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Sweet Valley Twins #13
Stretching the Truth
Little white lies . . .
What's wrong with Mary Robinson? That's what Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield want to know. She has a rich new stepfather who has a fabulous yacht and is going to build them a huge house. So why has Mary been acting so strange?
Jessica is confident Mary will be herself again, just as soon as she finds out about the surprise birthday party for her on her father's yacht! But Jessica is wrong—a party on the yacht is the last thing Mary wants. It could give away her whole secret. In fact, all of Mary's little white lies would get her into big trouble with her friends! Will anyone want to help poor Mary when they learn the terrible truth?
What's wrong with Mary Robinson? That's what Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield want to know. She has a rich new stepfather who has a fabulous yacht and is going to build them a huge house. So why has Mary been acting so strange?
Jessica is confident Mary will be herself again, just as soon as she finds out about the surprise birthday party for her on her father's yacht! But Jessica is wrong—a party on the yacht is the last thing Mary wants. It could give away her whole secret. In fact, all of Mary's little white lies would get her into big trouble with her friends! Will anyone want to help poor Mary when they learn the terrible truth?
104 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1987
1 person is currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,148 books1,854 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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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 27, 2022
Easily one of the more boring books of the early series. Almost as bad as the one about Sophia Rizzo.
Mary just got her real mom back a few books ago, and now she has a stepfather. Blah blah blah, Mary tells some lies about what he does and exaggerates their wealth, ignores the Unicorns to spend time with her mom, and then tries to run away but only makes it out the front door before she trips and fractures something, seriously, it's a snore.
Also, this book is 85% Mary but she didn't even make the cover, wah wah. The tugboat does though.
Mary just got her real mom back a few books ago, and now she has a stepfather. Blah blah blah, Mary tells some lies about what he does and exaggerates their wealth, ignores the Unicorns to spend time with her mom, and then tries to run away but only makes it out the front door before she trips and fractures something, seriously, it's a snore.
Also, this book is 85% Mary but she didn't even make the cover, wah wah. The tugboat does though.
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March 30, 2023Mary has far too many surnames over the course of these books. It's really very greedy of her.
Anyway, in this one Mary is jealous of her new step father, which is fairly understandable, given that she's only recently been reunited with her mother. Less understandable is her being ashamed of his being a carpenter and lying to all her friends that he's actually a super-rich architect.
It's all very predictable, but nonetheless fun.
Anyway, in this one Mary is jealous of her new step father, which is fairly understandable, given that she's only recently been reunited with her mother. Less understandable is her being ashamed of his being a carpenter and lying to all her friends that he's actually a super-rich architect.
It's all very predictable, but nonetheless fun.
April 8, 2018
This is a story that's really easy to identify with. Mary can't keep up with her rich friends, and wants desperately to be seen on their level. So she starts telling little lies about her new stepfather, and how rich he is. Of course the truth is going to have to come out, and when it does, she's terrified it means losing everyone.
A fun book, with just the right amount of tension. I like the stories where Liz and Jess aren't front and center because it's a nice change of pace.
A fun book, with just the right amount of tension. I like the stories where Liz and Jess aren't front and center because it's a nice change of pace.
May 27, 2022
Stretching the Truth
Jessica and Elizabeth have just gone to the biggest movie out “Dream Chaser”. Jessica thinks it’s the best thing she’s ever seen. Elizabeth thinks it’s a lot of hyped-up happily after non-sense. (I honestly get where she’s coming from and don’t care for movies books, etc like this myself). Jessica reminds Elizabeth that fairy tales do happen and gives the example of Mary finding her mother. Mary shows up and starts to also spin this tale of how perfect her life is now (her stepfather takes them out to eat every night, he loves to take her shopping and give her gifts, he’s building her and her mom a dream house). Lila gets a little competitive of this and they kinda have a face of whose father is the best. But Mary has to hurry home because she says it’s the only time of day she gets to spend with her mother alone. She apologizes that she’s not been around to help Elizabeth with the paper, or go to Unicorn meetings, or take the new jewelry class everyone else has signed up for at SVMS.
All the Wakefield’s discuss the movie. Mr. Wakefield agrees with Elizabeth’s opinion. Steven mentions he’s been put in charge of the dance committee because everyone loved his idea of having a dance-themed after the movie. Not to be outdone Jessica says the Unicorns are going to throw a party too and have a band. Elizabeth discusses her concern with Mary’s insecurity and bad grades to her mother. Alice says she’ll make a call to Mary’s mother. Mary goes home for lunch the next day to be with her mother but is upset to find Tim there. She’s even more upset when Tim tells her that he has a big surprise. He bought a tug boat. Mary runs off to her room upset and Tim tells Mary’s mom that the relationship between him and Mary isn’t working. Mary’s mom tries to plead with him that all the changes have been hard on Mary and to be patient. But he says if it’s going to work Mary has to be the one to change.
Janet calls a meeting at lunch about the party and is upset to find Mary (whose the treasurer) not there. They discuss the party and decide that they’d like to get a singer to sing music from The Dream Chaser. Jessica says she’s been writing Tom Houston (the hot lead actor) and she can get him to sing at the party. Janet brings up Jessia’s delusions with Johnny Buck, but despite that, she decides to let her try and puts her over the party. She says someone should replace Mary as treasurer and then threatens to kick Mary out of the club. Lila convinces her to give Mary one more chance-she did a good job on the celebrity cookbooks- and Janet says if she’s not at the Dairi Burger after school she’s OUT! Jessica keeps running into distractions (her teacher keeps them longer after the bell, and Bruce and Rick stop her and Lila to help them put up sign-up sheets for the class). Bruce asks Jessica to help make his mother a P charm for her birthday. But luckily Elizabeth finds Mary and she makes it. Only she tells her mother and Tim and they drop by the restaurant. When the Unicorns start to get all up in Tim’s grill, Mary fakes sick and her mother and Tim take her home. But first, they stop at the doctors. Basically, he says that there's nothing wrong with Mary, and Tim will have to let Mary know he’s not trying to take her Mom away. Back at the house Tim comes up with the idea that since the Unicorns were interested in the tug boat which clearly meant Mary told them about it because she was proud of it-they should throw her a birthday party on the boat. Mary all of a sudden “gets sick” again and Tim gives her and her mom some alone time to do homework.
Tim starts giving Mary time with her mother alone, but because they go off and leave her to work on the boat she starts to feel left out again. She tries to hang out with the Unicron's, but secretly they’re going to the mall to pick out outfits-matching- for her party. So she ends up helping out The Sixer’s staff put the next edition together and pass them out.
Elizabeth and Jessica design a special bracelet for Mary (since she isn’t taking the jewelry class and all the Unicorns have designed to make official club bracelets). Mary’s will have a unicorn design but her name will be engraved and surrounded by roses), But Mary confesses to Elizabeth that everyone’s been whispering behind her back about some secret party and her mother has forgotten her birthday altogether- so they really haven’t been as dl as they thought-. Mary starts crying and Elizabeth feels bad for her and tells her everything. Mary’s happy but at the same time, she knows that if they have this party all her lies will come out about the boat. So the day before she again fakes sick, and Tim and Andrea come to get her. Her mother checks her temperature and tells her she’s fine and should be tomorrow and they don’t need to see the Dr. as Mary suggests. She said their problems should go away tomorrow. Mary doubts it. Mary sees Tim snuggled up with her mother singing a love song -that he actually wrote for her- and Mary feels left out again and tries to run away. She figures that she’ll either go to the Altman or find her real father, but she tries to leave she trips over her bike and falls. The fall fractures her arm so her parents take her to the hospital. When the doctor says that she’ll need x-rays and a cast he tells her “Dad” he can stay. Mary tells him she wants him to stay for good.
The surprise party goes great. All of Mary’s friends think the tug is adorable and that her father is more talented than Johnny Buck (somehow I don’t think that’s too hard). He sings them all the songs from Dream Catcher. Mary loves all her parents but what she loves most of all is her new Dad. Tim contacted Mary’s father (real) and he gave him permission to adopt her. So now her last name will also be Wallace.
My Thoughts: Even though there were times when I felt like Mary acted like a brat, I did kind of understand what it's like to have a strange man all of a sudden move into your space and be around your mother all the time. Then you get to watch how sickeningly in love they are. It happened to me. I was in the same situation. I don’t think so much it was that I was jealous! It was just ANNOYING! He was always around. But I knew he was a nice man like Tim. Unfortunately, I never got to know this man and find acceptance of him, because he died i because of a freak accident. Tim may have been nice, but sometimes I found him kind of corny. It was the way he’d just burst into song all the time. He reminded me of another character in another story but I can’t place my finger on who. But yes, very rough when a mother springs a new man on her daughter and hasn't given them time to adjust to the situation because it happens so QUICK!
What I really found RIDICULOUS, was Jessica expecting Tom Houston to come to this party because she wrote him a letter. I don’t even think actors read anything fans write them. Case in point, I had the biggest crush on an actor. He was THE HOTTEST man I’d ever seen in MY LIFE. So, I told myself I have GOT to get his attention some kinda way. I was just like Jessica I just HAD to try. Unlike her tho, I didn’t have my hopes all up. So what I did was I wrote a blog and I dedicated it to him. Watched every single one of his movies I could find and wrote GLOWING REVIEWS to almost all of em (One of em, just did not sit well with me). And send the link to him in a message on IG. I tweeted the link to him. He even came on IG live a few times and gave fans the opportunity to ask him questions, but I missed him every single time. Then his show (both) got canceled and while I still think he’s the finest man on the Planant, that kind of zapped the crush. But you have to think about actor probably gets SO MANY letters and (today) messages on social media from fans (crazy and otherwise) that they probably just like in Tom Houston’s case either just don’t answer it at all (don’t even look at it) or have someone answer it for them. It’s crazy that Jessica thinks she’s just SO SPECIAL all these famous people won’t be able to resist her “Charms”. Then was it just slightly disturbing to anyone else that if Tom Houston was a race car driver he was a GROWN MAN and she’s TWELVE and she’s sitting up fantasizing about him? NOOOO!!!
Elizabeth has a BIG MOUTH! I’d definitely blame her for the fall Mary took. If she would have just kept her mouth shut. Mary might have been upset that everyone was talking about her but she would have been surprised by the party and still not gotten hurt. Speaking off REALLY? Mary couldn’t have put all that together and had to have Elizabeth tell her. Especially when she knew it was a secret party and her BIRTHDAY WAS COMING UP? The bracelet sounded pretty tho. I’d want a bracelet like that.
Rating: 6
Jessica and Elizabeth have just gone to the biggest movie out “Dream Chaser”. Jessica thinks it’s the best thing she’s ever seen. Elizabeth thinks it’s a lot of hyped-up happily after non-sense. (I honestly get where she’s coming from and don’t care for movies books, etc like this myself). Jessica reminds Elizabeth that fairy tales do happen and gives the example of Mary finding her mother. Mary shows up and starts to also spin this tale of how perfect her life is now (her stepfather takes them out to eat every night, he loves to take her shopping and give her gifts, he’s building her and her mom a dream house). Lila gets a little competitive of this and they kinda have a face of whose father is the best. But Mary has to hurry home because she says it’s the only time of day she gets to spend with her mother alone. She apologizes that she’s not been around to help Elizabeth with the paper, or go to Unicorn meetings, or take the new jewelry class everyone else has signed up for at SVMS.
All the Wakefield’s discuss the movie. Mr. Wakefield agrees with Elizabeth’s opinion. Steven mentions he’s been put in charge of the dance committee because everyone loved his idea of having a dance-themed after the movie. Not to be outdone Jessica says the Unicorns are going to throw a party too and have a band. Elizabeth discusses her concern with Mary’s insecurity and bad grades to her mother. Alice says she’ll make a call to Mary’s mother. Mary goes home for lunch the next day to be with her mother but is upset to find Tim there. She’s even more upset when Tim tells her that he has a big surprise. He bought a tug boat. Mary runs off to her room upset and Tim tells Mary’s mom that the relationship between him and Mary isn’t working. Mary’s mom tries to plead with him that all the changes have been hard on Mary and to be patient. But he says if it’s going to work Mary has to be the one to change.
Janet calls a meeting at lunch about the party and is upset to find Mary (whose the treasurer) not there. They discuss the party and decide that they’d like to get a singer to sing music from The Dream Chaser. Jessica says she’s been writing Tom Houston (the hot lead actor) and she can get him to sing at the party. Janet brings up Jessia’s delusions with Johnny Buck, but despite that, she decides to let her try and puts her over the party. She says someone should replace Mary as treasurer and then threatens to kick Mary out of the club. Lila convinces her to give Mary one more chance-she did a good job on the celebrity cookbooks- and Janet says if she’s not at the Dairi Burger after school she’s OUT! Jessica keeps running into distractions (her teacher keeps them longer after the bell, and Bruce and Rick stop her and Lila to help them put up sign-up sheets for the class). Bruce asks Jessica to help make his mother a P charm for her birthday. But luckily Elizabeth finds Mary and she makes it. Only she tells her mother and Tim and they drop by the restaurant. When the Unicorns start to get all up in Tim’s grill, Mary fakes sick and her mother and Tim take her home. But first, they stop at the doctors. Basically, he says that there's nothing wrong with Mary, and Tim will have to let Mary know he’s not trying to take her Mom away. Back at the house Tim comes up with the idea that since the Unicorns were interested in the tug boat which clearly meant Mary told them about it because she was proud of it-they should throw her a birthday party on the boat. Mary all of a sudden “gets sick” again and Tim gives her and her mom some alone time to do homework.
Tim starts giving Mary time with her mother alone, but because they go off and leave her to work on the boat she starts to feel left out again. She tries to hang out with the Unicron's, but secretly they’re going to the mall to pick out outfits-matching- for her party. So she ends up helping out The Sixer’s staff put the next edition together and pass them out.
Elizabeth and Jessica design a special bracelet for Mary (since she isn’t taking the jewelry class and all the Unicorns have designed to make official club bracelets). Mary’s will have a unicorn design but her name will be engraved and surrounded by roses), But Mary confesses to Elizabeth that everyone’s been whispering behind her back about some secret party and her mother has forgotten her birthday altogether- so they really haven’t been as dl as they thought-. Mary starts crying and Elizabeth feels bad for her and tells her everything. Mary’s happy but at the same time, she knows that if they have this party all her lies will come out about the boat. So the day before she again fakes sick, and Tim and Andrea come to get her. Her mother checks her temperature and tells her she’s fine and should be tomorrow and they don’t need to see the Dr. as Mary suggests. She said their problems should go away tomorrow. Mary doubts it. Mary sees Tim snuggled up with her mother singing a love song -that he actually wrote for her- and Mary feels left out again and tries to run away. She figures that she’ll either go to the Altman or find her real father, but she tries to leave she trips over her bike and falls. The fall fractures her arm so her parents take her to the hospital. When the doctor says that she’ll need x-rays and a cast he tells her “Dad” he can stay. Mary tells him she wants him to stay for good.
The surprise party goes great. All of Mary’s friends think the tug is adorable and that her father is more talented than Johnny Buck (somehow I don’t think that’s too hard). He sings them all the songs from Dream Catcher. Mary loves all her parents but what she loves most of all is her new Dad. Tim contacted Mary’s father (real) and he gave him permission to adopt her. So now her last name will also be Wallace.
My Thoughts: Even though there were times when I felt like Mary acted like a brat, I did kind of understand what it's like to have a strange man all of a sudden move into your space and be around your mother all the time. Then you get to watch how sickeningly in love they are. It happened to me. I was in the same situation. I don’t think so much it was that I was jealous! It was just ANNOYING! He was always around. But I knew he was a nice man like Tim. Unfortunately, I never got to know this man and find acceptance of him, because he died i because of a freak accident. Tim may have been nice, but sometimes I found him kind of corny. It was the way he’d just burst into song all the time. He reminded me of another character in another story but I can’t place my finger on who. But yes, very rough when a mother springs a new man on her daughter and hasn't given them time to adjust to the situation because it happens so QUICK!
What I really found RIDICULOUS, was Jessica expecting Tom Houston to come to this party because she wrote him a letter. I don’t even think actors read anything fans write them. Case in point, I had the biggest crush on an actor. He was THE HOTTEST man I’d ever seen in MY LIFE. So, I told myself I have GOT to get his attention some kinda way. I was just like Jessica I just HAD to try. Unlike her tho, I didn’t have my hopes all up. So what I did was I wrote a blog and I dedicated it to him. Watched every single one of his movies I could find and wrote GLOWING REVIEWS to almost all of em (One of em, just did not sit well with me). And send the link to him in a message on IG. I tweeted the link to him. He even came on IG live a few times and gave fans the opportunity to ask him questions, but I missed him every single time. Then his show (both) got canceled and while I still think he’s the finest man on the Planant, that kind of zapped the crush. But you have to think about actor probably gets SO MANY letters and (today) messages on social media from fans (crazy and otherwise) that they probably just like in Tom Houston’s case either just don’t answer it at all (don’t even look at it) or have someone answer it for them. It’s crazy that Jessica thinks she’s just SO SPECIAL all these famous people won’t be able to resist her “Charms”. Then was it just slightly disturbing to anyone else that if Tom Houston was a race car driver he was a GROWN MAN and she’s TWELVE and she’s sitting up fantasizing about him? NOOOO!!!
Elizabeth has a BIG MOUTH! I’d definitely blame her for the fall Mary took. If she would have just kept her mouth shut. Mary might have been upset that everyone was talking about her but she would have been surprised by the party and still not gotten hurt. Speaking off REALLY? Mary couldn’t have put all that together and had to have Elizabeth tell her. Especially when she knew it was a secret party and her BIRTHDAY WAS COMING UP? The bracelet sounded pretty tho. I’d want a bracelet like that.
Rating: 6
Read
October 29, 2025For a SVT book, this was quite sensitive (apart from the ever present fat shaming). Mary (formerly Giaccio, now Robinson)'s Real Mum has just got married and Mary is quite understandably less than keen on sharing the mum she recently got back in contact with, with her new man, Tim. Mary is not coping at all and the situation is exacerbated by the lies she's telling her friends about Tim. Mary's mum takes her to the doctor and Dr Costa wisely has words with her mum. A plan is hatched to surprise Mary with a birthday party, and while Mary gets the wrong end of the stick for a while there, it all ends up working out and none of her friends point out what a filthy liar she is.
December 14, 2017
"Elizabeth was beaming now, and Mary wondered what her friend's face would look like when she saw the ramshackle boat. Would anyone ever speak to her again?" .... "Maybe she would like Mary even if her stepfather turned out to be an everyday carpenter instead of a world-famous architect."
Oh dear god. I thought Mary was one of the nice ones?
Oh dear god. I thought Mary was one of the nice ones?
July 1, 2023
In which Whiney Brat Mary lies to the Unicorns (and *gasp* St. Liz) and is, in general, an annoying twat. I hope to god we have a return to Jessica’s insane antics in the next book.
December 26, 2014
Synopsis: This one is totally useless. I mean, there is so much filler. This book is about Mary Robinson and her neglectful family, but we get whole chapters of useless Jess/Liz interaction. Not that I cared what was going on in Mary-land. There's not much to summarize, honestly.
First of all, "Stretching the Truth" is a misnomer. Mary straight up bulldozes over the truth about her family in her conversations with the Unicorns. Apparently she was living with a foster family for two weeks (what?) but is now reunited with her mom. And her new stepdad, Tim, whom she is less than thrilled about. He is taking attention away from her. Mary pouts around the house constantly thinking no one cares about her, but she is forcing her family and her friends to pay attention to her since she is such a sad sack. Mary tells her friends, essentially, that she is better than Lila. Her dad is an architect who is building she and her mom a mansion, filled with servants and rose gardens and guest houses. Not to mention, they have a newly acquired yacht. In reality, her stepfather is a handyman (read: plumber, etc.) who owns a fixer-upper tugboat. She lies and sulks and lies and sulks some more. After doing this enough her family decides to throw her a surprise party on their new tugboat, which they will fix up beforehand. They call and invite the whole class. Liz gets Mrs. Wakefield to snoop on Mary's problems, and she mentions the party to Jess and Liz. Jess goes and tells all the Unicorns and starts making Mary a really special bracelet. Mary starts to be ignored by everyone except Liz, who eventually must confess to her about the party so Mary will stop crying. Mary is horrified because of her lies. How can her tugboat compete with anything Lila or her friends own? She fakes sick and then catches her parents canoodling the night before the party, so she decides to run away to her real dad. Mind you, she doesn't know where he lives or anything like that. She packs her bags and heads out, only to immediately trip on her bike and hurt her arm. Tim hears the ruckus and comes out to get her and brings her inside. He promises not tell Mrs. Wallace about her plans to run away. She immediately recognizes the error of her ways as soon as he brings her inside. That was dizzying! They go to the ER and Tim plays her a song to calm her down, and she suddenly accepts him into the family, realizing how sweet he is. She still dreads the party but knows she must face it. Janet arrives first, but she is thrilled with it because no one else in Sweet Valley has a tugboat. Usually that would make one an outcast in this completely homogenized city, but I guess it was an off day. So everyone parties and Mary gets awesome gifts and a lame song from her stepfather. The Unicorns, having no taste, love Tim, and he agrees to play his guitar at their upcoming dance. Yawn.
Alternate Title : "Mary Had a Tugboat, the Tugboat had a Sail; Mary Went to Heaven, the Tugboat Went to..."
Tagline: "Will Mary's friends discover what she's hiding?" (All I know is that secrets don't last long in Sweet Valley.)
On a Scale of 1-10, How Annoying is Elizabeth? 0. She's okay.
On a Scale of 1-10, How Sociopathic is Jessica? 2. She actually makes a really sweet birthday gift for Mary, but she has moments of sociopathy and patting herself on the back.
The Big Deal: Mary's birthday party on her family's tugboat
Lingering Questions: Why are these ghosties so damn lazy? In the first or second chapter the already married Mrs. Wallace goes from Mrs. Robinson (Mary's last name), to Mrs. Wallace and back. Gah.
Cover: Good or Bad? I like it, though Jessica's face looks constipated. However, Shannon at Shannon Sweet Valley thought the cover is supposed to be Mary. That would make more sense, but the girl is blonde and wearing a purple shirt. Unless we have another Margo Black situation on our hands. Which would have livened this book up considerably. Who is she talking to on the cover? Bruce Patman?
Quotes from the Book: "'Besides,' Elizabeth added thoughtfully, 'I'll bet perfection can be pretty hard to live with.'" (*Snort* That's the most ironic thing I've ever read.)
"A bossy eighth grader, Janet wasn't used to club members skipping meetings. She liked to think that the Unicorns were the most important thing in the whole middle school-- in fact, in the whole world." (More important than Beyoncé?!)
"'First of all, Jess,' she said, 'even William Shakespeare couldn't convince Tom Houston into taking a night off to come to your party!'" (Probably because he's dead.)
Moral of the Story: If everyone's ignoring you, your life is actually like Sixteen Candles and they are secretly throwing you an epic, amazing birthday bash.
Final Rating: One star. I was so bored.
First of all, "Stretching the Truth" is a misnomer. Mary straight up bulldozes over the truth about her family in her conversations with the Unicorns. Apparently she was living with a foster family for two weeks (what?) but is now reunited with her mom. And her new stepdad, Tim, whom she is less than thrilled about. He is taking attention away from her. Mary pouts around the house constantly thinking no one cares about her, but she is forcing her family and her friends to pay attention to her since she is such a sad sack. Mary tells her friends, essentially, that she is better than Lila. Her dad is an architect who is building she and her mom a mansion, filled with servants and rose gardens and guest houses. Not to mention, they have a newly acquired yacht. In reality, her stepfather is a handyman (read: plumber, etc.) who owns a fixer-upper tugboat. She lies and sulks and lies and sulks some more. After doing this enough her family decides to throw her a surprise party on their new tugboat, which they will fix up beforehand. They call and invite the whole class. Liz gets Mrs. Wakefield to snoop on Mary's problems, and she mentions the party to Jess and Liz. Jess goes and tells all the Unicorns and starts making Mary a really special bracelet. Mary starts to be ignored by everyone except Liz, who eventually must confess to her about the party so Mary will stop crying. Mary is horrified because of her lies. How can her tugboat compete with anything Lila or her friends own? She fakes sick and then catches her parents canoodling the night before the party, so she decides to run away to her real dad. Mind you, she doesn't know where he lives or anything like that. She packs her bags and heads out, only to immediately trip on her bike and hurt her arm. Tim hears the ruckus and comes out to get her and brings her inside. He promises not tell Mrs. Wallace about her plans to run away. She immediately recognizes the error of her ways as soon as he brings her inside. That was dizzying! They go to the ER and Tim plays her a song to calm her down, and she suddenly accepts him into the family, realizing how sweet he is. She still dreads the party but knows she must face it. Janet arrives first, but she is thrilled with it because no one else in Sweet Valley has a tugboat. Usually that would make one an outcast in this completely homogenized city, but I guess it was an off day. So everyone parties and Mary gets awesome gifts and a lame song from her stepfather. The Unicorns, having no taste, love Tim, and he agrees to play his guitar at their upcoming dance. Yawn.
Alternate Title : "Mary Had a Tugboat, the Tugboat had a Sail; Mary Went to Heaven, the Tugboat Went to..."
Tagline: "Will Mary's friends discover what she's hiding?" (All I know is that secrets don't last long in Sweet Valley.)
On a Scale of 1-10, How Annoying is Elizabeth? 0. She's okay.
On a Scale of 1-10, How Sociopathic is Jessica? 2. She actually makes a really sweet birthday gift for Mary, but she has moments of sociopathy and patting herself on the back.
The Big Deal: Mary's birthday party on her family's tugboat
Lingering Questions: Why are these ghosties so damn lazy? In the first or second chapter the already married Mrs. Wallace goes from Mrs. Robinson (Mary's last name), to Mrs. Wallace and back. Gah.
Cover: Good or Bad? I like it, though Jessica's face looks constipated. However, Shannon at Shannon Sweet Valley thought the cover is supposed to be Mary. That would make more sense, but the girl is blonde and wearing a purple shirt. Unless we have another Margo Black situation on our hands. Which would have livened this book up considerably. Who is she talking to on the cover? Bruce Patman?
Quotes from the Book: "'Besides,' Elizabeth added thoughtfully, 'I'll bet perfection can be pretty hard to live with.'" (*Snort* That's the most ironic thing I've ever read.)
"A bossy eighth grader, Janet wasn't used to club members skipping meetings. She liked to think that the Unicorns were the most important thing in the whole middle school-- in fact, in the whole world." (More important than Beyoncé?!)
"'First of all, Jess,' she said, 'even William Shakespeare couldn't convince Tom Houston into taking a night off to come to your party!'" (Probably because he's dead.)
Moral of the Story: If everyone's ignoring you, your life is actually like Sixteen Candles and they are secretly throwing you an epic, amazing birthday bash.
Final Rating: One star. I was so bored.
March 26, 2023
Sweet Valley Twins 13 - Stretching the truth
The twins, Lila and Mary are talking about Mary’s Mums recent wedding, and her new stepfather Tim who is an architect. Mary tells them everything is perfect, a real life fairytale. Mary’s also been MIA, and her grades aren’t great. Mary tells them Tim is designing a house for them, and Jess offers to help 🙄 Mary is so busy, she can’t sign up for the after school jewellery making class everyone is taking. Then she won’t have time to be with just her Mum and there it is. Tim probably isn’t a monster, he’s just taking her Mum from her. Liz recruits Alice to look into things. Meanwhile, Mary finds out ol’ handyman Tim has bought them a boat - a tugboat. Mary thinks Tim only pretends to like her, and feels totally left out of everything. The unicorns are planning a party so that Janet can show off to a girl from Camp (President of the Shooting Stars) and Jess tells them her date will be the newest heart throb (this has already been done…!). Mary’s parents decide to throw a surprise birthday party on the boat (not yacht as Mary led the unicorns to believe) for Mary to show her she’s important to them instead of just telling her 😒 Mary is so upset about all the talking going on at school and home that she feels left out of, she tells Liz the truth about Tim, the new house and the boat. And Liz tells Mary about the surprise party. So now Mary is embarrassed about the boat and everyone finding out the truth - so she plays sick. She also starts to run away but gets hurt and found by Tim, and she starts to like and trust him now? 🤷🏼♀️ And agrees to be adopted and change her name… Of course the boat, the party and Tim’s special song for Mary are a big hit!
