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Sweet Valley Twins #89
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Jessica Wakefield is a wonderful baker! At least, that's what her home economics teacher thinks when she tastes the cookies Jessica baked in class. They're so good, the teacher submits a batch to the producer of the television talk show Lifestyles of the French and Famous. And now the producer has invited Jessica to appear on the show with four hundred of her delicious cookies for the studio audience!
Jessica is thrilled. She and her friends in the exclusive Unicorn Club get to work baking cookies. But there's one big problem: Jessica can't remember the secret ingredient that made her recipe so amazing! And the harder the Unicorns try to follow the recipe, the worse the cookies taste. Will Jessica have to appear on national television with four hundred of the worst cookies ever baked?
173 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1995
215 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,140 books1,851 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 4, 2017
I read this book more times than I can count. If anyone has kids pre-teen age, I definitely recommend this series!
April 29, 2009
I thought this one was pretty fun, actually! Now if only I could remember what that "secret ingredient" was XD
March 7, 2024
Jessica's infallible luck strikes again: In Jessica's Cookie Disaster, Jessica accidentally makes cookies so good that she's invited to be on a television show...except, oops, she has no idea how she's done it. Will she come out on top, or will her cookies be a flop?
(Spoiler alert: Jessica always comes out on top.)
Now, the way Jessica goes about trying to recreate these miracle cookies is a bit...questionable...because I guess it doesn't occur to anyone that there wasn't even a hint of pineapple or liquorice in the miracle cookies, or that those things were unlikely to have been at Jessica's cooking station when she had her successful disaster. Also questionable: the fact that the secret ingredients turn out to be , and everyone involved acts like they have never had a cookie with these things before. Now, granted, this is Sweet Valley, one of the whitest and most middle-class places known to 80s America, so it's possible...but oh dear. Someone get these people some flavor in their lives.
Perhaps more notable: Jessica makes the honor roll for the first and perhaps last time in her life, so her parents all but throw her a party. Elizabeth sighed again—she couldn't help it. Since Elizabeth was always on the honor roll, no one made a big deal of it anymore. She'd been on the honor roll since second grade, so she didn't get taken to dinner at La Maison Jacques. (31) Elizabeth really gets shafted in these books, doesn't she? She feels guilty if she does anything than be her goody-two-shoes-honor-roll self, but Jessica gets all the attention whether she's creating chaos or toeing the line.
(Actually, when I was in junior high, I remember my parents being really enthusiastic about my sister's four-Bs-and-two-As report card, while sort of shrugging at my two-Bs-and-four-As report card. I didn't learn until much, much later that my sister—who was generally a very rule-abiding, non-boundary-pushing kid—had gone through a phase, at that time, of arguing against homework. Possibly this report card represented a perking up of her grades and they were pleased about it. As an adult I get it, but as a tween I remember feeling quite insulted.)
Elizabeth saves the day, of course, which means that Jessica gets to shine (of course). If I remember correctly, somewhere in the universe—in the Sweet Valley High series, I think—there's a book in which Elizabeth wishes that she'd never been born, and then she sees a sort of alternate-universe version of Sweet Valley in which Steven is deep in trouble, and maybe her parents have split up, and so on and so forth, and it's all because they desperately needed an Elizabeth to save the day...and I guess it all started with things like cookies.
(Spoiler alert: Jessica always comes out on top.)
Now, the way Jessica goes about trying to recreate these miracle cookies is a bit...questionable...because I guess it doesn't occur to anyone that there wasn't even a hint of pineapple or liquorice in the miracle cookies, or that those things were unlikely to have been at Jessica's cooking station when she had her successful disaster. Also questionable: the fact that the secret ingredients turn out to be , and everyone involved acts like they have never had a cookie with these things before. Now, granted, this is Sweet Valley, one of the whitest and most middle-class places known to 80s America, so it's possible...but oh dear. Someone get these people some flavor in their lives.
Perhaps more notable: Jessica makes the honor roll for the first and perhaps last time in her life, so her parents all but throw her a party. Elizabeth sighed again—she couldn't help it. Since Elizabeth was always on the honor roll, no one made a big deal of it anymore. She'd been on the honor roll since second grade, so she didn't get taken to dinner at La Maison Jacques. (31) Elizabeth really gets shafted in these books, doesn't she? She feels guilty if she does anything than be her goody-two-shoes-honor-roll self, but Jessica gets all the attention whether she's creating chaos or toeing the line.
(Actually, when I was in junior high, I remember my parents being really enthusiastic about my sister's four-Bs-and-two-As report card, while sort of shrugging at my two-Bs-and-four-As report card. I didn't learn until much, much later that my sister—who was generally a very rule-abiding, non-boundary-pushing kid—had gone through a phase, at that time, of arguing against homework. Possibly this report card represented a perking up of her grades and they were pleased about it. As an adult I get it, but as a tween I remember feeling quite insulted.)
Elizabeth saves the day, of course, which means that Jessica gets to shine (of course). If I remember correctly, somewhere in the universe—in the Sweet Valley High series, I think—there's a book in which Elizabeth wishes that she'd never been born, and then she sees a sort of alternate-universe version of Sweet Valley in which Steven is deep in trouble, and maybe her parents have split up, and so on and so forth, and it's all because they desperately needed an Elizabeth to save the day...and I guess it all started with things like cookies.
January 12, 2023
The plot contains the usual schtick: Jessica gets in trouble, Elizabeth saves the day. However, this one stands out compared with the other SVT books I read recently because of its brilliant writing—I could almost taste the cookies!—and sassy dialogues. I especially love the chaotic exchange between the Unicorns! Overall, a fun read during a lazy, cold afternoon.
March 29, 2023
Love this one.
March 6, 2010
Jessica Wakefield is a wonderful baker! At least, that's what her home economics teacher thinks when she tastes the cookies Jessica baked in class. They're so good, the teacher submits a batch to the producer of the television talk show Lifestyles of the French and Famous. And now the producer has invited Jessica to appear on the show with four hundred of her delicious cookies for the studio audience!
Jessica is thrilled. She and her friends in the exclusive Unicorn Club get to work baking cookies. But there's one big problem: Jessica can't remember the secret ingredient that made her recipe so amazing! And the harder the Unicorns try to follow the recipe, the worse the cookies taste. Will Jessica have to appear on national television with four hundred of the worst cookies ever baked?
Jessica agrees to more than she handles again. Elizabeth steps in to save the day. This was a really fun one and how can I resist those delicious-sounding cookies?
Jessica is thrilled. She and her friends in the exclusive Unicorn Club get to work baking cookies. But there's one big problem: Jessica can't remember the secret ingredient that made her recipe so amazing! And the harder the Unicorns try to follow the recipe, the worse the cookies taste. Will Jessica have to appear on national television with four hundred of the worst cookies ever baked?
Jessica agrees to more than she handles again. Elizabeth steps in to save the day. This was a really fun one and how can I resist those delicious-sounding cookies?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2016
I remember enjoying this one! Mainly because, as I recall, Jessica is somewhat less annoying? Plus she's quite chastised by a smug Elizabeth at the end. As a kid, I always wondered how the purple cookie tastes like...
July 5, 2012
H:o:p:e c:h:e:s:t <3
May 5, 2021
Loved these books as a child
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
May 24, 2014
rereading the first book i have ever read in the series:) still pretty awesome:)
September 29, 2025
Loved this. It's special one for Sweet Balley Twins. A treat!
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December 6, 20091st sweet valley book..great..
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews