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Sweet Valley High #99
Beware the Baby-Sitter
Margo makes her move . . .
Margo is making herself right at home in Sweet Valley, setting her evil scheme in motion. She's gotten a job at the day-care center, and is busy perfecting her imitation of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. She's even fooled Todd Wilkins and Mrs. Wakefield into thinking she's Elizabeth. Now it's only a matter of time before Margo takes over Elizabeth's perfect life for good.
Meanwhile, Winston Egbert was baby-sitting for a neighbor. Now the neighbor has disappeared. What's Winston going to do with a baby?
Book Five in this explosive six-part miniseries . . . Sweet Valley will never be the same!
Margo is making herself right at home in Sweet Valley, setting her evil scheme in motion. She's gotten a job at the day-care center, and is busy perfecting her imitation of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. She's even fooled Todd Wilkins and Mrs. Wakefield into thinking she's Elizabeth. Now it's only a matter of time before Margo takes over Elizabeth's perfect life for good.
Meanwhile, Winston Egbert was baby-sitting for a neighbor. Now the neighbor has disappeared. What's Winston going to do with a baby?
Book Five in this explosive six-part miniseries . . . Sweet Valley will never be the same!
214 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
13 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,149 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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June 16, 2012
I took a one-year hiatus from this miniseries last summer after I read and reviewed The Wedding. See, I just wasn't ready to finish this miniseries so quickly. No more Margo in my life?! Ahhh, the horror! I'm not snarking though. These books really are the cream of the Sweet Valley crop. They are the best milkshake at the Dairi Burger times 1,000.
We resume our story with no change on the old frontier (er, beach). Enid reminds us that Sam Woodruff is dead. Really, Enid? Way to be a Debbie Downer. Anyway, wasn't this all five books ago now? Let's get on with it. Jessica certainly has.
Speaking of Jessica, her Ice Palace is defrosting, and she is now endeavoring to speak to her sister again. Liz is all for it... after all, with Todd still pissed at her, if she doesn't have Jessica then she doesn't really have a friend in the world. As usual, Jessica is still refusing to admit to anyone (even Prince Albert), that she is the one who spiked Liz's punch at Jungle Prom. She is also not willing to admit that while she dated Todd she hid a letter from him that was supposed to be his apology plea to Liz. Liz is suddenly a psychic about Margo, but her powers have not given her the clear knowledge of who really spiked her drink that night. While rummaging for clothes in Jess's room one day she does, however, finally find that letter from Todd. And so the Cold War resumes.
James the Dirtbiker is still dating Jessica in order to get the $2,000 Mandy (Margo) has promised him. He takes her on a date near a cliff, and even almost pushes her off and then catches her to make sure she trusts him. He's got a weird way of testing trust. Margo harasses him daily for information about the twins and their lives. Her obsession with Alice Wakefield takes on a strange lesbian quality in this book. With James relaying information about the twins wardrobe, she is able to replicate it almost exactly. One day she tests out her master plan by changing into her Elizabeth clothes and approaching Mrs. Wakefield on Calico Drive. While Mrs. Wakefield is unloading groceries, Margo walks in and gives her a hug and acts weird. Margo disappears while the real Elizabeth comes back, and Alice asks her why she has changed clothing. Liz gives her a funny look. Honestly, between Alice not knowing her own children and James's brushing off of Margo's weird ways, I am thinking that not even a brick to the head would knock some sense into these people.
Margo has taken a job at Little Darlings Daycare (the name snarks itself) as Marla, a curly-haired and bespectacled geek. Margo is turning into a Kardashian with all these M names she keeps making up. Of course she hates kids, but she knows that these kids will tell her more about Jessica and Elizabeth. She figures she'll be long gone (as the new Elizabeth), before her employer realizes that she got the job under false pretenses.
There is a Winston plot in this one that actually seems pretty useless (and would be under normal circumstances), but soon Margo comes around to spice it up. Winston's neighbor Mrs. Zvonchenko is a talker who has to go rescue her husband from Central America, and her regular baby-sitter is out of commission, so she needs to leave her baby with Winston. Winston can't get a word in edge-wise, and so he is stuck taking care of baby Daisy while his parents are out of town. Hijinks ensue, and all of Winston's girl friends (and actual girlfriend) fall in love with Daisy on first sight. Amy Sutton bets Winston that he can't take care of Daisy for an entire week, including changing diapers. If she wins, Winston has to wear a huge diaper as his costume to the upcoming Costume Ball. If Winston wins, Amy has to go dressed as a nun. The gang has to take care of Daisy at school one day, and it's very much like an episode of Saved by the Bell. Things get interesting when Winston realizes that Mrs. Zvonchenko isn't coming back anytime soon and that he needs to think about taking the baby to Social Services. He stops by the daycare to ask their advice, and runs into Margo at the front desk. He is frantic to find care for Daisy, but Margo is more interested in the fact that this is Winston Egbert, and his friends Elizabeth and Todd are in the car with the baby. Margo gets an angry glint in her eyes when she talks about children being abandoned at birth, and after getting her advice and driving away, Winston gets the distinct feeling that Margo is watching him as they pull away. D'oh. Yes, Winston. Of course she is. It gets better when Margo eventually stops by Winston's house (as the daycare worker) and offers to watch Daisy and relieve Winston of his dad-like duties for a while. This chick should not know his address, and Winston gets this unshakeable fear about her, but he decides what the hell? Sweet Valley is full of people who are remarkably capable of shaking off gut feelings. Naturally, Margo instantly wants to suffocate the baby, or at least makes sure she grows up to have a life as miserable as her. She is in the process of suffocation when Liz pops up to check on Winston and the baby. Margo is speechless that the target of her master plan is right in front of her, and she vanishes. Liz makes no move to follow her, until she realizes that Margo has the same cold, blue eyes of the person in her recurring dream. However, Liz deserves to die for sheer idiocy alone. Winston's friends convince him at the end of the book that Mrs. Zvonchenko is not coming back, and he needs to drop Daisy off at the daycare for good. Again, ignoring his fear about giving the baby to Margo, he drives away, only to arrive at his house... and find Mrs. Zvonchenko! He tells her he just gave the baby away, and they all speed back towards Little Darlings Daycare. Once again, Margo is in the middle of suffocating the baby when Winston and the Zvonchenkos tell her they need the baby back. Margo comes out visibly flustered and vanishes once again. They find the baby with a pillow lying next to it. A big pillow. No cause for suspicion here.
Well, since we can't go a Sweet Valley book without some sort of event, we have in this one a Costume Ball. Amy ends up dressing like a nun, and Jessica and Elizabeth (and Margo), all go dressed as Cinderella. Liz can't shake her feeling of impending doom. She takes a walk outside and runs into Margo-dressed-as-Jess. Liz tells Jess that she scared her (fuck, she can't even recognize her own twin!!), and Margo as Jess runs away. Just then, Liz realizes that Jess was wearing pearl earrings when she left the house instead of the rhinestones that Margo as Jess wore. She gasps at the realization for about the 50th time in the book. They should make a gasping Liz doll. Margo is living it up as Jess. She has a wonderful time dancing with Todd (who didn't consider that he could be wrecking things with Liz again by dancing with "Jess"), and now all of Jessica's friends are talking to Margo as if she is actually Jessica. I can't understand why Margo doesn't realize that she'd rather be Jessica (and make a much better Jessica) until Return of the Evil Twin, but that's the way it goes.
Josh Smith is in town and gaining on Margo. He overhears about a recent incident in which a lady was ran over and killed by a driver who then fled the scene of the crime. Smells like Margo, in Josh's opinion. He also hears about a teen getting killed by a drunk driver, but he believes that Margo isn't responsible for that one. It's funny, I used to think that Margo was EXACTLY the person responsible for the Jungle Prom punch fiasco. It seems that dressing up as Jessica and spiking Elizabeth's punch so that she could take over Elizabeth's life is the EXACT kind of thing that Margo would do. Also, I used to love Jessica and never thought of her as that sociopathic. Man, I was so wrong. Oftentimes Jessica puts Margo to shame. So Josh overhears Amy & Lila talking at Casey's about the upcoming Costume Ball. Josh decides he needs to be in attendance in order to catch Margo. He is certain she will be there. He puts together a laughable Sherlock Holmes outfit and hits the town to seek vengeance for his brother.
Josh is about to leave the party when he spots Margo as Jessica running away. He is about to chase after her until he spots the real Jessica (still thinking it's Margo) at the punch table. He confronts her and grabs her arm, while Jessica rightly freaks out and pulls away. She yells at him to get away from her, and her friends pull him away. Josh protests that her name is Margo, while Jessica is all, "No, my name is Jessica, you freak." Josh turns around and runs into yet ANOTHER Margo, but this time it's Elizabeth. He's feeling dizzy at seeing triple and quickly leaves the party. Then Josh becomes the only smart person in Sweet Valley when he puts two and two together. He realizes that the first girl he saw WAS Margo, because she was running away from him. He realizes that it can't be mere coincidence that Margo came all the way to Sweet Valley and discovered her exact replicas. He reasons that it must be part of her master plan, and that the twins Jessica and Elizabeth are in grave danger. Slow clap for Josh Smith, everyone. Slow clap.
Soon I will begin The Evil Twin, which is all Margo, all the time. No complaints here! I'm sick of all this filler.
We resume our story with no change on the old frontier (er, beach). Enid reminds us that Sam Woodruff is dead. Really, Enid? Way to be a Debbie Downer. Anyway, wasn't this all five books ago now? Let's get on with it. Jessica certainly has.
Speaking of Jessica, her Ice Palace is defrosting, and she is now endeavoring to speak to her sister again. Liz is all for it... after all, with Todd still pissed at her, if she doesn't have Jessica then she doesn't really have a friend in the world. As usual, Jessica is still refusing to admit to anyone (even Prince Albert), that she is the one who spiked Liz's punch at Jungle Prom. She is also not willing to admit that while she dated Todd she hid a letter from him that was supposed to be his apology plea to Liz. Liz is suddenly a psychic about Margo, but her powers have not given her the clear knowledge of who really spiked her drink that night. While rummaging for clothes in Jess's room one day she does, however, finally find that letter from Todd. And so the Cold War resumes.
James the Dirtbiker is still dating Jessica in order to get the $2,000 Mandy (Margo) has promised him. He takes her on a date near a cliff, and even almost pushes her off and then catches her to make sure she trusts him. He's got a weird way of testing trust. Margo harasses him daily for information about the twins and their lives. Her obsession with Alice Wakefield takes on a strange lesbian quality in this book. With James relaying information about the twins wardrobe, she is able to replicate it almost exactly. One day she tests out her master plan by changing into her Elizabeth clothes and approaching Mrs. Wakefield on Calico Drive. While Mrs. Wakefield is unloading groceries, Margo walks in and gives her a hug and acts weird. Margo disappears while the real Elizabeth comes back, and Alice asks her why she has changed clothing. Liz gives her a funny look. Honestly, between Alice not knowing her own children and James's brushing off of Margo's weird ways, I am thinking that not even a brick to the head would knock some sense into these people.
Margo has taken a job at Little Darlings Daycare (the name snarks itself) as Marla, a curly-haired and bespectacled geek. Margo is turning into a Kardashian with all these M names she keeps making up. Of course she hates kids, but she knows that these kids will tell her more about Jessica and Elizabeth. She figures she'll be long gone (as the new Elizabeth), before her employer realizes that she got the job under false pretenses.
There is a Winston plot in this one that actually seems pretty useless (and would be under normal circumstances), but soon Margo comes around to spice it up. Winston's neighbor Mrs. Zvonchenko is a talker who has to go rescue her husband from Central America, and her regular baby-sitter is out of commission, so she needs to leave her baby with Winston. Winston can't get a word in edge-wise, and so he is stuck taking care of baby Daisy while his parents are out of town. Hijinks ensue, and all of Winston's girl friends (and actual girlfriend) fall in love with Daisy on first sight. Amy Sutton bets Winston that he can't take care of Daisy for an entire week, including changing diapers. If she wins, Winston has to wear a huge diaper as his costume to the upcoming Costume Ball. If Winston wins, Amy has to go dressed as a nun. The gang has to take care of Daisy at school one day, and it's very much like an episode of Saved by the Bell. Things get interesting when Winston realizes that Mrs. Zvonchenko isn't coming back anytime soon and that he needs to think about taking the baby to Social Services. He stops by the daycare to ask their advice, and runs into Margo at the front desk. He is frantic to find care for Daisy, but Margo is more interested in the fact that this is Winston Egbert, and his friends Elizabeth and Todd are in the car with the baby. Margo gets an angry glint in her eyes when she talks about children being abandoned at birth, and after getting her advice and driving away, Winston gets the distinct feeling that Margo is watching him as they pull away. D'oh. Yes, Winston. Of course she is. It gets better when Margo eventually stops by Winston's house (as the daycare worker) and offers to watch Daisy and relieve Winston of his dad-like duties for a while. This chick should not know his address, and Winston gets this unshakeable fear about her, but he decides what the hell? Sweet Valley is full of people who are remarkably capable of shaking off gut feelings. Naturally, Margo instantly wants to suffocate the baby, or at least makes sure she grows up to have a life as miserable as her. She is in the process of suffocation when Liz pops up to check on Winston and the baby. Margo is speechless that the target of her master plan is right in front of her, and she vanishes. Liz makes no move to follow her, until she realizes that Margo has the same cold, blue eyes of the person in her recurring dream. However, Liz deserves to die for sheer idiocy alone. Winston's friends convince him at the end of the book that Mrs. Zvonchenko is not coming back, and he needs to drop Daisy off at the daycare for good. Again, ignoring his fear about giving the baby to Margo, he drives away, only to arrive at his house... and find Mrs. Zvonchenko! He tells her he just gave the baby away, and they all speed back towards Little Darlings Daycare. Once again, Margo is in the middle of suffocating the baby when Winston and the Zvonchenkos tell her they need the baby back. Margo comes out visibly flustered and vanishes once again. They find the baby with a pillow lying next to it. A big pillow. No cause for suspicion here.
Well, since we can't go a Sweet Valley book without some sort of event, we have in this one a Costume Ball. Amy ends up dressing like a nun, and Jessica and Elizabeth (and Margo), all go dressed as Cinderella. Liz can't shake her feeling of impending doom. She takes a walk outside and runs into Margo-dressed-as-Jess. Liz tells Jess that she scared her (fuck, she can't even recognize her own twin!!), and Margo as Jess runs away. Just then, Liz realizes that Jess was wearing pearl earrings when she left the house instead of the rhinestones that Margo as Jess wore. She gasps at the realization for about the 50th time in the book. They should make a gasping Liz doll. Margo is living it up as Jess. She has a wonderful time dancing with Todd (who didn't consider that he could be wrecking things with Liz again by dancing with "Jess"), and now all of Jessica's friends are talking to Margo as if she is actually Jessica. I can't understand why Margo doesn't realize that she'd rather be Jessica (and make a much better Jessica) until Return of the Evil Twin, but that's the way it goes.
Josh Smith is in town and gaining on Margo. He overhears about a recent incident in which a lady was ran over and killed by a driver who then fled the scene of the crime. Smells like Margo, in Josh's opinion. He also hears about a teen getting killed by a drunk driver, but he believes that Margo isn't responsible for that one. It's funny, I used to think that Margo was EXACTLY the person responsible for the Jungle Prom punch fiasco. It seems that dressing up as Jessica and spiking Elizabeth's punch so that she could take over Elizabeth's life is the EXACT kind of thing that Margo would do. Also, I used to love Jessica and never thought of her as that sociopathic. Man, I was so wrong. Oftentimes Jessica puts Margo to shame. So Josh overhears Amy & Lila talking at Casey's about the upcoming Costume Ball. Josh decides he needs to be in attendance in order to catch Margo. He is certain she will be there. He puts together a laughable Sherlock Holmes outfit and hits the town to seek vengeance for his brother.
Josh is about to leave the party when he spots Margo as Jessica running away. He is about to chase after her until he spots the real Jessica (still thinking it's Margo) at the punch table. He confronts her and grabs her arm, while Jessica rightly freaks out and pulls away. She yells at him to get away from her, and her friends pull him away. Josh protests that her name is Margo, while Jessica is all, "No, my name is Jessica, you freak." Josh turns around and runs into yet ANOTHER Margo, but this time it's Elizabeth. He's feeling dizzy at seeing triple and quickly leaves the party. Then Josh becomes the only smart person in Sweet Valley when he puts two and two together. He realizes that the first girl he saw WAS Margo, because she was running away from him. He realizes that it can't be mere coincidence that Margo came all the way to Sweet Valley and discovered her exact replicas. He reasons that it must be part of her master plan, and that the twins Jessica and Elizabeth are in grave danger. Slow clap for Josh Smith, everyone. Slow clap.
Soon I will begin The Evil Twin, which is all Margo, all the time. No complaints here! I'm sick of all this filler.
December 15, 2023
The penultimate book in TGMOAT finds Margo coming completely unhinged, and has a rather irritating subplot of Wacky Baby-sitting Hijinks with a side order of All Adults are Morons, apparently. I think this is the weakest book in the miniseries; maybe this is colored by my adoration of the previous book.
Let's cover the wacky subplot first. One of Winston's neighbors has to go to some unnamed central American country that just had a military coup in order to rescue her husband. She has an eight-month-old baby that she doesn't want to take with her (for obvious reasons), so she stops by to leave the baby with Winston and his parents, promising that she'll be back overnight. There are just two problems with this: Winston's parents are on a weeklong vacation to see relatives, and the baby's mother doesn't come back the next day. Hence, Winston finds himself caring for baby Daisy solo, and for some reason he decides he can't tell any adult person, ever, about this situation. He doesn't want to tell anyone, actually, but he is so comically horrible at caring for Daisy by himself that he relents and tells his girlfriend, who proceeds to invite pretty much every girl in their junior class to Winston's house to assist him. They all instantly fall in love with Daisy, and of course, being girls, know exactly what to do to care for her. (Of course.) Winston and Amy Sutton even make a side bet: if Winston can learn how to properly change a diaper by the end of the week, he gets to dictate the costume Amy wears to Olivia Davidson's upcoming costume party. If he doesn't, Amy will chose his costume.
Winston misses three days of school and returns on a Thursday, carrying baby Daisy in a duffel bag(!). His female friends have agreed to help him watch her while they're at school, each of them taking her for one of the periods. He hides the fact that he brought a baby to school from Chrome Dome Cooper, and they even fool Mr Collins. This whole sequence was just cringingly awful. No adult is going to be that stupid, not even the Sweet Valley adults. But of course they have no idea of this coordinated effort by a group of sixteen year olds, and of course no idea why said kids are taking turns taking care of an eight-month-old baby. I basically had to grit my teeth while reading these scenes; not even the scene where Daisy accidentally unties Bruce's shoelaces while he's rocking out to The Who, and then he unceremoniously falls over his feet when he stands up, was enough to wipe away the absolute cringe of it all.
The main plot follows Margo as she creeps ever close to Elizabeth, sometimes quite literally. She's staking out the Wakefield home, and even greets Alice one afternoon as Liz. She then sees Liz hurrying away from the house and hotwires a car to follow her. She follows Liz all the way to Todd's house and witnesses their happy reunion.( Apparently Jessica kept the note she intercepted from Todd back in #97 instead of tearing it up. Really, Jessica??) Liz is equally happy to be reunited with Todd as she is furious with Jessica for keeping the note from her. Oh, Liz, if only you knew that was the least of Jessica's secrets!
Liz and Todd are blissfully unaware of their witness hiding in the bushes, but Margo has become unhinged to the point of carrying around a butcher knife on the off chance that she can kill Elizabeth at any moment. I'd forgotten this; I thought Margo's plans were much more cold and calculating. But it seems that now that she's close to the twins, she's becoming openly psychotic. The raspy voice she hears in her head is now coming out of her mouth (a creepy notion), and her patience is wearing thin with everyone, not just the twins.
Margo gets a job at the Little Darlings Day Care center, where she starts pumping the kids for information about the ever-popular Wakefields.
James, Jessica's new boyfriend who's also been feeding Margo information about the twins in exchange for money, is starting to second-guess this deal. Margo is creeping him out, and he's both annoyed and frightened by her. He's also starting to care for Jessica. This doesn't stop him from giving Margo all the details about Jessica's costume for the ball, of course, but he does wonder if he did the right thing. (Spoiler alert: no, he didn't.)
The main plot and the subplot intersect when Winston is convinced to take baby Daisy to Little Darlings after her parents have been gone for nearly a week, because he can't take care of her anymore. He talks to Margo on several occasions, and even leaves Daisy with her in the second-to-last chapter. This is where my lone memory of the book comes in: Winston driving Daisy around in his orange VW Beetle. Winston, too, is creeped out by Margo, though he can't put his finger on why. It doesn't help that she shows up to his house one day in the middle of the book, offering to take care of Daisy.
Margo has honed in on Daisy because she's seen Elizabeth interact with the baby and feels that this is the key to getting close to her. She's more right than she realizes, when Liz unexpectedly shows up at Winston's house that same day. For the first time ever, Margo is speechless and unprepared to be so close to her prey. She actually runs away.
The subplot is wrapped up when Winston takes Daisy to the day care center and leaves her in Margo's care, then the baby's parents return. They race to the day care center and have no idea how close they came to finding a dead baby instead of a live one; Daisy's cries have driven Margo to try to suffocate her. But, she's still alive, the parents are happy, and Margo disappears before Winston can talk to her and ask her to keep his secret that his parents weren't home to care for Daisy.
Perhaps the best scenes of the book are at Olivia's costume ball, which is being held at her wealthy boyfriend Harry's house in Bridgewater. All of her classmates come in costume, including the Wakefields: both Liz and Jess independently decide to go as Cinderella, and choose pale pink gowns and shimmery veils. They don't realize they've chosen the same costume until they come face to face with each other when they go down to meet their dates. Both girls have deja vu from the night of preparing for the Jungle Prom; they weren't talking to each other then, either, and of course Jessica knows better than anyone else what else happened that night.
They decide to go to the costume party in their near-identical outfits, but there's no picture taking this time. They mingle with the other guests, but Elizabeth in particular feels very weirded out by everything. She has some surreal moments as well, and these were described quite nicely: how everyone looks just a little bit off, how odd it is to see familiar people in unfamiliar surroundings.
Margo is also at this party, dressed almost exactly the same as Jessica. Only their earrings are different, Jessica at the last moment deciding to wear pearls she was given by Sam. Margo encounters both twins, and is mistaken as Jessica by nearly everyone at the party. She enjoys this so much that I'm not sure why she decides she'd rather be Elizabeth. Margo also snags a dance with Todd - but unlike what the back blurb says, Todd is not fooled by this. He thinks he's dancing with Jessica, but maybe not because Jessica is not usually so forward and touchy-feely. Margo thoroughly creeps Todd out and he quite literally runs away from her.
Josh Smith is also at the costume party, having decided to crash it during his search for Margo. He's seen Liz around town and is convinced that he's seeing Margo, so imagine his surprise when he sees three Margos at the party. He grabs one of them, only to realize that it's not Margo, but some girl named Jessica. The third Margo rushes up in the commotion, and he realizes that Margo is likely stalking these two twin girls and that they're in danger from her. He's kicked out of the party before he can say or do anything, but he's FINALLY stumbled upon the reason why Margo came to California in the first place. We still have no explanation of how he put together Margo's past crimes, which is disappointing, but alas.
Josh, James, Winston, and Liz are all feeling very unnerved by Margo, whether they realize its her or not, and Margo is so far gone that she doesn't realize or care. She wants Liz's life and she's tired of waiting for it, so she puts her plans into motion: she writes a letter to Ned Wakefield, inviting him and Alice down to San Francisco for a two-day business meeting at a lavish hotel. Ned, being a moronic adult in this book, immediately accepts and is excited by the idea.
The setup for The Evil Twin is there, but this was a rather painful way to get to it. I've been a bit disappointed by how sloppy Margo has gotten in this book (or maybe I'm just disappointed with myself for forgetting it? LOL), so I'm hoping #100 is as good as I remember it to be. This miniseries started off strongly, and I'm ready for it to finish the same way.
Let's cover the wacky subplot first. One of Winston's neighbors has to go to some unnamed central American country that just had a military coup in order to rescue her husband. She has an eight-month-old baby that she doesn't want to take with her (for obvious reasons), so she stops by to leave the baby with Winston and his parents, promising that she'll be back overnight. There are just two problems with this: Winston's parents are on a weeklong vacation to see relatives, and the baby's mother doesn't come back the next day. Hence, Winston finds himself caring for baby Daisy solo, and for some reason he decides he can't tell any adult person, ever, about this situation. He doesn't want to tell anyone, actually, but he is so comically horrible at caring for Daisy by himself that he relents and tells his girlfriend, who proceeds to invite pretty much every girl in their junior class to Winston's house to assist him. They all instantly fall in love with Daisy, and of course, being girls, know exactly what to do to care for her. (Of course.) Winston and Amy Sutton even make a side bet: if Winston can learn how to properly change a diaper by the end of the week, he gets to dictate the costume Amy wears to Olivia Davidson's upcoming costume party. If he doesn't, Amy will chose his costume.
