The Last Word

Sweet Dreams

by Susan Blake

Shelby loves to argue and always has to have the final word - at least that's what her boyfriend, Tom, says when he breaks up with her. When Shelby goes to summer camp, she begins to think that Tom may be everything she says gets her in trouble.

Then Shelby meets Matthew. He's cute and smart, and Shelby knows he's the perfect boy for her. But when she's up against him in a camp debate contest, Shelby's worried. Will having the last word mean the end of a relationship once again?

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

First published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best friend’s older sister, whom we stalked and annoyed and idolized and stole things from, including much of the Sweet Dreams series, fully got this haircut, influenced in part by Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and this book. I’m pretty sure she marched in and thrust this cover right in the face of the stylist at Shear Rumors or wherever. And she ended up pretty much nailing this sassy, no-nonsense cover look dead-on.

The places she could have gone, had we been geographically and otherwise more fortunate. For it turns out this cover model is none other than a young Courteney Cox, in a slightly more formal and scholastic version of the look she sported when Bruce Springsteen pulled her up on stage for the Dancing in the Dark video - right around the same time this book was published.

For those of you who don’t already know this, their seemingly impromptu encounter in that video was actually staged: Cox was already a professional actress and soap opera star (and paperback romance cover model) who was cast and flown in from New York City for the concert footage video shoot.

The kicker is that the footage was filmed at a concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, which was not actually terribly far afield of where we grew up. But alas, the decks were stacked, and my friend’s big sister was not to be discovered for fame in this manner, brisk feathered haircut notwithstanding.

The best probably we could have managed for her in our neck of the woods would have maybe been, hm… maybe…Ted Nugent?

The other essential fact of this cover is in its demonstration of how, in the first half of the 80s, the answer to the multiple-choice question of:

A) Horizontally-striped multicolor pastel nubby sweater

b) Vertically-striped, horn-buttoned, khaki-and-pastel blazer

C) Crisply elbow-rolled sleeve cuffs

or

D) Popped pink polo collar

…would have been an emphatic:

E) All of the above!


(Part of a series in which I reflect on how my friend’s big sister’s Sweet Dreams books influenced my 80s Midwestern fashion desert clothing endeavors.)

[gremlinkitten]

OMG! That's Courteney Cox!

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

To begin, I would like to say that I was interested in reading this book from the time I read the blurb at the back. The plot is about the main character, Shelby, who loves to debate, and how that make her boyfriend, Tom, break up with her. Basically, he could not accept the fact that she was better at debating than him. Then, Shelby goes to a debating camp and meets Matthew, who is her new love interest. She is worried that her habit of winning might turn him off. I know that the plot sounds kind of regular and cliche, however, it's not. The book is quite enjoyable, and I had a hard time putting it down. I guess the reason why I liked it a lot is due to the fact that it deals with a bit of a realistic and mature issue, which is feeling threatened by yourself to ruin an important relationship. This sort of thing happen in real-life, where people become doubtful about themselves and believe that they might be at fault for a relationship coming to an end. Also, I liked Shelby's character; she was a breath of fresh air for Sweet Dreams heroines, and Matthew was great too. The author did a pretty nice job at executing the story without making it dull or typical. I'll go as far to saying that this is possibly one of the best Sweet Dreams books out there. Go ahead and give it a read!

[Sarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis (taken from http://sweetdreamsseries.com):
Shelby loves to argue and always has to have the final word - at least that's what her boyfriend, Tom, says when he breaks up with her. When Shelby goes to summer camp, she begins to think that Tom may be right: everything she says gets her in trouble. Then Shelby meets Matthew. He's cute and smart, and Shelby knows he's the perfect boy for her. But when she's up against him in a camp debate contest, Shelby's worried. Will having the last word mean the end of a relationship once again?

PS - anyone recognize that cover model? :)

[Reading with Cats · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars