SVT #41 - The Twins Get Caught or THE TRUTH ABOUT TODD
This is one of the worst Sweet Valley books I’ve read. It truly is a steaming pile of dung. Ned and Alice are over-parenting (which, surprisingly, is even worse than their lack of parenting skills in the other books…), and Jess and Liz are both really, really irritating.
On the flip side, we learn the truth about Todd.
This book’s plot is incredibly weak. The twins’ grandparents are coming to visit, so Jess is sleeping in Liz’s room for the 10 days they’re visiting. Jess and Liz spend some time wondering what their grandparents are like. They assume the fogies are really old and unable to climb the stairs in the house. No, seriously. They worry about this. Also, Jessica is pissed because her mom won’t let her get her ears pierced until she’s 14, even though all her friends have their ears pierced. Apparently Alice thinks 12 is too young. Wtf?? Of all the times Alice and Ned should exercise some parenting skills with the twins, this has to be like the stupidest problem to police.
Grandma and Grandpa Robertson come to town, and the twins and their parents greet them. Steven is at the new teen club in SV called The Hangout, where some party’s going on. He’ll be back later. The grandparents have arrived from Florida, and Liz thinks they look way old. She decides it’s because they are old. No duh, Liz. Apparently reading all those Amanda Howard mysteries has paid off - she solved that mystery quickly! Grandma dozes off in a chair for a few minutes a little before 9:30. She says it’s because she’s jet lagged and it’s past midnight in FL, but Liz thinks, Somebody as old as Grandma probably needs lots of rest. Liz is annoying the crap out of me and I haven’t even reached page 25!
Steven arrives home then and looks a little beat up. He says it’s because some dudes from Big Mesa crashed the party at The Hangout and picked a fight over the last basketball game. Ned and Alice are appalled and declare The Hangout dangerous, despite Steven’s claim that it was a one-time thing and that peeps from the club stepped in really quickly.
The next morning, Liz makes a grotesque breakfast of oatmeal and soft-boiled eggs. When Jess points out the fact that this breakfast sounds revolting, Liz says that Grandma and Grandpa will appreciate it because “oatmeal and soft-boiled eggs don’t upset the digestive system.” This book is upsetting my digestive system.
After breakfast, Grandpa wants to go out jogging and Liz is shocked. Wait a minute… being old isn’t the exact same thing as being decrepit?? Liz asks how he can jog when he seemed so stiff the night before. He says he was stiff because he’d been on a long plane flight. Shocking.
Jess goes to the mall with friends and runs into Todd, who she kinda has a crush on. She flirts with him a little and…. wait for it…. We get the best line of the book and possibly the best line in the entire Sweet Valley universe:
The only problem was that Todd didn’t seem to be interested in girls.
Yes, you read that right. Todd is not interested in girls!!! This explains soooo much!! Like why he dated Liz for so many years, content to go no further than his connect the dot kisses! It’s why he felt like he had to “prove” something in SVU by trying to have sex - he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn’t gay!!!!
TODD ISN’T INTERESTED IN GIRLS!!!!!
I actually squealed out loud at that line. Maybe when Sweet Valley Heights or Confidential or whatever it’s titled comes out (Ha!! Comes out!!), we’ll find that Todd got married to Tom McKay. I mean, gay marriage is now legal in California. No need for Todd to hide his true colors any longer!
I want to rename this book The Truth About Todd.
Anyway, all the sixth graders have their panties in knots because Aaron Dallas is throwing the party of the year, with the radio-famous Dave Carlquist as the DJ. The party’s at The Hangout, so Jess and Liz are both scared their parents won’t let them go because of Steven’s trouble there. But Liz reminisces fondly about how she knows Dave Carlquist because a few months ago, he’d picked her suggestion for the name of his radio show. The winning entry: “The Awesome Hour.” Another gigantic WTF. How the crap did that stinking turd of a name win anything?!? …oh, yeah. Because Liz came up with it?
Jess and Liz tell their parents about the party and they say the girls can’t go because it’s dangerous there. Yes. This place is where the danger’s at in Sweet Valley. Alice and Ned refuse to budge, and the girls are rightfully pissed. Steven, too, thinks it’s ridiculous. Even the grandparents think it’s outrageous because, as Steven’s said multiple times, the fight had nothing to do with the club. But Ned and Alice are idiots. Both girls try to talk sense into their parents, pointing out how Aaron’s parents will be there, etc., but Ned and Alice are like, “No way - we’re the only responsible parents around and we need to protect you!” WTF? Grandma tries to speak up on the girls’ behalf, but Alice will hear none of it.
Their friends are shocked as well. Hell, the whole universe is shocked at the exhibition of parenting skills displayed by Ned and Alice, even if it is at a random, unnecessary time. Jess decides to get her ears pierced to show her mom that she’s not a baby. When she comes home, Alice and Ned are furious about the ear piercing. Alice says she’s grounded for one month; Ned grounds her for two. WTF?!? Grandma talks them out of it, saying that she thinks she’s partly to blame because she’d told Jess that she’d gotten her ears pierced at that age and didn’t think it was a big deal. Indeed. There’s a lame scene where Alice says she’ll just ground Grandma instead.
The night of the party comes. Lila calls Jess and suggests she just sneak out and bring Liz with her. Jess hangs up and tries to talk Liz into this, and their grandparents overhear the plan. They tell the girls they’re really disappointed in them and then bring them downstairs to tell their parents and face the consequences. Liz and Jess fess up to their parents and they, as expected, are very disappointed. But then Grandma and Grandpa step in are say that the twins are only acting this way because they’re being unfairly punished for something that wasn’t even Steven’s fault. So Ned and Alice confer with each other and return to the group and say that they are very disappointed the twins considered sneaking out but that maybe they were being unreasonable and that the twins can go to the party, if they still want to. Ahh, this is the parenting I’ve come to know and love from them. WTF???
So the twins go to the party and have a good time. No fights break out. Jess dances with Todd and Caroline Pearce spreads the word that they’re a hot new couple. Clearly, she hasn’t heard the fact that Todd isn’t interested in girls. Liz gets to talk to DJ Dave Carlquist and dedicates Johnny Buck’s newest song to Jess.
The grandparents are leaving soon, but before they go, Grandma and Grandpa produce seven tickets for a popular singer’s benefit concert for all 7 of them to attend. Some lame joke is made about how they don’t just listen to “moldy oldies”. Ha?
And then the grandparents leave for San Diego to visit the twins’ cousin Robin. Will the twins ever get to see Robin? Find out in #42, JESSICA’S SECRET.
Overall, I give this book a big WTF.
But we did get some key insight to why Todd is the way he is, so maybe the book is okay after all.
On the flip side, we learn the truth about Todd.
This book’s plot is incredibly weak. The twins’ grandparents are coming to visit, so Jess is sleeping in Liz’s room for the 10 days they’re visiting. Jess and Liz spend some time wondering what their grandparents are like. They assume the fogies are really old and unable to climb the stairs in the house. No, seriously. They worry about this. Also, Jessica is pissed because her mom won’t let her get her ears pierced until she’s 14, even though all her friends have their ears pierced. Apparently Alice thinks 12 is too young. Wtf?? Of all the times Alice and Ned should exercise some parenting skills with the twins, this has to be like the stupidest problem to police.
Grandma and Grandpa Robertson come to town, and the twins and their parents greet them. Steven is at the new teen club in SV called The Hangout, where some party’s going on. He’ll be back later. The grandparents have arrived from Florida, and Liz thinks they look way old. She decides it’s because they are old. No duh, Liz. Apparently reading all those Amanda Howard mysteries has paid off - she solved that mystery quickly! Grandma dozes off in a chair for a few minutes a little before 9:30. She says it’s because she’s jet lagged and it’s past midnight in FL, but Liz thinks, Somebody as old as Grandma probably needs lots of rest. Liz is annoying the crap out of me and I haven’t even reached page 25!
Steven arrives home then and looks a little beat up. He says it’s because some dudes from Big Mesa crashed the party at The Hangout and picked a fight over the last basketball game. Ned and Alice are appalled and declare The Hangout dangerous, despite Steven’s claim that it was a one-time thing and that peeps from the club stepped in really quickly.
