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Sweet Valley High #67
The Parent Plot
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's father is running for mayor of Sweet Valley. The twins are hard at work on his campaign but they're taking opposite sides in an even bigger contest: a contest to bring romance into their parents lives.
Even though Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield separated only recently, Jessica thinks it's time for them to start dating other people and she's going to make sure that's exactly what happens.
Even though Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield separated only recently, Jessica thinks it's time for them to start dating other people and she's going to make sure that's exactly what happens.
But Elizabeth is just as determined to get her parents back together. She's thinking up some romantic schemes of her own. It's Jessica versus Elizabeth may the best twin win!
134 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
21 people are currently reading
366 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,849 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 28, 2021
I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.
The Wakefield parents are still split up and of course, Jessica has to make it all about her. But so does Elizabeth. After her angst ridden performance in the past book, she is ready to work to get her parents back together and get the Wakefield marriage train back on the tracks, whereas Jessica tries to set her mother up with Mr Collins, the English teacher, and is constantly keeping an eye out for suitable suitors for both her parents. I really hate this plot I'm not going to lie. It's starting to make my head sore. At the end of the book we see them get back together anyway and now the twins are friends again. This plot has highlighted that Steve is the best Wakefield sibling most of the time.
The Wakefield parents are still split up and of course, Jessica has to make it all about her. But so does Elizabeth. After her angst ridden performance in the past book, she is ready to work to get her parents back together and get the Wakefield marriage train back on the tracks, whereas Jessica tries to set her mother up with Mr Collins, the English teacher, and is constantly keeping an eye out for suitable suitors for both her parents. I really hate this plot I'm not going to lie. It's starting to make my head sore. At the end of the book we see them get back together anyway and now the twins are friends again. This plot has highlighted that Steve is the best Wakefield sibling most of the time.
July 28, 2020
Definitely one of the better and weirder SVH books so far- after the Wakefields separate, Elizabeth is just broken up about her parents living apart and wants them to get back together, while Jessica seems totally unbothered and decides its time to try to fix her parents up, and she tries to set her mom up with Mr. Collins, much to Elizabeth's chagrin, and also some Latino outreach guy who works on her dad's mayoral campaign and is overly invested in the lives of his Siamese cats. She tries to set her dad up with some too-young and engaged assistant on his campaign as well. In the other plot- probably the main one?
In this book, the two plots actually get equal time- Mr. Wakefield continues to run for mayor, and during the course of the campaign, Maria (daughter of the former candidate- who had pulled out of the race in disgrace after being framed for bribery and Mr. Wakefield totally bombed in getting his name cleared-- also- sideebar- I have to assume ALL the Sweet Valley candidates are Republicans? Maybe fake "Reagan Democrats" like the mouthbreathers here in Macomb County--these were written in the Reagan years, or close to them, after all.) finds out that one of the guys who was financially backing her dad and then recruited Ned to be their new candidate totally framed her dad and also has plans to build a condo development or some shit on the Sweet Valley beach, which he plans to pressure whomever the new mayor is to do, and he knows Ned's a sucker. She confides in Elizabeth and Winston and they devise an elaborate scheme to find "proof", which they do, and bring it to her dad. Then we watch the rest of the election pan out and the fate of the Wakefield marriage is revealed as well. three stars.
Addendum- This is about the point in the book series where I stopped reading them almost altogether in the original books- I didn't remember this book at all, though I did remember the previous one a bit, and as I move through the rest of this series, I am actually kind of excited at the prospect of all this brand new-to-me Sweet Valley drama. I'm sure there are a few left that I read furtively here and there, but a lot of the upcoming titles seem unfamiliar to me.
