Good-Bye, Eva?

Sweet Valley Kids #38

by Francine Pascal (Creator), Molly Mia Stewart, Ying-Hwa Hu (Illustrator)

Identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield have become good friends with Eva Simpson since she moved to Sweet Valley. But now it looks as if Eva might have to leave! Eva's father misses his old home, Jamaica, and wants to move back there. Can Eva, Jessica, and Elizabeth cook up a plan to make him want to stay?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade

70 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1993

About the author

Francine 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.

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Eva! It was such a theme for kids' books, wasn't it, of the bff moving away? It really is quite devastating though, if I remember primary school correctly! Although we rarely seemed to have as much notice as the kids in the books did.

[Ruvi Perera · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of twins friends, Eva is worried because she thinks her parents might relocate to Jamaica. Twins are planning to keep the family in California.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweetvalleyrecaps
Sweet Valley Kids 30 - Goodbye Eva?
Eva is super bummed because her Dad is miserable and talking about quitting his job. And he missed Jamaica, so of course that means they’re moving back. It doesn’t help that Mrs Otis tells Eva ‘a little birdie’ told her she’ll see it soon (when the kids were brainstorming ways of making Jamaica less desirable - my fave way was Amy suggesting they tell him it sunk into the ocean). Mrs Simpson tells Eva they are not moving (she also knew nothing about this ‘little birdie’ 🤔), but Eva still thinks they are. The twins have an idea to bring Jamaica to Sweet Valley so Mr S doesn’t miss it as much - a Jamaican picnic on the beach! The Snoopers (just easier to explain who was there, not an offical club meeting 😂) all go to Evas house and cook Jamaican food - but Mr S gets called into a meeting and can’t go 😞 He helps them cook though, and once at the beach Liz spots a closed down empty restaurant... and Jess declares the food is so good and S should open a restaurant... and a stranger walks up because the food smells delicious and he wants to buy some... I think you see where this is going! Mr S shows up, has decided to quit, assures Eva its just a vacation to Jamaica, and the twins tell everyone their brilliant idea... and Mr S is on board! So how come we never hear of Eva after kids? Maybe the restaurant didn’t end up doing so well 😞
My rating - 4/10 - although the twins were pretty nosey and Eva should have believed her mother, the description of the food did it for me 🤤 BRB, off to eat dinner!

[Tara Calaby]

This is one of those books that work just fine as a kid, but that make you really suspend disbelief as an adult. I mean, by this, that generally people don't just ditch their well-paying jobs to start up restaurants with exactly zero chef training. I do think it does a good job, though, of showing how much kids are at the mercy of their parents when it comes to moving house and the emotional effect that has on them.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the cover just not the story.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eva was one of the coolest of their friends, & I'd hate to see her move away.