My rating - 4/10 - while very sweet, it was predictable and also unnecessary for Mary to get so worked up over nothing!
#sweetvalley #sweetvalleykids #sweetvalleytwins #unicornclub #sweetvalleyjnrhigh #sweetvalleyhigh #sweetvalleysenioryear #sweetvalleyuniversity #sweetvalleyseries #bookreview
The twins, Lila and Mary are talking about Mary’s Mums recent wedding, and her new stepfather Tim who is an architect. Mary tells them everything is perfect, a real life fairytale. Mary’s also been MIA, and her grades aren’t great. Mary tells them Tim is designing a house for them, and Jess offers to help 🙄 Mary is so busy, she can’t sign up for the after school jewellery making class everyone is taking. Then she won’t have time to be with just her Mum and there it is. Tim probably isn’t a monster, he’s just taking her Mum from her. Liz recruits Alice to look into things. Meanwhile, Mary finds out ol’ handyman Tim has bought them a boat - a tugboat. Mary thinks Tim only pretends to like her, and feels totally left out of everything. The unicorns are planning a party so that Janet can show off to a girl from Camp (President of the Shooting Stars) and Jess tells them her date will be the newest heart throb (this has already been done…!). Mary’s parents decide to throw a surprise birthday party on the boat (not yacht as Mary led the unicorns to believe) for Mary to show her she’s important to them instead of just telling her 😒 Mary is so upset about all the talking going on at school and home that she feels left out of, she tells Liz the truth about Tim, the new house and the boat. And Liz tells Mary about the surprise party. So now Mary is embarrassed about the boat and everyone finding out the truth - so she plays sick. She also starts to run away but gets hurt and found by Tim, and she starts to like and trust him now? 🤷🏼♀️ And agrees to be adopted and change her name… Of course the boat, the party and Tim’s special song for Mary are a big hit!
My rating - 4/10 - while very sweet, it was predictable and also unnecessary for Mary to get so worked up over nothing!
#sweetvalley #sweetvalleykids #sweetvalleytwins #unicornclub #sweetvalleyjnrhigh #sweetvalleyhigh #sweetvalleysenioryear #sweetvalleyuniversity #sweetvalleyseries #bookreview
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***
January 17, 2016
This is book #13 in the series. The plot revolves around Mary who was recently reunited with her real mother. Her mother plans to marry a guy and Mary feels left out. She brags about her to-be stepfather and how rich they are, and how they have just bought a boat.
The problem is the the boat is a tugboat and Mary feels ashamed of it since so many others in Sweet Valley actually have yachts. She learns that stretching the truth can cause problems and those she runs into with the other girls at school.
She feels more and more isolated and even, at one point, starts to run away. Her birthday is coming up, there's supposed to be a party on their boat and she's really upset. The question is, is there any way that she can undone the things she's said, make nice with her stepfather-to-be, and not have everything turn out so wrong that she becomes a social outcast at school.
Another good novel with a good message.
The problem is the the boat is a tugboat and Mary feels ashamed of it since so many others in Sweet Valley actually have yachts. She learns that stretching the truth can cause problems and those she runs into with the other girls at school.
She feels more and more isolated and even, at one point, starts to run away. Her birthday is coming up, there's supposed to be a party on their boat and she's really upset. The question is, is there any way that she can undone the things she's said, make nice with her stepfather-to-be, and not have everything turn out so wrong that she becomes a social outcast at school.
Another good novel with a good message.
Read
February 5, 2009JAR4-Pas
October 25, 2009
This book is kind of boring but I still like it a little.
April 1, 2011
Never a dull story in Sweet Valley. Always drama, excitement, a lesson and a hug and make up session all between covers. Good stuff.
Read
August 29, 2011From "Books I have read this summer" list that I found at home in NJ.
May 6, 2021
Loved these books as a child
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
January 18, 2021
In this one, Mary overcomes her ungrateful and selfish attitude
November 4, 2017
Another one of the early, quite boring SVT books, this time centred around Mary and her new family. Aware this is supposed to deal with issues for young readers with step parents but not sure the message, 'lie about everything and it'll be all OK in the end', is the right one!
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