In this book, the two plots actually get equal time- Mr. Wakefield continues to run for mayor, and during the course of the campaign, Maria (daughter of the former candidate- who had pulled out of the race in disgrace after being framed for bribery and Mr. Wakefield totally bombed in getting his name cleared-- also- sideebar- I have to assume ALL the Sweet Valley candidates are Republicans? Maybe fake "Reagan Democrats" like the mouthbreathers here in Macomb County--these were written in the Reagan years, or close to them, after all.) finds out that one of the guys who was financially backing her dad and then recruited Ned to be their new candidate totally framed her dad and also has plans to build a condo development or some shit on the Sweet Valley beach, which he plans to pressure whomever the new mayor is to do, and he knows Ned's a sucker. She confides in Elizabeth and Winston and they devise an elaborate scheme to find "proof", which they do, and bring it to her dad. Then we watch the rest of the election pan out and the fate of the Wakefield marriage is revealed as well. three stars.
Addendum- This is about the point in the book series where I stopped reading them almost altogether in the original books- I didn't remember this book at all, though I did remember the previous one a bit, and as I move through the rest of this series, I am actually kind of excited at the prospect of all this brand new-to-me Sweet Valley drama. I'm sure there are a few left that I read furtively here and there, but a lot of the upcoming titles seem unfamiliar to me.
November 23, 2022
This was a good one but holy moly the unrealistic aspects were beyond. If you’re been following you know that the Wakefields (Ned and Alice) are currently separated and Jessica is on a mission to set her parents up with other people while Elizabeth thinks they will get back together. At one point Jessica creates a scheme to have her mom come in and meet her teacher regarding grades, Jessica leaves the room (on purpose) and the teacher asks Alice out. Then on date night Alice is at the restaurant the same day and time that Ned takes Jessica and Elizabeth to the same restaurant. Awkward? Of course not, Alice and the teacher join Ned and the girls for a dysfunctional family dinner. Overall good story but I really dislike Jessica as we all mostly do lol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2022
The Parent Plot
Ned isn’t there for breakfast and Elizabeth is bummed out about it. For Jess and Steve, it’s just another day. Winston is also sad because how all the drama around her father in the previous book is affecting his girlfriend, Maria. Liz suggests that she help her volunteer at Ned’s campaign office. The twins and Maria meet various members of Ned’s team, and decide one, in particular, is an ass (Mr. Knapp).
Jess has decided that if their parents aren’t gonna be together, they might as well move on to other people. For her father she chooses a lady on the campaign team (Amanda Mason). But Amanda is already snatched up and engaged so back to the drawing board.
Elizabeth decides to take a page out of Jessica’s book to get her parents back together. If only she can get them to talk, she knows they’ll work it all out. But sadly, she just isn’t given the scheme gene that Jessica has. She tries to call her dad and pretend there’s a bad connection so he’ll call back and her mother will answer it. But her parents just end up getting into a fight over the phone. So she decides on another plan.
Jessica gets a quiz back and fails, but then she has a light bulb moment. The perfect man for her mother is none other than Mr. Roger Collins. She convinces him that she needs a parent-teacher conference. Poor Alice (a pawn in both twin games) gets dragged to the mall to “buy a present for Penny’s birthday”. Only the real reason is to see Ned give a speech. Alice is out of there! Ned never even sees them.
The office is deserted the next day when Maria and Elizabeth arrive to stuff envelopes. Maria goes to get sodas. Mr. Knapp doesn’t see Elizabeth, and she overhears him making a call to Ned. Basically, he bullies him to changing his speech to be about economic development. Elizabeth starts to think hmm. But Ned just tells her he’s new to the game so not to rock the boat maybe he should listen to Mr. Knapp.
At the parent-teacher conference neither Alice or Mr. Collins seem to be falling for the baits Jessica is obviously throwing out. So she goes to get her term papers so they can be alone. It works Roger sympathizes with what Alice is going through because he’s divorced. He invites her out to dinner.
Elizabeth tells Jess at home that their father wants to take them to dinner tonight at the same place Alice and Roger will be going. Jessica of course tries to get out of it, but she isn’t able to talk her way out of this jam. It’s not long before they all spot Mr. Collins and Alice having dinner. While Ned is called away Liz chews Jessica out. It turns out Alice and Mr. Collin invite then all to sit at their table. It sounds awkward, but Alice and Ned are actually civil to each other.
Maria gets Winston to stop her by the campaign headquarters because she forgot her book and she overhears Knapp talking to someone by the name of Robertson. They both want something done but Santelli refused to help them. So they had him framed. They’re using Ned as a pawn to make this thing happen. Ned’s unaware of all of this, but when he’s mayor he’ll have no choice to help them.
Maria is appalled and calls Elizabeth. They both decide they can’t tell Ned unless they have proof. Along with Terry (Knapp’s nephew who also works on the campaign), they all come to the conclusion that they’re planning to build a secret development, and they’ll have to locate the blue prints in Knapp’s office. So, they’ll have to do a lil B&E.
Since it Jess’s attempt didn’t go so hot with Mr. Collin’s she decides the next candidate for potential new Dad will be one of Ned’s teammates (Ramon), but the only “cat” he’s interested in getting are his (as in his pets). So she ditches him pretty quick.
Terry, Maria, and Elizabeth are able to get into Knapp’s office but are almost caught by Knapp. They find the prints and a deposit for the same amount that was placed in Peter’s bank account. Elizabeth tells all this to Ned (who’s confused and doesn’t know what to make of it all). She suggests he talk to Alice. Alice and Ned talk it out and spend the rest of the night talking through their marital issues. Ned steps down the next day at the rally and he reunites with his wife. Liz sees Knapp take off but he runs right into the police. On election night Peter Santelli has re-entered the race and won.
My Thoughts:
Not the most exciting read. Too much political drama for me. Not that into politics. I’m pretty sure this kind of thing happens all the time behind the scenes in campaigns and such today, but my mind just doesn’t want to give it any thought.
Nor did I have much of a reaction to Alice and Ned getting back together other than just to think oh they’re back together.
Maybe I was a little shocked that Jessica was trying to get her parents in the bed with other people, but considering it’s Jessica I don’t know why I was. This one was just lackluster.
Then as I’m editing this review I JUST thought of something. When your in high school would you really want your mother fooling around with your TEACHER? I think Mia (from the Princess Diaries) will tell you UH NOOO YOU DON’T. One day you might see something you are *not* trying to see and then you have to be in class every day with this man. Then Jessica is thinking it’ll give her some advantage in school? WRONG! It’ll probably work the opposite way. Who do you think he’s gonna go to and tell “out of concern” when you're messing up in class? So that might not be the smartest idea. But whoever said Jessica was all that smart so I digress.
Rating: 4
Ned isn’t there for breakfast and Elizabeth is bummed out about it. For Jess and Steve, it’s just another day. Winston is also sad because how all the drama around her father in the previous book is affecting his girlfriend, Maria. Liz suggests that she help her volunteer at Ned’s campaign office. The twins and Maria meet various members of Ned’s team, and decide one, in particular, is an ass (Mr. Knapp).
Jess has decided that if their parents aren’t gonna be together, they might as well move on to other people. For her father she chooses a lady on the campaign team (Amanda Mason). But Amanda is already snatched up and engaged so back to the drawing board.
Elizabeth decides to take a page out of Jessica’s book to get her parents back together. If only she can get them to talk, she knows they’ll work it all out. But sadly, she just isn’t given the scheme gene that Jessica has. She tries to call her dad and pretend there’s a bad connection so he’ll call back and her mother will answer it. But her parents just end up getting into a fight over the phone. So she decides on another plan.
Jessica gets a quiz back and fails, but then she has a light bulb moment. The perfect man for her mother is none other than Mr. Roger Collins. She convinces him that she needs a parent-teacher conference. Poor Alice (a pawn in both twin games) gets dragged to the mall to “buy a present for Penny’s birthday”. Only the real reason is to see Ned give a speech. Alice is out of there! Ned never even sees them.
The office is deserted the next day when Maria and Elizabeth arrive to stuff envelopes. Maria goes to get sodas. Mr. Knapp doesn’t see Elizabeth, and she overhears him making a call to Ned. Basically, he bullies him to changing his speech to be about economic development. Elizabeth starts to think hmm. But Ned just tells her he’s new to the game so not to rock the boat maybe he should listen to Mr. Knapp.
At the parent-teacher conference neither Alice or Mr. Collins seem to be falling for the baits Jessica is obviously throwing out. So she goes to get her term papers so they can be alone. It works Roger sympathizes with what Alice is going through because he’s divorced. He invites her out to dinner.
Elizabeth tells Jess at home that their father wants to take them to dinner tonight at the same place Alice and Roger will be going. Jessica of course tries to get out of it, but she isn’t able to talk her way out of this jam. It’s not long before they all spot Mr. Collins and Alice having dinner. While Ned is called away Liz chews Jessica out. It turns out Alice and Mr. Collin invite then all to sit at their table. It sounds awkward, but Alice and Ned are actually civil to each other.
Maria gets Winston to stop her by the campaign headquarters because she forgot her book and she overhears Knapp talking to someone by the name of Robertson. They both want something done but Santelli refused to help them. So they had him framed. They’re using Ned as a pawn to make this thing happen. Ned’s unaware of all of this, but when he’s mayor he’ll have no choice to help them.
Maria is appalled and calls Elizabeth. They both decide they can’t tell Ned unless they have proof. Along with Terry (Knapp’s nephew who also works on the campaign), they all come to the conclusion that they’re planning to build a secret development, and they’ll have to locate the blue prints in Knapp’s office. So, they’ll have to do a lil B&E.
Since it Jess’s attempt didn’t go so hot with Mr. Collin’s she decides the next candidate for potential new Dad will be one of Ned’s teammates (Ramon), but the only “cat” he’s interested in getting are his (as in his pets). So she ditches him pretty quick.
Terry, Maria, and Elizabeth are able to get into Knapp’s office but are almost caught by Knapp. They find the prints and a deposit for the same amount that was placed in Peter’s bank account. Elizabeth tells all this to Ned (who’s confused and doesn’t know what to make of it all). She suggests he talk to Alice. Alice and Ned talk it out and spend the rest of the night talking through their marital issues. Ned steps down the next day at the rally and he reunites with his wife. Liz sees Knapp take off but he runs right into the police. On election night Peter Santelli has re-entered the race and won.
My Thoughts:
Not the most exciting read. Too much political drama for me. Not that into politics. I’m pretty sure this kind of thing happens all the time behind the scenes in campaigns and such today, but my mind just doesn’t want to give it any thought.
Nor did I have much of a reaction to Alice and Ned getting back together other than just to think oh they’re back together.
Maybe I was a little shocked that Jessica was trying to get her parents in the bed with other people, but considering it’s Jessica I don’t know why I was. This one was just lackluster.
Then as I’m editing this review I JUST thought of something. When your in high school would you really want your mother fooling around with your TEACHER? I think Mia (from the Princess Diaries) will tell you UH NOOO YOU DON’T. One day you might see something you are *not* trying to see and then you have to be in class every day with this man. Then Jessica is thinking it’ll give her some advantage in school? WRONG! It’ll probably work the opposite way. Who do you think he’s gonna go to and tell “out of concern” when you're messing up in class? So that might not be the smartest idea. But whoever said Jessica was all that smart so I digress.
Rating: 4
November 4, 2021
Liz schemes to get her parents back together, while Jess schemes to hook them up with new people (including Mr Collins). While Alice and Ned seem to be getting on better, it seems like a no-go, until Liz and Maria Santelli uncover a plot to redevelop the beach in SV, using Ned as a pawn. Ned can only turn to Alice in his hour of need, and they reconcile, with Ned stepping down from the mayoral election, and endorsing his friend, Mr Santelli , who was previously framed by the crooked developers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2020
I didn’t remember too much about this one, so it was pretty fun to read. Jessica is even more of a sociopath here than usual, though.
October 1, 2021
Matchmaking schemes, political scandals, broken family, The Parent Plot was fast paced and a satisfying read!
February 14, 2023
Rated 4 for nostalgia 😍
October 29, 2024
This one culminates the series. Jess tried to set up her parents with other people (why oh Why!!) while Liz doesn't stop meddling to bring them together. Neither seems to think they have brains or choice of their own! The political story which ties it all together is fun.
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover but just not the story
February 3, 2011
Through all the good and the bad, I never stopped reading....
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews