wrath of the old Mercandy Witch before Rick suggests that there's safety in numbers, so everyone else follows the twins inside and up to the attic.
We finally learn that Nora's grandfather is the Marvelous Marvin , a world famous magician, who studied with Houdini himself, and I get to snickersnort at Bruce mentioning he's heard of Houdini. Turns out he had a stroke a decade or so back and hasn't been able to leave the house since, which means Nora's grandmother also can't leave the house since she can't leave him. He can't talk all that well but does understand what's going on, and he's been teaching Nora his magic, which she offers to show the crowd by sawing someone in half. Elizabeth gets roped in and makes a delightful assistant, even going so far as to pretend to faint during the act, though this does activate Jessica's protective instincts.
The day is saved and Nora's shown everyone that her family isn't scary, just different. We move on to teasing Ken about being short and setting up the Boosters cheerleading bit for the next book, and Nora remains friggin' awesome and why didn't we get more of the superior Nora? WHY? She does magic and plays tennis and won the boy without even trying! Sigh.
I'd forgotten that Nora's an orphan when she's forced to come to Sweet Valley, and this is incredibly heartbreaking once you find out what's actually going on with her grandparents and how likely it is that there's a very good reason we don't see Nora in SVH. :/
I'd also forgotten just how much casual fat shaming there is in these books, as we get a crack thrown in at Jerry for being overweight and having like, one line, and it's about food, yet later Jessica will be mentioned to be teased by her family for eating like a lumberjack and ain't no one is ever gonna be able to call her fat. (This is actually something that does carry through the various series, so I'm on board for continuity.)
We also have a moment where Lila's asked if she misses having her parents around, and she points out that she's used to her dad flitting in and out of her life, and she sees her mother for two weeks every summer, though that's something pretty quickly retconned. Honestly, I prefer them committing to Grace Fowler just dipping out of her daughter's life and hate how that'll be spun years from now, but in any case, it's still interesting to see what they were still working on this early in both SVT and SVH.
I'm not sure I can rate this one because my love for Nora is so strong but the bullying really is awful and does bring back painful memories of my own middle/high school hell, so instead I'll leave you with the mental image of a fully made up Jessica trying to wolf down her breakfast when one of her massive fake lashes flutters down and lands in the pile of grape jelly Jessica's heaped on her toast.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2017
Okay seriously, is Jessica going to continue being this awful to every new character in every book? WHY do I remember loving her in this series? What was wrong with me?
And I had to laugh at "Ew, who would name a dog Boris?" Um, you name your future dog Prince Albert, Jess, so take a seat.
On a side note, the first 5 books I have were reissues, and the covers are HIDEOUS, especially this one. I'm so glad I can use the older covers on Goodreads because they are just so much better.
And I had to laugh at "Ew, who would name a dog Boris?" Um, you name your future dog Prince Albert, Jess, so take a seat.
On a side note, the first 5 books I have were reissues, and the covers are HIDEOUS, especially this one. I'm so glad I can use the older covers on Goodreads because they are just so much better.
January 21, 2013
Eh, didn't I just read this book? Seriously, this books came 3 books before the last one, but the plot was practically identical. Shun anyone who's different and not perfect like the Wakefield twins. Bitchiest middle school children ever.
May 5, 2022
Yes, Jessica is horrible but this book proves there is someone even worse. Who could possibly be worse than the vain, self centered, mean, and petty Jessica? Well, Lila Fowler, that’s who.
September 29, 2016
Synopsis: Nora Mercandy is a witch!
No, she isn't, but the entire Unicorn Club will make everyone think she is. From the moment Nora moves into her grandparents' house, it is Lila Fowler's mission to make her life utterly miserable. Because she's different and not popular. Sigh.
Beyond spreading rumors left, right, and center about Nora and the Mercandy Mansion, Lila's vendetta against Nora starts during a game of tennis. Lila bets Nora her new fountain pen for a compact of Nora's (Nora won't give up her Unicorn necklace). Nora turns out to be really decent at tennis and ends up beating Miss "Private Tennis Lessons" Fowler. Lila reluctantly gives Nora the pen, even though Nora doesn't want to accept it. The next day, however, Lila decides to get revenge on Nora for beating her. She tells their teacher, Ms. Pauley, that Nora stole her new pen. Nora isn't really sure what to make of this. When she tells the principal that she got it from Lila in a bet Nora is promptly told that there is no betting allowed on school grounds.
Lila still isn't done with getting revenge for her tennis court humiliation, however. One day, after a math test, Lila waits until Nora puts her test in the tray on the teacher's desk. Then Lila goes up to the front, places her test in the tray, and then immediately takes it back out with Nora's paper and switches her name with Nora's on their tests. When Lila gets an A and Nora gets a D, Ms. Pauley condescends to Nora and says she must not have known long division where she came from. Even the teachers in this town are unbearable.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Amy have befriended Nora. No one volunteered to show Nora around the school, so of course Elizabeth put her nosy hand in the air and said she would do it. They believe Nora isn't a witch, but that's cold comfort. They are also horrifically bad at giving advice, as we will see later on. After the two cruel pranks by Lila, Nora decides to invite the Unicorns over to her house so they can meet her grandparents and see that they are not witches. Elizabeth agrees to convince Jessica to tell the Unicorns to come. Jessica makes Lizzie promise her her kidney and left leg, but otherwise she agrees to do it. Once the Unicorns are there they see Liz, Amy, and Nora preparing punch on the patio. Bruce Patman has tagged along with the Unicorns as well. As soon as Nora's grandfather comes out, however, and starts saying "Nor... Nor.." the Unicorns immediately declare him a zombie and flee the premises.
Jessica doesn't tell Nora the next day that Elizabeth and Amy are tied up working on an issue of the Sixers and therefore not available to sit with Nora. Instead, as if she hasn't suffered enough to last a lifetime, Nora is again accosted by the Unicorns. This time they want her to be their slave. They blackmail Nora into leaving school grounds during study hall and get them their favorite cookies from Some Crumb Bakery. When Liz makes contact with Nora the next day, this is where her bad advice comes in. She tells Nora simply to ignore (!) what the Unicorns are doing to her, because they have to stop eventually, right? Besides, Halloween is coming up soon and Liz figures Lila will be too busy party-planning then to torment Nora. She is wrong, of course. As usual.
Lila wants to play the perfect trick on Nora at her Halloween party. She wants Nora to show up as... a witch. Get it? Because she's a witch? She does convince Nora to dress up as a witch by being super nice to her (along with all the other Unicorns). The plan is for Bruce and the boys to trash the Mercandy mansion while Nora is at Lila's party thinking they are friends. Lila turns on the charm in her snake-like smile and piercing brown eyes. Everyone is convinced that Lila is sincere about being friends with Nora. However, while Nora is in the bathroom at the Dairi Burger everyone snickers behind her back about what they will do to her house during Lila's Halloween party.
Nora shows up to school looking like an ugly witch. Lila is certain that she couldn't have such a convincing costume if her grandmother wasn't really a witch. Lila, Ellen, and Jessica go as hula girls and win an award for prettiest costumes. Amy and Liz are clowns. Later, at Lila's party, Lila is initially nice to Nora. But the tides quickly turn. As soon as Bruce and the boys sneak away with eggs and toilet paper to the Mercandy mansion, Lila declares Nora an ugly witch, which seems to be the most insulting thing she can come up with. Nora finally loses it and screams that she hates Lila and everyone else. She runs off to her mansion when she overhears what is happening. There she scares off Bruce and throws the bag of eggs at him and his gang of idiots.
Amy and Liz follow Nora, desperate to make her feel better. Liz goes inside the Mercandy mansion, and by this point half of Sweet Valley Middle School has arrived there as well. Jess can't let Liz go in the mansion alone for fear she will be turned into a toad or something, so she boldly enters with everyone else following behind. Jess hears Liz scream (this is never explained as to why) and she runs upstairs. All she finds is Liz hugging and comforting Nora. Someone notices pictures of a famous magician on the attic walls. Nora explains that that's her grandfather who has helped to teach her some magic tricks. She is then (finally) given the chance to explain that her grandfather is not a zombie but instead an old man who suffered a stroke and no longer has complete control over his speech. He can still do some, but not all, of his former tricks. Nora says she will do a trick for them, and Liz agrees to be "cut in half." The trick goes off like gangbusters and everyone decides that since Nora knows fake magic and not real magic, she's actually pretty cool.
Alternate Title : "The Sweet Valley Witch Trials"
Tagline: "Will a witch's spell come between Elizabeth and Jessica?"
On a Scale of 1-10, How Annoying is Elizabeth? 3
On a Scale of 1-10, How Sociopathic is Jessica? 7
The Big Deal: Lila's Halloween party
Cover: Good or Bad?: The twins look as smug and condescending as ever.
Moral of the Story: Fake magic = good; real magic = bad
Final Rating: Two stars. The Unicorns are the worst.
No, she isn't, but the entire Unicorn Club will make everyone think she is. From the moment Nora moves into her grandparents' house, it is Lila Fowler's mission to make her life utterly miserable. Because she's different and not popular. Sigh.
Beyond spreading rumors left, right, and center about Nora and the Mercandy Mansion, Lila's vendetta against Nora starts during a game of tennis. Lila bets Nora her new fountain pen for a compact of Nora's (Nora won't give up her Unicorn necklace). Nora turns out to be really decent at tennis and ends up beating Miss "Private Tennis Lessons" Fowler. Lila reluctantly gives Nora the pen, even though Nora doesn't want to accept it. The next day, however, Lila decides to get revenge on Nora for beating her. She tells their teacher, Ms. Pauley, that Nora stole her new pen. Nora isn't really sure what to make of this. When she tells the principal that she got it from Lila in a bet Nora is promptly told that there is no betting allowed on school grounds.
Lila still isn't done with getting revenge for her tennis court humiliation, however. One day, after a math test, Lila waits until Nora puts her test in the tray on the teacher's desk. Then Lila goes up to the front, places her test in the tray, and then immediately takes it back out with Nora's paper and switches her name with Nora's on their tests. When Lila gets an A and Nora gets a D, Ms. Pauley condescends to Nora and says she must not have known long division where she came from. Even the teachers in this town are unbearable.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Amy have befriended Nora. No one volunteered to show Nora around the school, so of course Elizabeth put her nosy hand in the air and said she would do it. They believe Nora isn't a witch, but that's cold comfort. They are also horrifically bad at giving advice, as we will see later on. After the two cruel pranks by Lila, Nora decides to invite the Unicorns over to her house so they can meet her grandparents and see that they are not witches. Elizabeth agrees to convince Jessica to tell the Unicorns to come. Jessica makes Lizzie promise her her kidney and left leg, but otherwise she agrees to do it. Once the Unicorns are there they see Liz, Amy, and Nora preparing punch on the patio. Bruce Patman has tagged along with the Unicorns as well. As soon as Nora's grandfather comes out, however, and starts saying "Nor... Nor.." the Unicorns immediately declare him a zombie and flee the premises.
Jessica doesn't tell Nora the next day that Elizabeth and Amy are tied up working on an issue of the Sixers and therefore not available to sit with Nora. Instead, as if she hasn't suffered enough to last a lifetime, Nora is again accosted by the Unicorns. This time they want her to be their slave. They blackmail Nora into leaving school grounds during study hall and get them their favorite cookies from Some Crumb Bakery. When Liz makes contact with Nora the next day, this is where her bad advice comes in. She tells Nora simply to ignore (!) what the Unicorns are doing to her, because they have to stop eventually, right? Besides, Halloween is coming up soon and Liz figures Lila will be too busy party-planning then to torment Nora. She is wrong, of course. As usual.
Lila wants to play the perfect trick on Nora at her Halloween party. She wants Nora to show up as... a witch. Get it? Because she's a witch? She does convince Nora to dress up as a witch by being super nice to her (along with all the other Unicorns). The plan is for Bruce and the boys to trash the Mercandy mansion while Nora is at Lila's party thinking they are friends. Lila turns on the charm in her snake-like smile and piercing brown eyes. Everyone is convinced that Lila is sincere about being friends with Nora. However, while Nora is in the bathroom at the Dairi Burger everyone snickers behind her back about what they will do to her house during Lila's Halloween party.
Nora shows up to school looking like an ugly witch. Lila is certain that she couldn't have such a convincing costume if her grandmother wasn't really a witch. Lila, Ellen, and Jessica go as hula girls and win an award for prettiest costumes. Amy and Liz are clowns. Later, at Lila's party, Lila is initially nice to Nora. But the tides quickly turn. As soon as Bruce and the boys sneak away with eggs and toilet paper to the Mercandy mansion, Lila declares Nora an ugly witch, which seems to be the most insulting thing she can come up with. Nora finally loses it and screams that she hates Lila and everyone else. She runs off to her mansion when she overhears what is happening. There she scares off Bruce and throws the bag of eggs at him and his gang of idiots.
Amy and Liz follow Nora, desperate to make her feel better. Liz goes inside the Mercandy mansion, and by this point half of Sweet Valley Middle School has arrived there as well. Jess can't let Liz go in the mansion alone for fear she will be turned into a toad or something, so she boldly enters with everyone else following behind. Jess hears Liz scream (this is never explained as to why) and she runs upstairs. All she finds is Liz hugging and comforting Nora. Someone notices pictures of a famous magician on the attic walls. Nora explains that that's her grandfather who has helped to teach her some magic tricks. She is then (finally) given the chance to explain that her grandfather is not a zombie but instead an old man who suffered a stroke and no longer has complete control over his speech. He can still do some, but not all, of his former tricks. Nora says she will do a trick for them, and Liz agrees to be "cut in half." The trick goes off like gangbusters and everyone decides that since Nora knows fake magic and not real magic, she's actually pretty cool.
Alternate Title : "The Sweet Valley Witch Trials"
Tagline: "Will a witch's spell come between Elizabeth and Jessica?"
On a Scale of 1-10, How Annoying is Elizabeth? 3
On a Scale of 1-10, How Sociopathic is Jessica? 7
The Big Deal: Lila's Halloween party
Cover: Good or Bad?: The twins look as smug and condescending as ever.
Moral of the Story: Fake magic = good; real magic = bad
Final Rating: Two stars. The Unicorns are the worst.
Read
October 26, 2025This book opens with Jessica reassuring Elizabeth that they'll both get As in their assignment as they both did extra study, so you know something is off already 🤣
I also found my first inconsistency (to be expected, as this series was written by a collection of ghostwriters). Lila mentions visiting her mother for 2 weeks every summer, yet I remember a SVH book when her mother came back to Sweet Valley and they'd not seen each other since Lila was little? Need to look into this a bit more to verify the details!
Sad to see that Jessica and Lila's bullying gets worse in this book, the way they treat Nora is awful. Lucky it all gets resolved in the end but not a comfortable read considering it's aimed at kids.
I also found my first inconsistency (to be expected, as this series was written by a collection of ghostwriters). Lila mentions visiting her mother for 2 weeks every summer, yet I remember a SVH book when her mother came back to Sweet Valley and they'd not seen each other since Lila was little? Need to look into this a bit more to verify the details!
Sad to see that Jessica and Lila's bullying gets worse in this book, the way they treat Nora is awful. Lucky it all gets resolved in the end but not a comfortable read considering it's aimed at kids.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2019
RATING: 4 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)
I picked up one of the Sweet Valley Twins novel at the library (before my strict read in order only rule) and fell in love with the California twins and their friends and family. I had just started reading thicker chapter books, and joining the library summer reading club, I went through these books pretty quick. I was excited that I could read and really fell in love with books and reading. I believe I was about 7-9 when I read these books so it was exciting to read about 12 year old popular preteens. I could relate to both Elizabeth and Jessica, and really could not pick which twin I liked better. I would not finish this series as I would quickly move on to Sweet Valley High (Double Love). These are very tame books, and any age could read them. First crushes and bullying were the big issues that I can remember. This is very Full House (TV series) kind of books.
***This is a series review***
(Review Not on Blog)
I picked up one of the Sweet Valley Twins novel at the library (before my strict read in order only rule) and fell in love with the California twins and their friends and family. I had just started reading thicker chapter books, and joining the library summer reading club, I went through these books pretty quick. I was excited that I could read and really fell in love with books and reading. I believe I was about 7-9 when I read these books so it was exciting to read about 12 year old popular preteens. I could relate to both Elizabeth and Jessica, and really could not pick which twin I liked better. I would not finish this series as I would quickly move on to Sweet Valley High (Double Love). These are very tame books, and any age could read them. First crushes and bullying were the big issues that I can remember. This is very Full House (TV series) kind of books.
***This is a series review***
July 11, 2016
I loved it! but I just loathe loathe loathe Lila Fowler! I hope you enjoy this good book!
July 24, 2016
Thought the bullying was really bad in this book and not very well resolved at the end. I kept thinking what if this was my daughter.
March 26, 2022
yes, finally got around to it
October 12, 2025
The Haunted House (Updated)
On the way home from the library, Liz and Jessica The twins turn onto Camden Driive. The book says (Usually the twins avoided Camden Drive altogether because the Mercandy mansion was located there. The Mercandy mansion was old and rundown. It looked like an old haunted house in the movies. Jessica and Elizabeth had heard lots of rumors about the people that lived there. Most of them involved Mrs. Mercandy. She was said to be a witch who kept her crazy husband locked in the attic. The strange lights and shadows that appeared in the attic windows on some nights seemed to prove the stories true).
Less than a week ago, the twins saw a taxi bring a dark-haired girl to the house. She looked about their age. The driver dumped a cardboard box with her things on the steps and quickly drove off. The girl then had disappeared into the house. They hadn’t seen her seen and wondered if old lady Mercandy has done away with her of possibly has her chained up in the basement torturing her. Just then the girl comes out the house, and seems to be looking for something. She’s saying something the twins can’t hear.
Jessica pretends to tie her shoe so they’ll have an excuse to stand there and watch her. Then Liz drops her books. They hear the girl calling for Boris and then they see her carrying a black cat. She then goes back in the house. The twins see an older woman inside in all black. When Steven gets home, they tell him about the girl. Jessica says *they* think Mrs. Mercandy cast a spell on her. Why else would she want in that creepy old house? Later, the Wakefields talk about the Mercandy’s. Steven says that Joe Howell sees strange shadows in their windows. Jessica says Janet says they haven’t left the house in 5 whole years. Steven says Joe only say Mrs. Mercandy once and when he did, she was walking around the backyard and her eyes were pink.
Their father tells them to use their common sense and don’t judge people by rumors. Jessica calls Lila and tells her what she saw. Lila says she’ll tell Janet. Liz sees Jessica about to go for a swim and warns her that the pool’s heater is off, but Jessica just shrugs it off. Thankfully she’s back inside before their parents come home. That night Jessica is awakened by glowing read eyes and a raspy voice that says “I am the Mercandy Witch”.
Of course, its Steven. Steven is proud of his mask. He’s worked hard on it for his Creature of the Black Lagoon costume. He’s going to wear it to Jake Hill’s Halloween party. Liz ad Jessica will be going to Lila’s Halloween party. The next morning, Jessica has a sore throat and Alice makes her stay home. Jessica makes Liz promise to tell her anything about the girl if she sees her again. At school, the girl is announced as a new student Nora Mercandy that moved there from Pennsylvania. The teacher asks for a volunteer to show her around and no one does. So, Liz does. When Nora sits down, the Unicorns (Lila and Ellen) scoot as far away from her as possible.
Nora’s next class is social studies and she and Liz won’t have another class until gym. At lunch, Nora tells Liz everyone’s been terrible to her and treats her like she has a disease. She says the Unicorns were passing notes about her and when people read it they’d give her a nasty look. Liz explains to her how the Unicorns can be big liars (uh “gossips”). Then a note sails onto their table that says “We know about you. Go back to Transylvania.” Liz wads up the note before Nora can read it. Then goes over to the Unicorns and asks them what their problem is. She offers to have them meet Nora, but they tell her they know too much about her. Only they won’t say *what* they know.
They go to gym early. Nora doesn’t have a gym suit because she got rid of her old one and her grandmother is poor. Liz offers to bring one of her or Jessica’s extras. She asks why Nora lives with her grandparents. She says her father died when she was a baby and her mother died last month. The book tells about the rest of Nora’s bad day. It says (Things didn't go well for Nora the rest of the afternoon. In her last class of the day Lila deliberately tripped her as she walked to the back of the room. As Nora grabbed on to the corner of the closest desk to keep herself from falling, Mary Giaccio, a Unicorn, whispered nastily, "Get your hands off my desk." Even the teacher, who was nearsighted and didn't see what had actually happened, spoke harshly to her.
he worst moment came during the walk home from school. Lila, Ellen, Bruce, Charlie, and Jerry walk right behind her and when she walks faster they walk faster. Nora hears Lila say she wishes she’d go back to where she came from. They don’t need any more weird Mercandy’s there. On Nora’s first day she’s learned how much she hates SV and the people in it. When Liz gets home, Liz is bombarded with a ton of stuff Caroline told Jessica about the new girl. None of it true. Liz tries to tell her Nora isn’t weird at all but Jessica asks if she’s so nice why did Amy avoid them both. Liz tries to tell her Amy went on a field trip but its clear Jessica’s already made up her mind about Nora.
The next morning, its Liz whose got a fever and has to stay home. She reminds Jessica to bring the gym clothes for Nora and to be nice to her. Jessica says she’s always nice to witches. She leaves and forgets the gym clothes. Nora (not knowing Liz has a twin) is disappointed to find the only friend she thinks she has is sitting with Lila and Ellen in homeroom and pretending she doesn’t know her. Mr. Pauley makes an announcement about the costume contest their homeroom will have. The costume judging will be first thing in the morning. The party will be during sixth period (the class will be canceled). Amy says the Sixers will be taking pictures of the winners. Nora remembers that Liz says they’ll all eat together but at lunch, Liz goes to eat with the Unicorns.
At gym, Jessica tells Nora about the gym suit and tells her she and Liz are twins. She just hasn’t seen them together. Nora is amazed that they look so much alike. The Unicorns aren’t happy that Jessica talked to Nora and Lila threatens her when Jessica slightly defends Nora. Because Liz was Lila’s tennis partner, the gym teacher lets Nora play against Lila. Lila makes a bet with Nora. Her expensive cloisonne pen against Nora’s silver-plated compact mirror and comb. Lila says she has one but it’ll do. Lila loses and enraged she tells Nora. “Just wait Mercandy witch… I’ll get you.” (Lila sounds more like the witch). Lila “seems” to have called down and tries to give Nora the pen. Nora tries to refuse it but Lila says a deal a deal.
The next day, Nora is introduced to Amy. Lila whose still furious goes to one of the teachers and tells him her expensive pen has been stolen. When Nora takes out the pen, Lila starts yelling that’s it. That girl stole my pen. She tells the teacher her grandfather gave it to her birthday. The teacher tells Nora to step out in the hallway. This opens up a flood gate of negative stories about Nora. Lila and Ellen claim Nora did a spell that killed Janet’s family cat. Randy says the Mercandy’s had two coffins ordered when they moved. Lila says nearly every night Janet notices strange lights flickering on and off in the window. Caroline says Nora’s reflection wasn’t in the mirror. The teacher sends Nora and Lila to the principals office.
The vice principaal blames Nora for accepting a bet. Its against the rules and warns that he doesn’t want to see either in his office again. While Nora is telling Liz and Amy Rick Hunter comes up and invites Nora to play a match with him sometimes. Liz and Amy says they think he likes her. He’s new at the school too. Jessica has a crush on him and so does Lila. They wonder what Lila will do when she finds out. Lila doesn’t think Nora has been punished enough and switches the names of her and Nora’s on a math quiz that she didn’t study for. At home, the twins are practicing ballet, and talking about Nora. Liz says she’s not saying the Unicorns have to like Nora but they don’t have to act so nasty to her. She tells Jessica not to let them make her do the same. Jessica says she can think for herself. When Liz asks her to promise to be nice to Nora, she says maybe.
Jessica tries to tell the other Unicorns maybe they should lay off Nora, but they say they’re just having fun and Jessica says no one likes fun more than her. Nora gets a D on her quiz. Lila gets an A. It doesn’t take long for Nora to realize what happened. Nora tells Liz and Amy and then that she’ll just bring her grade up on the next quiz. Liz and Amy tho tell her tshe needs to stand up to Lila and tell on her or she’ll keep doing it. Nora says she doesn’t understand why Lila and everyone hates her so much. Liz tells her there’s been talk about her grandparents being hermits and everyone thinks they’re … “strange”. She doesn’t say witches. Nora says there’s a reason and she can explain. She says she’ll invite them all over tomorrow to meet her grandparents and then everything will be ok.
Liz gets Jessica to agree to get as many Unicorns to come to the Mercandy’s backyard, but it cost her Jessica being able to wear her yellow sweater whenever she wants, popcorn with extra butter the next time they go to the movies, and she has to set the table the rest of the week, and do the dishes tonight. The Unicorns meet up and she tells them about her idea to start a Booster Club at SVMS and they all are in favor. Lila also talks about the wanting to do something that Nora will never forget on Halloween. Jessica gives the Unicorns the message. The Unicorns are hesitant but decide to just sneak through the back and peek through the fence. On the way, Bruce joins them.
When they get there, everything is all set up for what looks like a tea party. Liz has just gotten Amy to take a cookie to prove they aren’t poison when *(the screen door suddenly burst wide open. Standing in the doorway was a tall man in a black suit. His white hair stuck out wildly in all directions, and his face was ghostly pale. He walked stiffly as he took a step forward. In a deep, menacing voice he mumbled one word over and over again. "Nor . . . Nor . . . Nor .)-from the book. Amy drops her tray. The Unicorns and Bruce scream it’s a zombie and scatter. Nora tells Liz and Amy they should leave too (as they stand there frozen).
Everyone is gathered around the Unicorns table the next day, and they’re having a ball telling them about what happened at the Mercandy mansion. (The story went from table to table, and the more it was repeated, the more it changed and grew. By the end of the lunch period there were rumors flying around Sweet Valley Middle School that a monster with a knife had tried to kill the Unicorns). The Unicorns decide to get back at Nora and make her their “slave”. For her first task they make her skip class, go get them chocolate chip cookies, and bring them back before study hall.
If she doesn’t do what they say Lila’s wallet will be found inside Nora’s locker. She does it and they tell her they’ll give her more the next day. Lila actually says “Well done slave”. We find out that Jessica, Ellen, and Lila are going to be hula girls and Liz is going to be a clown for Halloween. Jessica didn’t give Nora the message that Amy and Liz will see her tomorrow. Liz, Amy, and Julie have been working hard on a Sixers article. Nora is relieved to see them the next day. She tells them she thought they didn’t want to be her friends anymore but they tell her that what happened wasn’t her fault. Nora tells them about yesterday and that they made her give them copies of her math homework. Liz wonders if she should tell on Jessica but decides Lila’s part will distract her and she’ll get bored with her “slave” soon enough,
Lila surprises Nora by telling her they decided that wasn’t her fault and they want to be her friends. At lunch, Amy and Liz see her having lunch at the Unicorn table. The Unicorns invite Nora to hang out with them at the Dairi Burger. Lila invites her to her party and Jessica suggests she come as a witch to show them she has a sense of humor. She says she’ll see. Jessica tells her Amy and Liz will be there too. As soon as she’s out of sight, they all start talking about how stupid she is to believe they want to be her friend. Bruce tells them to make sure she stays at the party for half an hour. It’ll take him that long to do a job on the Mercandy mansion. But he doesn’t get to tell them what he plans to do before Nora comes back from the bathroom.
On the way to school, Amy and Liz (Amy is also a clown) go get Nora and are stunned. She looked like a real witch! Her costume consisted of a pointed black hat, stringy black and gray hair, a long black dress, and buckled black shoes. It was the makeup that made Nora look truly grotesque. Her face was pure white with black paint around her eyes. Her hands were also painted white, and long animallike claws hung at the ends of her fingers. Everyone stares when Nora comes into the room. She’d come dressed as what everyone said she was. Nora sits with the Unicorns again at lunch. They ask where she got the costume. She said she found it in the attic and they look at her other. The Unicorns win the prettiest costume. At the party, Lila tries to flirt with Rick and invite him to play tennis with her but he’s looking for Nora to set up a tennis date with her.
Lila gives the Unicorns the bad news. Mrs. Langford says the tryouts have to be open to all the sixth graders. Jessica says that doesn’t mean they have to pick everyone. Bruce and Charlie slip out. The Unicorns turn on Nora and tell her it’s good to have an ugly, authentic, witch come to the party. Nora runs out and then hears some more Unicorns saying the boys are going to toilet paper, rotten egg, and spray her house. She yells she hates Lila and all of them and runs to her house. Liz demands to know what Jessica did and when she denies doing anything Liz runs after Nora. Jessica runs after Liz. The rest of the party follow to the Mercandy mansion.
Nora sees Bruce, screams at him, and tosses the eggs and paint at him. She vanishes into the house. Liz goes in after her. Then Jessica goes in after Liz. Then everyone else does. Jessica finds Liz and assures her she’s ok. They find out Nora’s grandfather is Marvelous Marvin a famous magician who is known all over. He even worked with Houdini. Her grandmother comes into the attic and confirms this and offers that since they don’t have any food or drinks maybe they can entertain them. While her grandmother goes to get him, Nora explains that 10 years ago, he had a stroke. He doesn’t go out any more so her grandmother has to stay with him. he's partially paralyzed, which causes him to move stiffly. He can't speak clearly, either, because of the stroke, but he can understand them.
Her grandfather makes his entrance and Nora says he’s been teaching her some of his tricks. Then asks Lila if she’d like to be sawed in half. Lila says “No way”. Liz nervously lets her saw her in half. At the end of night, Lila tells her she guesses she’s not a witch after all. By the end of the night, Nora couldn’t look happier. She’s proven the rumors false and is standing by Rick Hunter.
My Thoughts:
I liked this one! Now first of all wouldn't it have been amazing if Nora really was a witch in a twist of plot? Think about it. After Lila pulled that stunt with the pen that would have been the end of the story. What if she would have gave the pen back but put a hex on it every time she used it? And then behind closed door laughed her behind off about that. "Oh so you want the witch do you?" I can just hear her thinking.
All this slave business would NOT have gone down. I'm really glad that they didn't make Nora African-American. I REALLY wanted to see Nora snap on Halloween after her house was trashed and set off an explosion of magical sparks and curses that injured all of the Unicorns and Bruce. That would have been WICKED!
Then the moral would have not just been not to judge people but don't mess with magical beings. I mean it's not like it would be a stretch in Sweet Valley. Wilder things have happened in this series. Then Even if she wasn't a witch, would you really have the balls to mess with someone you "thought" was a witch? So, either the Unicorns are really (really) STUPID or they have a death wish.
Then how major is it that they get to dress up AT SCHOOL? Then later they get to even have a party IN THE CLASSROOM! Not to mention another one later on that night. I think I'm jealous. Never would have happened at my middle school. Nor in my neighborhood in this little lame city of mine. So I LOVE places that go all out for Halloween. Yup! If you hadn't guessed it Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Then I know Nora is the good type that wants to set things right but let's just look at the golden opportunity here that's presented itself for revenge. Yes true, the meeting her grandparents gesture was noble, but I would have got my grandmother to act the part of what everyone thought she was. It wouldn't have even been hard. She had witch attire in her attic. YEAH cause most attics have AUTHENTIC, WHOLE, witch outfits down to the buckle shoes just sitting around in em. Unless the Mercandy's owned a costume shop back in the day I'm not buying it.
This is my theory. Mrs Mercandy WAS a witch, a LONG time ago but as she got older (and closed herself off) her magic dwindled. Or maybe she knew some "Unicorns" and there was "an incident" and she vowed she wouldn't practice magic anymore and had her magic blocked. But she still has the gear stored and couldn't bear to part with it. (As she wanted reminders to hang on to). She probably got Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (her best friend) to do the deed and maybe possibly even she blocked any memories of her witchcraft.
Nora IS really a witch. But she's 12 and just hasn't come into her powers yet. That won't happen until SVH. Well, that's REALLY how it ends in my mind. They just didn't want to tell us that. I can see Mrs. Mercandy winking at as after the last chapter ends. But this was REALLY GOOD! I even liked the cover.
Rating: 71/2
On the way home from the library, Liz and Jessica The twins turn onto Camden Driive. The book says (Usually the twins avoided Camden Drive altogether because the Mercandy mansion was located there. The Mercandy mansion was old and rundown. It looked like an old haunted house in the movies. Jessica and Elizabeth had heard lots of rumors about the people that lived there. Most of them involved Mrs. Mercandy. She was said to be a witch who kept her crazy husband locked in the attic. The strange lights and shadows that appeared in the attic windows on some nights seemed to prove the stories true).
Less than a week ago, the twins saw a taxi bring a dark-haired girl to the house. She looked about their age. The driver dumped a cardboard box with her things on the steps and quickly drove off. The girl then had disappeared into the house. They hadn’t seen her seen and wondered if old lady Mercandy has done away with her of possibly has her chained up in the basement torturing her. Just then the girl comes out the house, and seems to be looking for something. She’s saying something the twins can’t hear.
Jessica pretends to tie her shoe so they’ll have an excuse to stand there and watch her. Then Liz drops her books. They hear the girl calling for Boris and then they see her carrying a black cat. She then goes back in the house. The twins see an older woman inside in all black. When Steven gets home, they tell him about the girl. Jessica says *they* think Mrs. Mercandy cast a spell on her. Why else would she want in that creepy old house? Later, the Wakefields talk about the Mercandy’s. Steven says that Joe Howell sees strange shadows in their windows. Jessica says Janet says they haven’t left the house in 5 whole years. Steven says Joe only say Mrs. Mercandy once and when he did, she was walking around the backyard and her eyes were pink.
Their father tells them to use their common sense and don’t judge people by rumors. Jessica calls Lila and tells her what she saw. Lila says she’ll tell Janet. Liz sees Jessica about to go for a swim and warns her that the pool’s heater is off, but Jessica just shrugs it off. Thankfully she’s back inside before their parents come home. That night Jessica is awakened by glowing read eyes and a raspy voice that says “I am the Mercandy Witch”.
Of course, its Steven. Steven is proud of his mask. He’s worked hard on it for his Creature of the Black Lagoon costume. He’s going to wear it to Jake Hill’s Halloween party. Liz ad Jessica will be going to Lila’s Halloween party. The next morning, Jessica has a sore throat and Alice makes her stay home. Jessica makes Liz promise to tell her anything about the girl if she sees her again. At school, the girl is announced as a new student Nora Mercandy that moved there from Pennsylvania. The teacher asks for a volunteer to show her around and no one does. So, Liz does. When Nora sits down, the Unicorns (Lila and Ellen) scoot as far away from her as possible.
Nora’s next class is social studies and she and Liz won’t have another class until gym. At lunch, Nora tells Liz everyone’s been terrible to her and treats her like she has a disease. She says the Unicorns were passing notes about her and when people read it they’d give her a nasty look. Liz explains to her how the Unicorns can be big liars (uh “gossips”). Then a note sails onto their table that says “We know about you. Go back to Transylvania.” Liz wads up the note before Nora can read it. Then goes over to the Unicorns and asks them what their problem is. She offers to have them meet Nora, but they tell her they know too much about her. Only they won’t say *what* they know.
They go to gym early. Nora doesn’t have a gym suit because she got rid of her old one and her grandmother is poor. Liz offers to bring one of her or Jessica’s extras. She asks why Nora lives with her grandparents. She says her father died when she was a baby and her mother died last month. The book tells about the rest of Nora’s bad day. It says (Things didn't go well for Nora the rest of the afternoon. In her last class of the day Lila deliberately tripped her as she walked to the back of the room. As Nora grabbed on to the corner of the closest desk to keep herself from falling, Mary Giaccio, a Unicorn, whispered nastily, "Get your hands off my desk." Even the teacher, who was nearsighted and didn't see what had actually happened, spoke harshly to her.
he worst moment came during the walk home from school. Lila, Ellen, Bruce, Charlie, and Jerry walk right behind her and when she walks faster they walk faster. Nora hears Lila say she wishes she’d go back to where she came from. They don’t need any more weird Mercandy’s there. On Nora’s first day she’s learned how much she hates SV and the people in it. When Liz gets home, Liz is bombarded with a ton of stuff Caroline told Jessica about the new girl. None of it true. Liz tries to tell her Nora isn’t weird at all but Jessica asks if she’s so nice why did Amy avoid them both. Liz tries to tell her Amy went on a field trip but its clear Jessica’s already made up her mind about Nora.
The next morning, its Liz whose got a fever and has to stay home. She reminds Jessica to bring the gym clothes for Nora and to be nice to her. Jessica says she’s always nice to witches. She leaves and forgets the gym clothes. Nora (not knowing Liz has a twin) is disappointed to find the only friend she thinks she has is sitting with Lila and Ellen in homeroom and pretending she doesn’t know her. Mr. Pauley makes an announcement about the costume contest their homeroom will have. The costume judging will be first thing in the morning. The party will be during sixth period (the class will be canceled). Amy says the Sixers will be taking pictures of the winners. Nora remembers that Liz says they’ll all eat together but at lunch, Liz goes to eat with the Unicorns.
At gym, Jessica tells Nora about the gym suit and tells her she and Liz are twins. She just hasn’t seen them together. Nora is amazed that they look so much alike. The Unicorns aren’t happy that Jessica talked to Nora and Lila threatens her when Jessica slightly defends Nora. Because Liz was Lila’s tennis partner, the gym teacher lets Nora play against Lila. Lila makes a bet with Nora. Her expensive cloisonne pen against Nora’s silver-plated compact mirror and comb. Lila says she has one but it’ll do. Lila loses and enraged she tells Nora. “Just wait Mercandy witch… I’ll get you.” (Lila sounds more like the witch). Lila “seems” to have called down and tries to give Nora the pen. Nora tries to refuse it but Lila says a deal a deal.
The next day, Nora is introduced to Amy. Lila whose still furious goes to one of the teachers and tells him her expensive pen has been stolen. When Nora takes out the pen, Lila starts yelling that’s it. That girl stole my pen. She tells the teacher her grandfather gave it to her birthday. The teacher tells Nora to step out in the hallway. This opens up a flood gate of negative stories about Nora. Lila and Ellen claim Nora did a spell that killed Janet’s family cat. Randy says the Mercandy’s had two coffins ordered when they moved. Lila says nearly every night Janet notices strange lights flickering on and off in the window. Caroline says Nora’s reflection wasn’t in the mirror. The teacher sends Nora and Lila to the principals office.
The vice principaal blames Nora for accepting a bet. Its against the rules and warns that he doesn’t want to see either in his office again. While Nora is telling Liz and Amy Rick Hunter comes up and invites Nora to play a match with him sometimes. Liz and Amy says they think he likes her. He’s new at the school too. Jessica has a crush on him and so does Lila. They wonder what Lila will do when she finds out. Lila doesn’t think Nora has been punished enough and switches the names of her and Nora’s on a math quiz that she didn’t study for. At home, the twins are practicing ballet, and talking about Nora. Liz says she’s not saying the Unicorns have to like Nora but they don’t have to act so nasty to her. She tells Jessica not to let them make her do the same. Jessica says she can think for herself. When Liz asks her to promise to be nice to Nora, she says maybe.
Jessica tries to tell the other Unicorns maybe they should lay off Nora, but they say they’re just having fun and Jessica says no one likes fun more than her. Nora gets a D on her quiz. Lila gets an A. It doesn’t take long for Nora to realize what happened. Nora tells Liz and Amy and then that she’ll just bring her grade up on the next quiz. Liz and Amy tho tell her tshe needs to stand up to Lila and tell on her or she’ll keep doing it. Nora says she doesn’t understand why Lila and everyone hates her so much. Liz tells her there’s been talk about her grandparents being hermits and everyone thinks they’re … “strange”. She doesn’t say witches. Nora says there’s a reason and she can explain. She says she’ll invite them all over tomorrow to meet her grandparents and then everything will be ok.
Liz gets Jessica to agree to get as many Unicorns to come to the Mercandy’s backyard, but it cost her Jessica being able to wear her yellow sweater whenever she wants, popcorn with extra butter the next time they go to the movies, and she has to set the table the rest of the week, and do the dishes tonight. The Unicorns meet up and she tells them about her idea to start a Booster Club at SVMS and they all are in favor. Lila also talks about the wanting to do something that Nora will never forget on Halloween. Jessica gives the Unicorns the message. The Unicorns are hesitant but decide to just sneak through the back and peek through the fence. On the way, Bruce joins them.
When they get there, everything is all set up for what looks like a tea party. Liz has just gotten Amy to take a cookie to prove they aren’t poison when *(the screen door suddenly burst wide open. Standing in the doorway was a tall man in a black suit. His white hair stuck out wildly in all directions, and his face was ghostly pale. He walked stiffly as he took a step forward. In a deep, menacing voice he mumbled one word over and over again. "Nor . . . Nor . . . Nor .)-from the book. Amy drops her tray. The Unicorns and Bruce scream it’s a zombie and scatter. Nora tells Liz and Amy they should leave too (as they stand there frozen).
Everyone is gathered around the Unicorns table the next day, and they’re having a ball telling them about what happened at the Mercandy mansion. (The story went from table to table, and the more it was repeated, the more it changed and grew. By the end of the lunch period there were rumors flying around Sweet Valley Middle School that a monster with a knife had tried to kill the Unicorns). The Unicorns decide to get back at Nora and make her their “slave”. For her first task they make her skip class, go get them chocolate chip cookies, and bring them back before study hall.
