Two Girls, One Boy

Sugar & Spice #1

by Janet Quin-Harkin

Book by Janet Quin-Harkin

Genres: Young Adult

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 12, 1987

About the author

Janet Quin-Harkin is a pseudonym of Rhys Bowen

Rhys turned to writing children’s books under her married name, Janet Quin-Harkin. Her first picture book was an immediate success and won several awards. More picture books followed, then her agent asked her to write a book for young adults. This was a turning point in Rhys’s career. Her first young adult novel was an instant hit. By her third she was selling half a million copies. Many more popular YA novels followed until Rhys decided she had said all she wanted to say about teenage love and angst, and she turned her real love—mysteries.

Reviews

[Sally]

The title says it all, doesn't it?! Thankfully I didn't read much more of this series.

[Reading with Cats]

I couldn’t stand Caroline. If I had to spend one more minute in her whiney, self-absorbed, humorless head I would have pitched *myself* in front of that bulldozer. And what on earth is going on with that cover? Why is Chrissy wearing falling-apart, badly patched overalls?

[Jodie]

I was a teenager when I read this series but I remember liking them a great deal.

Caroline discovers she has a long lost cousin exactly her age who lives in Iowa. Chrissy decides to move to the city and live with Caroline's family for a year. Caroline instantly regrets this move because Chrissy soon takes over Caroline's life: her bedroom, her friends and even tries stealing her boyfriend, or so Caroline thinks.

I don't know how many books were in the series. I found these in a bag in my parent's attic. I only have Books 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9. I imagine at some time I had them all so I don't know where the rest are. I plan on rereading these before giving them to a used book store.

[Denise Kettering]

I read this as a teenager and recently re-read it and found it to be generally of a predictable nature and full of the sort of concerns that populated the young adult genre when I was a teen. Namely, confusion that could easily have been sorted out if the characters actually had a discussion. However, it was relatively innocent and did have some helpful moments like the girls engaging in protest and having their own interests rather than simply being interested in boys.