Winston misses three days of school and returns on a Thursday, carrying baby Daisy in a duffel bag(!). His female friends have agreed to help him watch her while they're at school, each of them taking her for one of the periods. He hides the fact that he brought a baby to school from Chrome Dome Cooper, and they even fool Mr Collins. This whole sequence was just cringingly awful. No adult is going to be that stupid, not even the Sweet Valley adults. But of course they have no idea of this coordinated effort by a group of sixteen year olds, and of course no idea why said kids are taking turns taking care of an eight-month-old baby. I basically had to grit my teeth while reading these scenes; not even the scene where Daisy accidentally unties Bruce's shoelaces while he's rocking out to The Who, and then he unceremoniously falls over his feet when he stands up, was enough to wipe away the absolute cringe of it all.
The main plot follows Margo as she creeps ever close to Elizabeth, sometimes quite literally. She's staking out the Wakefield home, and even greets Alice one afternoon as Liz. She then sees Liz hurrying away from the house and hotwires a car to follow her. She follows Liz all the way to Todd's house and witnesses their happy reunion.( Apparently Jessica kept the note she intercepted from Todd back in #97 instead of tearing it up. Really, Jessica??) Liz is equally happy to be reunited with Todd as she is furious with Jessica for keeping the note from her. Oh, Liz, if only you knew that was the least of Jessica's secrets!
Liz and Todd are blissfully unaware of their witness hiding in the bushes, but Margo has become unhinged to the point of carrying around a butcher knife on the off chance that she can kill Elizabeth at any moment. I'd forgotten this; I thought Margo's plans were much more cold and calculating. But it seems that now that she's close to the twins, she's becoming openly psychotic. The raspy voice she hears in her head is now coming out of her mouth (a creepy notion), and her patience is wearing thin with everyone, not just the twins.
Margo gets a job at the Little Darlings Day Care center, where she starts pumping the kids for information about the ever-popular Wakefields.
James, Jessica's new boyfriend who's also been feeding Margo information about the twins in exchange for money, is starting to second-guess this deal. Margo is creeping him out, and he's both annoyed and frightened by her. He's also starting to care for Jessica. This doesn't stop him from giving Margo all the details about Jessica's costume for the ball, of course, but he does wonder if he did the right thing. (Spoiler alert: no, he didn't.)
The main plot and the subplot intersect when Winston is convinced to take baby Daisy to Little Darlings after her parents have been gone for nearly a week, because he can't take care of her anymore. He talks to Margo on several occasions, and even leaves Daisy with her in the second-to-last chapter. This is where my lone memory of the book comes in: Winston driving Daisy around in his orange VW Beetle. Winston, too, is creeped out by Margo, though he can't put his finger on why. It doesn't help that she shows up to his house one day in the middle of the book, offering to take care of Daisy.
Margo has honed in on Daisy because she's seen Elizabeth interact with the baby and feels that this is the key to getting close to her. She's more right than she realizes, when Liz unexpectedly shows up at Winston's house that same day. For the first time ever, Margo is speechless and unprepared to be so close to her prey. She actually runs away.
The subplot is wrapped up when Winston takes Daisy to the day care center and leaves her in Margo's care, then the baby's parents return. They race to the day care center and have no idea how close they came to finding a dead baby instead of a live one; Daisy's cries have driven Margo to try to suffocate her. But, she's still alive, the parents are happy, and Margo disappears before Winston can talk to her and ask her to keep his secret that his parents weren't home to care for Daisy.
Perhaps the best scenes of the book are at Olivia's costume ball, which is being held at her wealthy boyfriend Harry's house in Bridgewater. All of her classmates come in costume, including the Wakefields: both Liz and Jess independently decide to go as Cinderella, and choose pale pink gowns and shimmery veils. They don't realize they've chosen the same costume until they come face to face with each other when they go down to meet their dates. Both girls have deja vu from the night of preparing for the Jungle Prom; they weren't talking to each other then, either, and of course Jessica knows better than anyone else what else happened that night.
They decide to go to the costume party in their near-identical outfits, but there's no picture taking this time. They mingle with the other guests, but Elizabeth in particular feels very weirded out by everything. She has some surreal moments as well, and these were described quite nicely: how everyone looks just a little bit off, how odd it is to see familiar people in unfamiliar surroundings.
Margo is also at this party, dressed almost exactly the same as Jessica. Only their earrings are different, Jessica at the last moment deciding to wear pearls she was given by Sam. Margo encounters both twins, and is mistaken as Jessica by nearly everyone at the party. She enjoys this so much that I'm not sure why she decides she'd rather be Elizabeth. Margo also snags a dance with Todd - but unlike what the back blurb says, Todd is not fooled by this. He thinks he's dancing with Jessica, but maybe not because Jessica is not usually so forward and touchy-feely. Margo thoroughly creeps Todd out and he quite literally runs away from her.
Josh Smith is also at the costume party, having decided to crash it during his search for Margo. He's seen Liz around town and is convinced that he's seeing Margo, so imagine his surprise when he sees three Margos at the party. He grabs one of them, only to realize that it's not Margo, but some girl named Jessica. The third Margo rushes up in the commotion, and he realizes that Margo is likely stalking these two twin girls and that they're in danger from her. He's kicked out of the party before he can say or do anything, but he's FINALLY stumbled upon the reason why Margo came to California in the first place. We still have no explanation of how he put together Margo's past crimes, which is disappointing, but alas.
Josh, James, Winston, and Liz are all feeling very unnerved by Margo, whether they realize its her or not, and Margo is so far gone that she doesn't realize or care. She wants Liz's life and she's tired of waiting for it, so she puts her plans into motion: she writes a letter to Ned Wakefield, inviting him and Alice down to San Francisco for a two-day business meeting at a lavish hotel. Ned, being a moronic adult in this book, immediately accepts and is excited by the idea.
The setup for The Evil Twin is there, but this was a rather painful way to get to it. I've been a bit disappointed by how sloppy Margo has gotten in this book (or maybe I'm just disappointed with myself for forgetting it? LOL), so I'm hoping #100 is as good as I remember it to be. This miniseries started off strongly, and I'm ready for it to finish the same way.
July 1, 2010
ludicrous. absolutely ludicrous. but at least with some momentum this time... I'm actually kind of excited to read the conclusion coming up in the final book of this mini-series, The Evil Twin. Kind of. Oh who am I kidding... this whole exercise in nostalgia has been amazing.
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August 8, 2025Beware The Babysitter
Enid and Liz are on the beach. Enid is envious of how Liz looks in her new bikini, but is happy Liz is back to normal. Jessica is with James in the mountains having a picnic and telling him she doesn’t know what do about Liz. James, suggest she talk to Liz. James digs a little more about their relationship. She tells him she doesn’t want to bore him but he says there’s no one else he wants to hear about and he wants to help her patch up things with Liz. Jessica rants a little about how the accident was Liz’s fault. James does a little more prying. To cheer her up, he says he’s taking her hiking next.
Enid keeps gushing about how good Liz looks and Liz says she feels good. It’s a new day! Enid says all the guys are probably scooping her but Liz’s mind flickers to Todd. She admits to Enid she thought they were about to get back together at Lila’s parent’s wedding when they danced but no. So, she declares that its finally over and she’s moving on. She wishes things were better with Jessica (although they’re not *as* bad) but she’s ready to move on from that relationship too. (Although she’s happy for Jessica and James).
Enid and Liz agree to go to Olivia Davidson’s costume party together. Enid is startled by the sight of a girl further down the beach that seems to have vanished that looks exactly like the twins and she was staring at her. Only she had dark hair. Liz suddenly remembers the recurring nightmare she had after the accident of the dark-haired girl on the beach with the knife. Liz tells her it’s the sun, but looks down the beach nervously. Jessica and James are on a ridge when James tells her there’s a deer below. When Jessica leans over to see it, she feels the pressure of his hand on her back. He claims that he was trying to “catch her” because she almost fell.
Meanwhile, Winston is excited because his parents will be visiting his aunt for a week. He’s paid a visit by a neighbor (Betsy Zvonchenko). She tells this story about how her husband is a journalist and he’s in Central America and there’s been a coup. His hotel was taken over by terrorist and he left his pass port in his room and now he’s stuck in customs. Long story short, she wants Winston to watch Daisy (her baby) over night while she goes to give her husband his birth certificate. She practically shoves the baby into Winston’s arms and doesn’t let him get a word in to say that his mother is out of town and then takes off. (Sighing, I already know where this is gonna go!)
James reports back to “Mandy” about what he learned about Jessica and Elizabeth. He’s starting to question this weird chick’s interest in this family but the money makes him not ask questions. Besides she hasn’t asked him to do anything dangerous or illegal. He assures her that Jessica trust him. He could have killed her but she thinks he was trying to save her. Mandy shocks him by saying “Leave it to the experts”. Mandy warns him about getting to close and he has to hold himself back but says she’s not his type. She orders him to find out more about the night of Sam’s death.
She asks about the parents and then starts to talk all lovingly about how perfect and protective Alice is. Its then James realize this one is one short a light bulb. Margo says its time to start the next phase and it involves the day care “Little Darlings Day Care”. Mrs. Wakefield one night addresses her concerns to Jessica about her dating James. She tells her to take it slow and hints that she might get taken advantage of (intentionally or unintentionally). Jessica assures her she will and that James has been the perfect gentleman. That night, Margo gets another headache. She thinks about her previous kills and how they were too easy. It’s reveled that she’s blond under the dark wig and is about to create a new alter ego (Marla Fields).
She works on her fake reference letters, picks out different style clothes than either twin (gauzy skirts and loose tops), and when she’s done the voice whispers “Her life will be yours.” Mrs. Waverly eats up Margo’s “love for children” act instantly and hires her on the spot and tells her she’ll start the next day. Mrs. Waverly wants to call her last employer but Margo tells her she’ll be out of the country for at least three weeks. Liz gets an uneasy feeling walking home from school. Something is off. The sun feels cold but then Jessica pulls up and offers her a ride home. After that everything feels right again! Being back in the jeep is strange for Liz. Mostly Jessica’s had it. There’s a moment during the ride where Jessica looks guilty and says Liz shouldn’t blame herself when Liz tries to apologize. Liz wonders if Jess feels guilty about Todd and Jessica asks her what about Todd. But Liz tells her she’s done with him. He wasn’t there when she needed him. Jessica looks away and Liz says she’s not mad at her anymore (but realizes it’s a lie). So, then they talk about Winston who wasn’t in school that day. Jessica says she bet he’s just taking advantage of being home alone and will play hooky all week.
Meanwhile, Winston is at home trying to figure out how to change a diaper and get Daisy to stop crying (becoming more and more frustrated). The doorbell rings but Daisy knocks his glasses off. He puts Daisy in the closet while he goes to answer the door for Maria (whose checking up on him because he didn’t come to school). He says he’s just taking advantage of his parents being gone but Maria isn’t fooled. She smells something but he says he forgot to take out the trash. Maria asks if she has another girl stashed there and then Daisy starts to wait. So, Winston is forced to tell Maria the truth. Maria immediately takes to the baby.
Josh arrives in SV vowing to stop Margo if it’s the last thing he does. A little girl named Angie at the day care tells Margo she looks like the teenage girls on her street that use to baby sit her sometimes. She tells Margo about their dog Prince Albert. She tells them her parents said they’re the nicest people on the street. They weren’t going to get a divorce (she says) and Mr. Wakefield moved out but he’s back and they aren’t now. Mago tells her to keep their talk a secret. If not she’ll drown her kitten or she’ll get burned up. Angie says she can keep the secret. Margo says she thinks they’ll be great friends.
Before going on a date with James, Jessica tells Liz Lila is having a pre-party before Olivia’s party. Liz says she and Enid were invited. Liz says she wasn’t planning on going because she didn’t think Jessica would want her to but says she’ll go. She watches James and Jessica leave and wishes she too had someone special. She again thinks of the wedding but then dismisses it. On their date, Jessica rambles on and on about Elizabeth. James doesn’t show the same intensity of interest. He shows a tad bit more when she tells him about sensing Liz needed help when she was kidnapped. Jessica worries if he’s losing interest but quickly reassures herself he loves her.
He calls it an early night. Says he’s tired and he has an early practice in the morning. Jessica agrees but something inside her tells her he’s lying. Needing something to do, Liz decides to do the laundry. She finds a letter to her that Todd wrote in Jessica’s room and then sees that Todd still loves her. She wonders why Jessica would betray her this way. James meets Margo at Kelly’s. She does an amazing impersonation of Jessica (movements and voice). They talk about the date. James keeps it vague and says Jessica didn’t talk about much. He decides he’ll stop telling her so much until he can figure out what she’s up too. He’s started to feel bad for Jessica about Sam and doesn’t think she deserves this. Margo tells her about the kid that told her about the Wakefields. James wonders why she’d tell her all that. Margo squeezes a glass until it breaks in her hand and makes it bleed. She says she can be very persuasive and dangerous.
Liz confronts Jessica about the letter. She tries to explain but Liz tells her to shut up. She’s sick of her. She thought they could be friends and sisters again but she was wrong, Maria comes by with practically every girl on the cheerleading squad. As the girls start to talk about the party, Winston gets overwhelmed and calls Todd.
Margo gets another headache but it resides (making her feel like she triumphed over it). She hears the voice in her head say it won’t be long now. She looks at the knife she took from the Wakefield’s kitchen and thinks maybe it’ll come in handy. Winston does come to school the next day. He’s slipped Daisy inside his duffel bag. Chrome is on to him and tells him he’s glad he’s over his stomach flu and suggests he call his parents to make sure. Daisy starts to gurgle and Chrome Dome hears. Winston says it’s his stomach. Daisy starts to babble and he sees Maria and tells her he has “her things” for softball. Maria doesn’t catch on at first. Then Winston has an idea and says it’s her softball stuff for coaching little girls (The Daisy League). She takes the back and says they’ll meet at the Oracle office to discuss a “game plan”.
Mr. Cooper is distracted and says he’d been talk to the janitor about a possible plumbing problem because of a sudden smell before leaving. Maria takes the baby to the Oracle office and Winston shows up and gets Penny to agree to watch the baby during homeroom if he changes her first. Mr. Collins comes into the rom but they stand in front of Daisy, hide the dirty diaper, use the plumbing excuse, and cover up Daisy’s babbling with Winston coughing. Liz isn’t sure this is the right thing to do (hiding her from the faculty). Winston has fallen in love with her and doesn’t want her taken. But Penny says they should call social services. Winston doesn’t want to but says if her mother doesn’t come back he might have to but not yet.
Penny says if she’s not back by this weekend, they might not be able to keep his secret any longer. Before they leave for homeroom, Daisy calls Winston da dee. He gives Penny a long list of instructions. They pass the baby along all day long between the girls. Even Lila has a turn. At lunch, Jessica is distracted and decides if Liz can forget her she can do the same. The party is brought up and the girls talk about who’ll be coming with who. Jessica says she won’t be coming with Liz when Lila asks her. She says maybe she just won’t come but they say they won’t let her be a hermit. After school, Lila and Amy shop for costumes.
Josh has been investigating the woman who got hit in her car and thinks it sounds like the work of Margo. But he knows the police won’t take him seriously. Still, he vows that Margo will pay for what he’s done. All of a sudden, he hears Amy and Lila talking about the accident. But not *that* accident. He thinks maybe he should try to get more in touch with the social scene. There’s talk of a costume party on Saturday night and Josh says what better way to find out what’s going on in this town. He follows them out but loses them in the crowd. Josh sees a girl getting into a black BMW with a dark haired man. It’s Margo.
He tries to chase after the car but it gets away. Alone, James tries to get Jessica off his mind and just think about the money but he can’t. He tells himself she’s wrong for him. Margo calls. She isn’t happy that they aren’t going out tonight, but James says she has to study or she won’t be allowed to go to the party Saturday. Margo wants to hear about Jessica’s costume and James starts to have her suspicions that she’s not right in the head but he tells her what she wants to know. Margo has “bought” a shawl for James to give Jessica that she admired. She bought herself a similar one to wear “to the ball”. She’ll go to Lisette’s and get the same dress. She has similar outfits for all the twins clothes.
Winston goes with Todd and Liz to the Little Darling Day Care to find out some information. Winston admits to Margo that his parents are out of town and he’s been keeping a baby at his house for 5 days and worries if it’s illegal. She asks whose been helping him. He says his girlfriend and when prodded he says and Liz and Todd who are out in the car. Margo starts to panic. She says them in the car and starts to feel rage. Liz has everything but the voice in her head says not for long. Winston says her mother will probably be back soon. Margo says that may be but he’ll need more help than high school kids. Winston asks if she can help. She says yes and starts to ramble off subject but then says they won’t let social services take the baby. She tells him to come see him again soon and she’ll put together a package of what she should eat and she offers to baby sit. She then gets another headache and the voice says it isn’t fair. Winston feels better but he admits the girl was strange. Plus she seemed familiar and she creeped him out when she started talking about babies who didn’t have anything. As he leaves, he has a feeling she’s watching him.
Jessica is going to the party as Cinderella.She doesn’t wear the ruby earrings James gave her. She wears the peal ones Sam gave her. She wears the shawl over her face as a mask. Interestingly the twins are dressed as Cinderella and in similar dresses. At the party, Liz starts to get that feeling again that something isn’t right. There’s a fair-haired boy dressed as Sherlock Holmes that doesn’t seem to fit in that notices when she goes off by herself. As she’s walking, she feels things tilt. Then she sees a girl in a similar costume to hers in the archway. She calls Jessica’s name, the girl stares at her and then vanishes.
She has on ruby earrings and Liz could swear she had on Sam’s pearl earrings. This makes her nightmare come to mind. Lila, Todd, Amy, and a bunch of kids from school all mistake Margo for Jessica. Then she sees a familiar face and rushes off. Josh starts to chase Margo who starts to run. He grabs a girl and is hit in the head. It turns out the girl’s name is Jessica. Then there’s another Margo. He’s escorted out and then realizes the first Margo was the real one. Then wonders if the twins are the reason she’s here.
Margo pays Winston a visit and tries to convince him to turn her over to her to give to Social Services. He’s about to but says no. He’ll wait for his parents to come home. He reluctantly agrees tho to let Margo watch the baby while he goes to the store. The baby starts to cry and Margo puts her in her crib in Winston’s room. Daisy won’t stop crying and Margo is about to suffocate her with a pillow but Liz is at the door. Margo takes one look at Liz for the first time face and face and runs off. Shockingly Liz recalls the girl had the same eyes as the girl in her nightmare and in the archway. Liz tells Maria to tell Winston to call her.
Winston decides its time to take the baby to the day care center. He turns her over to Margo he says she’ll take her after her shift. Of course, her mother then shows up with some long, drawn out story, and she and Winston rush back to the center. Fortunately they’re in time and get Daisy back but by then Margo is gone. Margo is starting to become the voice and starts to work on the finale. Ned receives a letter from Michelle de Voice who says she wants to talk to him about a consulting contract. She wants to meet with him at a hotel and has invited him and Alice to dinner. The twins both look at each other as if they don’t have a good feeling about it.
My Thoughts:
I read this EXACT plot in 18 Pine Street’s “Cindy’s Baby”. From both side of this I would NEVER agree to watch some random stranger’s baby. Winston should have spoken up. She was talking fast but he could have just cut her off and said “HEY! My mom’s not here and you need to find someone else. I’m not comfortable doing that.” I had to do that one time with someone in my own family who wanted me to baby-sit. You have to say that’s not what I do. They might not be happy with you but…
Then as a parent, I wouldn’t dump my baby on a random stranger like that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t dump my baby on ANYONE like that. I’ve also seen that happen in my family. I know that things probably come up but that baby is YOUR responsibility. And if your dumping your baby off on a TEENAGER without even checking that an ADULT is around then I’m sorry people like this that just leave their kids with strangers and flit off to wherever probably DO need a visit from social services to be evaluated. And it was not smart of Winston either to just turn the baby over to someone and he didn’t even know this lady’s name. Just because she worked at a day -care didn’t mean *anything*. Trust me! My cousin works at a day care and I have heard SO MANY stories about how lax day care workers can be.
Case and point there was a “social worker” here that got arrested for leaving a 3 year old in a hot car for 5 hours. So you can’t just assume beause their official they’re on the up and up. This was just a SAD. It might have *seemed* like it had a happy ending but…. I’m not even sure giving the baby back to this lady *was* the right thing.
Rating: 6
Enid and Liz are on the beach. Enid is envious of how Liz looks in her new bikini, but is happy Liz is back to normal. Jessica is with James in the mountains having a picnic and telling him she doesn’t know what do about Liz. James, suggest she talk to Liz. James digs a little more about their relationship. She tells him she doesn’t want to bore him but he says there’s no one else he wants to hear about and he wants to help her patch up things with Liz. Jessica rants a little about how the accident was Liz’s fault. James does a little more prying. To cheer her up, he says he’s taking her hiking next.
Enid keeps gushing about how good Liz looks and Liz says she feels good. It’s a new day! Enid says all the guys are probably scooping her but Liz’s mind flickers to Todd. She admits to Enid she thought they were about to get back together at Lila’s parent’s wedding when they danced but no. So, she declares that its finally over and she’s moving on. She wishes things were better with Jessica (although they’re not *as* bad) but she’s ready to move on from that relationship too. (Although she’s happy for Jessica and James).
Enid and Liz agree to go to Olivia Davidson’s costume party together. Enid is startled by the sight of a girl further down the beach that seems to have vanished that looks exactly like the twins and she was staring at her. Only she had dark hair. Liz suddenly remembers the recurring nightmare she had after the accident of the dark-haired girl on the beach with the knife. Liz tells her it’s the sun, but looks down the beach nervously. Jessica and James are on a ridge when James tells her there’s a deer below. When Jessica leans over to see it, she feels the pressure of his hand on her back. He claims that he was trying to “catch her” because she almost fell.
Meanwhile, Winston is excited because his parents will be visiting his aunt for a week. He’s paid a visit by a neighbor (Betsy Zvonchenko). She tells this story about how her husband is a journalist and he’s in Central America and there’s been a coup. His hotel was taken over by terrorist and he left his pass port in his room and now he’s stuck in customs. Long story short, she wants Winston to watch Daisy (her baby) over night while she goes to give her husband his birth certificate. She practically shoves the baby into Winston’s arms and doesn’t let him get a word in to say that his mother is out of town and then takes off. (Sighing, I already know where this is gonna go!)
James reports back to “Mandy” about what he learned about Jessica and Elizabeth. He’s starting to question this weird chick’s interest in this family but the money makes him not ask questions. Besides she hasn’t asked him to do anything dangerous or illegal. He assures her that Jessica trust him. He could have killed her but she thinks he was trying to save her. Mandy shocks him by saying “Leave it to the experts”. Mandy warns him about getting to close and he has to hold himself back but says she’s not his type. She orders him to find out more about the night of Sam’s death.
She asks about the parents and then starts to talk all lovingly about how perfect and protective Alice is. Its then James realize this one is one short a light bulb. Margo says its time to start the next phase and it involves the day care “Little Darlings Day Care”. Mrs. Wakefield one night addresses her concerns to Jessica about her dating James. She tells her to take it slow and hints that she might get taken advantage of (intentionally or unintentionally). Jessica assures her she will and that James has been the perfect gentleman. That night, Margo gets another headache. She thinks about her previous kills and how they were too easy. It’s reveled that she’s blond under the dark wig and is about to create a new alter ego (Marla Fields).
She works on her fake reference letters, picks out different style clothes than either twin (gauzy skirts and loose tops), and when she’s done the voice whispers “Her life will be yours.” Mrs. Waverly eats up Margo’s “love for children” act instantly and hires her on the spot and tells her she’ll start the next day. Mrs. Waverly wants to call her last employer but Margo tells her she’ll be out of the country for at least three weeks. Liz gets an uneasy feeling walking home from school. Something is off. The sun feels cold but then Jessica pulls up and offers her a ride home. After that everything feels right again! Being back in the jeep is strange for Liz. Mostly Jessica’s had it. There’s a moment during the ride where Jessica looks guilty and says Liz shouldn’t blame herself when Liz tries to apologize. Liz wonders if Jess feels guilty about Todd and Jessica asks her what about Todd. But Liz tells her she’s done with him. He wasn’t there when she needed him. Jessica looks away and Liz says she’s not mad at her anymore (but realizes it’s a lie). So, then they talk about Winston who wasn’t in school that day. Jessica says she bet he’s just taking advantage of being home alone and will play hooky all week.
Meanwhile, Winston is at home trying to figure out how to change a diaper and get Daisy to stop crying (becoming more and more frustrated). The doorbell rings but Daisy knocks his glasses off. He puts Daisy in the closet while he goes to answer the door for Maria (whose checking up on him because he didn’t come to school). He says he’s just taking advantage of his parents being gone but Maria isn’t fooled. She smells something but he says he forgot to take out the trash. Maria asks if she has another girl stashed there and then Daisy starts to wait. So, Winston is forced to tell Maria the truth. Maria immediately takes to the baby.
Josh arrives in SV vowing to stop Margo if it’s the last thing he does. A little girl named Angie at the day care tells Margo she looks like the teenage girls on her street that use to baby sit her sometimes. She tells Margo about their dog Prince Albert. She tells them her parents said they’re the nicest people on the street. They weren’t going to get a divorce (she says) and Mr. Wakefield moved out but he’s back and they aren’t now. Mago tells her to keep their talk a secret. If not she’ll drown her kitten or she’ll get burned up. Angie says she can keep the secret. Margo says she thinks they’ll be great friends.
Before going on a date with James, Jessica tells Liz Lila is having a pre-party before Olivia’s party. Liz says she and Enid were invited. Liz says she wasn’t planning on going because she didn’t think Jessica would want her to but says she’ll go. She watches James and Jessica leave and wishes she too had someone special. She again thinks of the wedding but then dismisses it. On their date, Jessica rambles on and on about Elizabeth. James doesn’t show the same intensity of interest. He shows a tad bit more when she tells him about sensing Liz needed help when she was kidnapped. Jessica worries if he’s losing interest but quickly reassures herself he loves her.
He calls it an early night. Says he’s tired and he has an early practice in the morning. Jessica agrees but something inside her tells her he’s lying. Needing something to do, Liz decides to do the laundry. She finds a letter to her that Todd wrote in Jessica’s room and then sees that Todd still loves her. She wonders why Jessica would betray her this way. James meets Margo at Kelly’s. She does an amazing impersonation of Jessica (movements and voice). They talk about the date. James keeps it vague and says Jessica didn’t talk about much. He decides he’ll stop telling her so much until he can figure out what she’s up too. He’s started to feel bad for Jessica about Sam and doesn’t think she deserves this. Margo tells her about the kid that told her about the Wakefields. James wonders why she’d tell her all that. Margo squeezes a glass until it breaks in her hand and makes it bleed. She says she can be very persuasive and dangerous.
Liz confronts Jessica about the letter. She tries to explain but Liz tells her to shut up. She’s sick of her. She thought they could be friends and sisters again but she was wrong, Maria comes by with practically every girl on the cheerleading squad. As the girls start to talk about the party, Winston gets overwhelmed and calls Todd.
Margo gets another headache but it resides (making her feel like she triumphed over it). She hears the voice in her head say it won’t be long now. She looks at the knife she took from the Wakefield’s kitchen and thinks maybe it’ll come in handy. Winston does come to school the next day. He’s slipped Daisy inside his duffel bag. Chrome is on to him and tells him he’s glad he’s over his stomach flu and suggests he call his parents to make sure. Daisy starts to gurgle and Chrome Dome hears. Winston says it’s his stomach. Daisy starts to babble and he sees Maria and tells her he has “her things” for softball. Maria doesn’t catch on at first. Then Winston has an idea and says it’s her softball stuff for coaching little girls (The Daisy League). She takes the back and says they’ll meet at the Oracle office to discuss a “game plan”.
Mr. Cooper is distracted and says he’d been talk to the janitor about a possible plumbing problem because of a sudden smell before leaving. Maria takes the baby to the Oracle office and Winston shows up and gets Penny to agree to watch the baby during homeroom if he changes her first. Mr. Collins comes into the rom but they stand in front of Daisy, hide the dirty diaper, use the plumbing excuse, and cover up Daisy’s babbling with Winston coughing. Liz isn’t sure this is the right thing to do (hiding her from the faculty). Winston has fallen in love with her and doesn’t want her taken. But Penny says they should call social services. Winston doesn’t want to but says if her mother doesn’t come back he might have to but not yet.
Penny says if she’s not back by this weekend, they might not be able to keep his secret any longer. Before they leave for homeroom, Daisy calls Winston da dee. He gives Penny a long list of instructions. They pass the baby along all day long between the girls. Even Lila has a turn. At lunch, Jessica is distracted and decides if Liz can forget her she can do the same. The party is brought up and the girls talk about who’ll be coming with who. Jessica says she won’t be coming with Liz when Lila asks her. She says maybe she just won’t come but they say they won’t let her be a hermit. After school, Lila and Amy shop for costumes.
Josh has been investigating the woman who got hit in her car and thinks it sounds like the work of Margo. But he knows the police won’t take him seriously. Still, he vows that Margo will pay for what he’s done. All of a sudden, he hears Amy and Lila talking about the accident. But not *that* accident. He thinks maybe he should try to get more in touch with the social scene. There’s talk of a costume party on Saturday night and Josh says what better way to find out what’s going on in this town. He follows them out but loses them in the crowd. Josh sees a girl getting into a black BMW with a dark haired man. It’s Margo.
He tries to chase after the car but it gets away. Alone, James tries to get Jessica off his mind and just think about the money but he can’t. He tells himself she’s wrong for him. Margo calls. She isn’t happy that they aren’t going out tonight, but James says she has to study or she won’t be allowed to go to the party Saturday. Margo wants to hear about Jessica’s costume and James starts to have her suspicions that she’s not right in the head but he tells her what she wants to know. Margo has “bought” a shawl for James to give Jessica that she admired. She bought herself a similar one to wear “to the ball”. She’ll go to Lisette’s and get the same dress. She has similar outfits for all the twins clothes.
Winston goes with Todd and Liz to the Little Darling Day Care to find out some information. Winston admits to Margo that his parents are out of town and he’s been keeping a baby at his house for 5 days and worries if it’s illegal. She asks whose been helping him. He says his girlfriend and when prodded he says and Liz and Todd who are out in the car. Margo starts to panic. She says them in the car and starts to feel rage. Liz has everything but the voice in her head says not for long. Winston says her mother will probably be back soon. Margo says that may be but he’ll need more help than high school kids. Winston asks if she can help. She says yes and starts to ramble off subject but then says they won’t let social services take the baby. She tells him to come see him again soon and she’ll put together a package of what she should eat and she offers to baby sit. She then gets another headache and the voice says it isn’t fair. Winston feels better but he admits the girl was strange. Plus she seemed familiar and she creeped him out when she started talking about babies who didn’t have anything. As he leaves, he has a feeling she’s watching him.
Jessica is going to the party as Cinderella.She doesn’t wear the ruby earrings James gave her. She wears the peal ones Sam gave her. She wears the shawl over her face as a mask. Interestingly the twins are dressed as Cinderella and in similar dresses. At the party, Liz starts to get that feeling again that something isn’t right. There’s a fair-haired boy dressed as Sherlock Holmes that doesn’t seem to fit in that notices when she goes off by herself. As she’s walking, she feels things tilt. Then she sees a girl in a similar costume to hers in the archway. She calls Jessica’s name, the girl stares at her and then vanishes.
She has on ruby earrings and Liz could swear she had on Sam’s pearl earrings. This makes her nightmare come to mind. Lila, Todd, Amy, and a bunch of kids from school all mistake Margo for Jessica. Then she sees a familiar face and rushes off. Josh starts to chase Margo who starts to run. He grabs a girl and is hit in the head. It turns out the girl’s name is Jessica. Then there’s another Margo. He’s escorted out and then realizes the first Margo was the real one. Then wonders if the twins are the reason she’s here.
Margo pays Winston a visit and tries to convince him to turn her over to her to give to Social Services. He’s about to but says no. He’ll wait for his parents to come home. He reluctantly agrees tho to let Margo watch the baby while he goes to the store. The baby starts to cry and Margo puts her in her crib in Winston’s room. Daisy won’t stop crying and Margo is about to suffocate her with a pillow but Liz is at the door. Margo takes one look at Liz for the first time face and face and runs off. Shockingly Liz recalls the girl had the same eyes as the girl in her nightmare and in the archway. Liz tells Maria to tell Winston to call her.
Winston decides its time to take the baby to the day care center. He turns her over to Margo he says she’ll take her after her shift. Of course, her mother then shows up with some long, drawn out story, and she and Winston rush back to the center. Fortunately they’re in time and get Daisy back but by then Margo is gone. Margo is starting to become the voice and starts to work on the finale. Ned receives a letter from Michelle de Voice who says she wants to talk to him about a consulting contract. She wants to meet with him at a hotel and has invited him and Alice to dinner. The twins both look at each other as if they don’t have a good feeling about it.
My Thoughts:
I read this EXACT plot in 18 Pine Street’s “Cindy’s Baby”. From both side of this I would NEVER agree to watch some random stranger’s baby. Winston should have spoken up. She was talking fast but he could have just cut her off and said “HEY! My mom’s not here and you need to find someone else. I’m not comfortable doing that.” I had to do that one time with someone in my own family who wanted me to baby-sit. You have to say that’s not what I do. They might not be happy with you but…
Then as a parent, I wouldn’t dump my baby on a random stranger like that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t dump my baby on ANYONE like that. I’ve also seen that happen in my family. I know that things probably come up but that baby is YOUR responsibility. And if your dumping your baby off on a TEENAGER without even checking that an ADULT is around then I’m sorry people like this that just leave their kids with strangers and flit off to wherever probably DO need a visit from social services to be evaluated. And it was not smart of Winston either to just turn the baby over to someone and he didn’t even know this lady’s name. Just because she worked at a day -care didn’t mean *anything*. Trust me! My cousin works at a day care and I have heard SO MANY stories about how lax day care workers can be.
Case and point there was a “social worker” here that got arrested for leaving a 3 year old in a hot car for 5 hours. So you can’t just assume beause their official they’re on the up and up. This was just a SAD. It might have *seemed* like it had a happy ending but…. I’m not even sure giving the baby back to this lady *was* the right thing.
Rating: 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2021
Margo starts perfecting her Wakefield disguise and takes a job at the local daycare-- because of COURSE she does, where she threatens kids to get as much dirt as possible on the twins. She continues to pay random too-old dirtbike racer to date Jessica, and we find out that Dead Georgie's brother is following her.
Meanwhile, in oblivious land, Winston Egbert has a batshit crazy neighbor who drops her infant daughter off with a near stranger teenaged boy amd disappears for a week. For some reason, no local adults are told or find out. Just....What? It made no sense, but it did work for making the SVH kids relevant to this story in the subplot. Jess and Elizabeth almost make up- but then Liz finds out that Jessica never told her about Todd's letter and cuts her sister off-- and she doesn't even KNOW about the drink spiking. STILL. Margo almost murders Winston's temporary baby twice. This book is a trainwreck and its like reading a fanfic script for Saved by the Bell meets a Lifetime Movie of the week. 3 stars.
Meanwhile, in oblivious land, Winston Egbert has a batshit crazy neighbor who drops her infant daughter off with a near stranger teenaged boy amd disappears for a week. For some reason, no local adults are told or find out. Just....What? It made no sense, but it did work for making the SVH kids relevant to this story in the subplot. Jess and Elizabeth almost make up- but then Liz finds out that Jessica never told her about Todd's letter and cuts her sister off-- and she doesn't even KNOW about the drink spiking. STILL. Margo almost murders Winston's temporary baby twice. This book is a trainwreck and its like reading a fanfic script for Saved by the Bell meets a Lifetime Movie of the week. 3 stars.
May 14, 2023
Margo is pretty crazy…
April 23, 2025
This hits all the usual beats that you'd expect from a SVH (and that you want it to). There's a b-plot in here that while whimsical and fun enough is just very unbelievable. There's also a good villain character with some deranged, delusional tendencies but even she is ruined by lack of believablity as we're supposed to believe she's a dead ringer for the twins, so much so even their own mother can't tell the difference. This is part of a mini arc in the series so it ends on a cliffhanger which wasn't ideal either.
December 1, 2009
5th-8th grades
Pascal created an amazing series for tween girls. All of the series had painted pictures of the people in the stories with the blonde friends on the top. The stories are usually over 150 pages long with rarely any white space. The stories are usually dramatic since it follows the life of young californian teens, where life seems so tough for them. Each book in the series has its own dramatic event for the young girls. This story was about a jealous girl wanting to ruin the Wakefield twins life. Young readers could relate to this because at this age they feel life is so tough and they would love the drama.
Social Studies
Students can learn about the state California to understand location where the characters are from and do a project on various cities from California
Pascal created an amazing series for tween girls. All of the series had painted pictures of the people in the stories with the blonde friends on the top. The stories are usually over 150 pages long with rarely any white space. The stories are usually dramatic since it follows the life of young californian teens, where life seems so tough for them. Each book in the series has its own dramatic event for the young girls. This story was about a jealous girl wanting to ruin the Wakefield twins life. Young readers could relate to this because at this age they feel life is so tough and they would love the drama.
Social Studies
Students can learn about the state California to understand location where the characters are from and do a project on various cities from California
December 31, 2023
I will be rating all of these "Margo" books with 5 stars, not because of their literary merit but because they are ABSOLUTELY INSANE and amazing. These books started my love affair for Sweet Valley, and re-reading them while sick has been so much fun.
I love how Enid is the only person to ever suspect that Liz isn't Liz. Of course, she thinks she's Jess and not Crazy Margo, but at least she can tell it's not her best friend!
Also, the Winston subplot is totally from Saved by the Bell. How had I forgotten that?
I love how Enid is the only person to ever suspect that Liz isn't Liz. Of course, she thinks she's Jess and not Crazy Margo, but at least she can tell it's not her best friend!
Also, the Winston subplot is totally from Saved by the Bell. How had I forgotten that?
December 27, 2016
Oh, finally I can actually read The evil twin!
This Beware the Baby-Sitter was my second time with a Sweet Valley novel (after Special Christmas) and it wasn't a pleasant experience. I found this book to be a bit boring, shallow and almost totally absurd.
Jessica is almost a bitch as Margo, and that is a lot to say... But Margo is a bitchy girl, and however flat - like every SWH character - I quite like her bacause she is crazy, while Jessica is a sweet girl only in the words of descriptions in these novels and not really in my opinion.
November 28, 2008
This is the sixth title in the "explosive Prom Thriller mini-series" but can be read as a nostalgic stand-alone. The 99th title in the Sweet Valley High series, in which an evil girl plots to take over Elizabeth Wakefield's life while the twins have been driven apart because of a disastrous incident at prom. Featuring the best sub-plot ever, in which Winston manages to smuggle a baby into SVH!
April 17, 2016
The fifth book in the six part mini series.
Margo is starting to infiltrate the twin’s lives, and the tension and danger are really beginning to rise. Another enjoyable thriller adventure that continues on from the previous books, although I didn’t quite understand the point of the whole Winston / baby thing other than another illustration of how psychotic Margo was. I think we get it.
Margo is starting to infiltrate the twin’s lives, and the tension and danger are really beginning to rise. Another enjoyable thriller adventure that continues on from the previous books, although I didn’t quite understand the point of the whole Winston / baby thing other than another illustration of how psychotic Margo was. I think we get it.
July 30, 2021
Brilliantly far-fetched and fun! I remember when I first read it a few years ago being puzzled that Ned and Alice didn't realise that Margo wasn't Elizabeth/Jessica and I'm just as puzzled today. Despite that, this is great stuff and the sub-plot with Winston and Baby Daisy is hilarious.
Great cheesy fun!
Great cheesy fun!
December 17, 2015
I felt this story was the weakest in the miniseries. I enjoyed the continuation of the story from the previous books especially Margo's obsession with the Wakefields. However I did not enjoy Winston's story. I felt it was a bit far-fetched.
August 2, 2013
I love these books. But this one was a little messed up to me personally. Margo's character is already super complex but in this book I think she just losses it based on the stuff she did in here.
Read
May 5, 2015It may have taken 99 Sweet Valley High books to get here, but I feel I may finally have reached my threshold for absolute ridiculousness. It is not a good feeling.
December 16, 2023
Margo is the murder queen of Sweet Valley, yet Jessica is a sociopath. Really makes you think. Kind of.
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story
April 21, 2017
Excellent
Spell binding, it's far fetched but I couldn't put it down. Worth a read for teenagers and innocent by today's standards
Spell binding, it's far fetched but I couldn't put it down. Worth a read for teenagers and innocent by today's standards
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