If she doesn’t do what they say Lila’s wallet will be found inside Nora’s locker. She does it and they tell her they’ll give her more the next day. Lila actually says “Well done slave”. We find out that Jessica, Ellen, and Lila are going to be hula girls and Liz is going to be a clown for Halloween. Jessica didn’t give Nora the message that Amy and Liz will see her tomorrow. Liz, Amy, and Julie have been working hard on a Sixers article. Nora is relieved to see them the next day. She tells them she thought they didn’t want to be her friends anymore but they tell her that what happened wasn’t her fault. Nora tells them about yesterday and that they made her give them copies of her math homework. Liz wonders if she should tell on Jessica but decides Lila’s part will distract her and she’ll get bored with her “slave” soon enough,
Lila surprises Nora by telling her they decided that wasn’t her fault and they want to be her friends. At lunch, Amy and Liz see her having lunch at the Unicorn table. The Unicorns invite Nora to hang out with them at the Dairi Burger. Lila invites her to her party and Jessica suggests she come as a witch to show them she has a sense of humor. She says she’ll see. Jessica tells her Amy and Liz will be there too. As soon as she’s out of sight, they all start talking about how stupid she is to believe they want to be her friend. Bruce tells them to make sure she stays at the party for half an hour. It’ll take him that long to do a job on the Mercandy mansion. But he doesn’t get to tell them what he plans to do before Nora comes back from the bathroom.
On the way to school, Amy and Liz (Amy is also a clown) go get Nora and are stunned. She looked like a real witch! Her costume consisted of a pointed black hat, stringy black and gray hair, a long black dress, and buckled black shoes. It was the makeup that made Nora look truly grotesque. Her face was pure white with black paint around her eyes. Her hands were also painted white, and long animallike claws hung at the ends of her fingers. Everyone stares when Nora comes into the room. She’d come dressed as what everyone said she was. Nora sits with the Unicorns again at lunch. They ask where she got the costume. She said she found it in the attic and they look at her other. The Unicorns win the prettiest costume. At the party, Lila tries to flirt with Rick and invite him to play tennis with her but he’s looking for Nora to set up a tennis date with her.
Lila gives the Unicorns the bad news. Mrs. Langford says the tryouts have to be open to all the sixth graders. Jessica says that doesn’t mean they have to pick everyone. Bruce and Charlie slip out. The Unicorns turn on Nora and tell her it’s good to have an ugly, authentic, witch come to the party. Nora runs out and then hears some more Unicorns saying the boys are going to toilet paper, rotten egg, and spray her house. She yells she hates Lila and all of them and runs to her house. Liz demands to know what Jessica did and when she denies doing anything Liz runs after Nora. Jessica runs after Liz. The rest of the party follow to the Mercandy mansion.
Nora sees Bruce, screams at him, and tosses the eggs and paint at him. She vanishes into the house. Liz goes in after her. Then Jessica goes in after Liz. Then everyone else does. Jessica finds Liz and assures her she’s ok. They find out Nora’s grandfather is Marvelous Marvin a famous magician who is known all over. He even worked with Houdini. Her grandmother comes into the attic and confirms this and offers that since they don’t have any food or drinks maybe they can entertain them. While her grandmother goes to get him, Nora explains that 10 years ago, he had a stroke. He doesn’t go out any more so her grandmother has to stay with him. he's partially paralyzed, which causes him to move stiffly. He can't speak clearly, either, because of the stroke, but he can understand them.
Her grandfather makes his entrance and Nora says he’s been teaching her some of his tricks. Then asks Lila if she’d like to be sawed in half. Lila says “No way”. Liz nervously lets her saw her in half. At the end of night, Lila tells her she guesses she’s not a witch after all. By the end of the night, Nora couldn’t look happier. She’s proven the rumors false and is standing by Rick Hunter.
My Thoughts:
I liked this one! Now first of all wouldn't it have been amazing if Nora really was a witch in a twist of plot? Think about it. After Lila pulled that stunt with the pen that would have been the end of the story. What if she would have gave the pen back but put a hex on it every time she used it? And then behind closed door laughed her behind off about that. "Oh so you want the witch do you?" I can just hear her thinking.
All this slave business would NOT have gone down. I'm really glad that they didn't make Nora African-American. I REALLY wanted to see Nora snap on Halloween after her house was trashed and set off an explosion of magical sparks and curses that injured all of the Unicorns and Bruce. That would have been WICKED!
Then the moral would have not just been not to judge people but don't mess with magical beings. I mean it's not like it would be a stretch in Sweet Valley. Wilder things have happened in this series. Then Even if she wasn't a witch, would you really have the balls to mess with someone you "thought" was a witch? So, either the Unicorns are really (really) STUPID or they have a death wish.
Then how major is it that they get to dress up AT SCHOOL? Then later they get to even have a party IN THE CLASSROOM! Not to mention another one later on that night. I think I'm jealous. Never would have happened at my middle school. Nor in my neighborhood in this little lame city of mine. So I LOVE places that go all out for Halloween. Yup! If you hadn't guessed it Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Then I know Nora is the good type that wants to set things right but let's just look at the golden opportunity here that's presented itself for revenge. Yes true, the meeting her grandparents gesture was noble, but I would have got my grandmother to act the part of what everyone thought she was. It wouldn't have even been hard. She had witch attire in her attic. YEAH cause most attics have AUTHENTIC, WHOLE, witch outfits down to the buckle shoes just sitting around in em. Unless the Mercandy's owned a costume shop back in the day I'm not buying it.
This is my theory. Mrs Mercandy WAS a witch, a LONG time ago but as she got older (and closed herself off) her magic dwindled. Or maybe she knew some "Unicorns" and there was "an incident" and she vowed she wouldn't practice magic anymore and had her magic blocked. But she still has the gear stored and couldn't bear to part with it. (As she wanted reminders to hang on to). She probably got Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (her best friend) to do the deed and maybe possibly even she blocked any memories of her witchcraft.
Nora IS really a witch. But she's 12 and just hasn't come into her powers yet. That won't happen until SVH. Well, that's REALLY how it ends in my mind. They just didn't want to tell us that. I can see Mrs. Mercandy winking at as after the last chapter ends. But this was REALLY GOOD! I even liked the cover.
Rating: 71/2
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2021
I’ve begun re-reading some of my old childhood favorites, and I was obsessed with the Sweet Valley twins from grades 2-4, despite being about 20 years late to the party. Since my library seems to have trashed the whole series (I’m still mad about that), I had to buy a few copies on Thriftbooks, and I included this one, “The Haunted House”, since it was one of the first ones I remember reading. And wow, it does not hold up.
Compliments first: I think the writing style is actually really good for the target age-group. I can remember certain scenes with sharp vividness even after all this time despite the prose being rather simple. I think the author does a good job not talking down to young readers, but still keeping the vocab and chapter lengths appropriate. I also love the cover art — I’ve always thought Nora looked so cute!
But that’s where my praise ends. This book is not a mystery, nor is it spooky. I obviously don’t expect to be scared by a Sweet Valley Twins book at my current age, but I thought I remembered a more gothic vibe to the story. On the contrary, this book turned out to be a story about bullying without any resolution. Lila Fowler makes Nellie Olsen look like a saint, and Jessica Wakefield, who is one of the series’s protagonists, is also such a monster. I was shocked at how aggressive these girls were to Nora, especially since there isn’t a lesson learned. No one learns to be kind, or to stand up to bullying. The ending is so ridiculous and unhelpful that I almost want to spoil it just so others won’t waste their time.
I want to share this beloved series with my future children, and the cruel bullying in this book apparently didn’t corrupt my young mind, considering I didn’t even remember it, but I don’t know if I’d want my kids reading about such mean characters who never face consequences. I mean, the lesson is basically, “Just let people bully you and hope they’ll stop eventually.” It’s painfully outdated.
I’m giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 because of nostalgia and the prose style being good for the age group. But the story was both flimsy and potentially harmful to young people. Oh, well. I guess not everything holds up.
Compliments first: I think the writing style is actually really good for the target age-group. I can remember certain scenes with sharp vividness even after all this time despite the prose being rather simple. I think the author does a good job not talking down to young readers, but still keeping the vocab and chapter lengths appropriate. I also love the cover art — I’ve always thought Nora looked so cute!
But that’s where my praise ends. This book is not a mystery, nor is it spooky. I obviously don’t expect to be scared by a Sweet Valley Twins book at my current age, but I thought I remembered a more gothic vibe to the story. On the contrary, this book turned out to be a story about bullying without any resolution. Lila Fowler makes Nellie Olsen look like a saint, and Jessica Wakefield, who is one of the series’s protagonists, is also such a monster. I was shocked at how aggressive these girls were to Nora, especially since there isn’t a lesson learned. No one learns to be kind, or to stand up to bullying. The ending is so ridiculous and unhelpful that I almost want to spoil it just so others won’t waste their time.
I want to share this beloved series with my future children, and the cruel bullying in this book apparently didn’t corrupt my young mind, considering I didn’t even remember it, but I don’t know if I’d want my kids reading about such mean characters who never face consequences. I mean, the lesson is basically, “Just let people bully you and hope they’ll stop eventually.” It’s painfully outdated.
I’m giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 because of nostalgia and the prose style being good for the age group. But the story was both flimsy and potentially harmful to young people. Oh, well. I guess not everything holds up.
May 13, 2024
In 1986 Bantam-Skylark Books released the Sweet Valley Twins novel “The Haunted House.” The novel was created by Francine Pascal and written by Jamie Suzanne. The book features the adventures of twelve year old twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. The twins are students at Sweet Valley, California Middle school, The twins and their classmates constantly hear disturbing stories about the occupants of a Sweet Valley dilapidated mansion. These stories are based on neighborhood rumors that the mansion is owned by a witch with ghostly pale “glow in the dark eyes.” The rumors also say the witch is married to a deranged and physically disabled male sorcerer. The two “witch and sorcerer” owners have a 12 year old granddaughter named Nora. Her parents died and she recently moved in to the dilapidated mansion home of her grandparents who had become her caretakers. Shortly after joining her grandparents, Nora enrolled in the sixth grade at Sweet Valley Middle School. After many alarming confrontations between Nora and the rumor mongering students at the middle school, Nora is rejected by her school mates. This rejection alarms the Wakefield twins and they aggressively help Nora overcome her adversarial school mates. On Halloween eve,. Nora dressed as a witch and with the help of the Wakefield twins and her grandparents she shows why the rumors are false. Nora proves to the naysaying classmates the falsehoods by staging a demonstration using techniques she learned from her famous grandfather (“Houdini Marvelous Marvin”) and the caretaking wisdom of her grandmother. After seeing the spellbinding demonstration, the students are convinced that Nora and her grandparents are very special and accept them as friends and compatriots. The book is fun to read and has an ending that is surprising and very insightful. (P)
May 3, 2018
In my opinion i think this was a pretty good book because I enjoy reading about mystery's and scary books even though this book wasn't scary it sure was a mystery. i would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys and easy, mystery book! I would rate this book a 3 1/2 out of 5 because i think it was just a little under my level of reading. This book is a lot like another book by Francine Pascal that is called "The Carnival Ghost" it is about how these twins go to a carnival and one of them finds out there is a ghost living with the carnival but the other twin cant be convinced that she is telling the truth. in this book "the haunted house" it is about how these twins live across from a house that a girl named Nora Mercandy just moved into but the house she moved into everyone but her knows that it is haunted. the lights always flicker at night and if you see someone go in you don't see them come out. these people have started to believe that Nora is a witch.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2018
Wow, way to bully the new girl just because she moves in with her elderly grandparents in a house that smacks of poverty. Can we learn empathy anywhere in these books? Liz? Anything? Surely we can count on you?
Apparently not.
These first books in the SVT series are rough, and in a sense I think the ghostwriters were floundering a little bit because the only body of work they had to draw on were the Sweet Valley High books which came out first. So here we are trying to explain the alliances that everyone has in high school and sometimes coming up with some really weak reasons why certain people will maintain a dislike for certain others no matter what.
This book though...the witch thing....is just cruel.
So nope, this one also falls on the 'not a favorite' shelf. But still, I would recommend not skipping it if you want to understand the Sweet Valley dynamics.
Apparently not.
These first books in the SVT series are rough, and in a sense I think the ghostwriters were floundering a little bit because the only body of work they had to draw on were the Sweet Valley High books which came out first. So here we are trying to explain the alliances that everyone has in high school and sometimes coming up with some really weak reasons why certain people will maintain a dislike for certain others no matter what.
This book though...the witch thing....is just cruel.
So nope, this one also falls on the 'not a favorite' shelf. But still, I would recommend not skipping it if you want to understand the Sweet Valley dynamics.
December 31, 2020
Anyone of these that heavily features the Unicorn Club, I’m going to hate. This one is so awful, it was a struggle to read it without constantly shrilling (yes, shrilling) in frustration every other word and how nasty everyone is.
Also, why TF did I envy jessica Wakefield so hard as a youth? She is the absolute worst, and Elizabeth is like a wimpy wet blanket whose only bit of advice to a severely bullied girl is “ignore them”.
Skip this one.
Also, why TF did I envy jessica Wakefield so hard as a youth? She is the absolute worst, and Elizabeth is like a wimpy wet blanket whose only bit of advice to a severely bullied girl is “ignore them”.
Skip this one.
Read
October 3, 2022gawd this was wayyyy more awful than i remember it being. went in for nostalgia and was immediately regreting my decision. OMG these were 10/11 yrs olds but still the bullying was SO bad made me want to pull an el and angela skating rink moment on the unicorns. i won't be rating this bc ofc my opinion is biased but this is definitely one of the worst svt books out there!!!
October 18, 2024
With This being a 'Sweet Valley Twins' entry, Elizabeth and Jessica are a little bit younger than they're typically portrayed throughout the franchise and as such this really felt like Sweet Valley meets Goosebumps. Unfortunately it never actually delivers any scary scenes or any hint of the supernatural. That said, It was still a fun, quick read for the spooky season.
October 7, 2018
Great October read! Every October I like to read a book with a spooky theme. Of course, there are the mean girls picking on the assumed weird new girl with no real consequences in the end but an explanation for the presumed spine-chilling family residing in Sweet Valley.
June 13, 2017
This was the very first Sweet Valley book I have ever read and fallen in love with it. Brings back great memories! I definitely would love to have my future daughters to read these books!
August 20, 2017
Very very problematic with the bullying and no resolution. This book screams 80s bad parenting and shitty teens.
November 3, 2020
A super fun blast from the past! I read a few of these in elementary, but this is the only one I remembered so it was delightful to re-read!
Want to read
March 21, 2021hrsa
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2021
easy read
January 11, 2022
This was the first chapter book I ever read as a child, I loved it and read it several times.
Read
July 31, 2022Oh my god Lila Fowler is a nasty, nasty girl. There was really bad bullying in this book.
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