The next morning, Liz makes a grotesque breakfast of oatmeal and soft-boiled eggs. When Jess points out the fact that this breakfast sounds revolting, Liz says that Grandma and Grandpa will appreciate it because “oatmeal and soft-boiled eggs don’t upset the digestive system.” This book is upsetting my digestive system.
After breakfast, Grandpa wants to go out jogging and Liz is shocked. Wait a minute… being old isn’t the exact same thing as being decrepit?? Liz asks how he can jog when he seemed so stiff the night before. He says he was stiff because he’d been on a long plane flight. Shocking.
Jess goes to the mall with friends and runs into Todd, who she kinda has a crush on. She flirts with him a little and…. wait for it…. We get the best line of the book and possibly the best line in the entire Sweet Valley universe:
The only problem was that Todd didn’t seem to be interested in girls.
Yes, you read that right. Todd is not interested in girls!!! This explains soooo much!! Like why he dated Liz for so many years, content to go no further than his connect the dot kisses! It’s why he felt like he had to “prove” something in SVU by trying to have sex - he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn’t gay!!!!
TODD ISN’T INTERESTED IN GIRLS!!!!!
I actually squealed out loud at that line. Maybe when Sweet Valley Heights or Confidential or whatever it’s titled comes out (Ha!! Comes out!!), we’ll find that Todd got married to Tom McKay. I mean, gay marriage is now legal in California. No need for Todd to hide his true colors any longer!
I want to rename this book The Truth About Todd.
Anyway, all the sixth graders have their panties in knots because Aaron Dallas is throwing the party of the year, with the radio-famous Dave Carlquist as the DJ. The party’s at The Hangout, so Jess and Liz are both scared their parents won’t let them go because of Steven’s trouble there. But Liz reminisces fondly about how she knows Dave Carlquist because a few months ago, he’d picked her suggestion for the name of his radio show. The winning entry: “The Awesome Hour.” Another gigantic WTF. How the crap did that stinking turd of a name win anything?!? …oh, yeah. Because Liz came up with it?
Jess and Liz tell their parents about the party and they say the girls can’t go because it’s dangerous there. Yes. This place is where the danger’s at in Sweet Valley. Alice and Ned refuse to budge, and the girls are rightfully pissed. Steven, too, thinks it’s ridiculous. Even the grandparents think it’s outrageous because, as Steven’s said multiple times, the fight had nothing to do with the club. But Ned and Alice are idiots. Both girls try to talk sense into their parents, pointing out how Aaron’s parents will be there, etc., but Ned and Alice are like, “No way - we’re the only responsible parents around and we need to protect you!” WTF? Grandma tries to speak up on the girls’ behalf, but Alice will hear none of it.
Their friends are shocked as well. Hell, the whole universe is shocked at the exhibition of parenting skills displayed by Ned and Alice, even if it is at a random, unnecessary time. Jess decides to get her ears pierced to show her mom that she’s not a baby. When she comes home, Alice and Ned are furious about the ear piercing. Alice says she’s grounded for one month; Ned grounds her for two. WTF?!? Grandma talks them out of it, saying that she thinks she’s partly to blame because she’d told Jess that she’d gotten her ears pierced at that age and didn’t think it was a big deal. Indeed. There’s a lame scene where Alice says she’ll just ground Grandma instead.
The night of the party comes. Lila calls Jess and suggests she just sneak out and bring Liz with her. Jess hangs up and tries to talk Liz into this, and their grandparents overhear the plan. They tell the girls they’re really disappointed in them and then bring them downstairs to tell their parents and face the consequences. Liz and Jess fess up to their parents and they, as expected, are very disappointed. But then Grandma and Grandpa step in are say that the twins are only acting this way because they’re being unfairly punished for something that wasn’t even Steven’s fault. So Ned and Alice confer with each other and return to the group and say that they are very disappointed the twins considered sneaking out but that maybe they were being unreasonable and that the twins can go to the party, if they still want to. Ahh, this is the parenting I’ve come to know and love from them. WTF???
So the twins go to the party and have a good time. No fights break out. Jess dances with Todd and Caroline Pearce spreads the word that they’re a hot new couple. Clearly, she hasn’t heard the fact that Todd isn’t interested in girls. Liz gets to talk to DJ Dave Carlquist and dedicates Johnny Buck’s newest song to Jess.
The grandparents are leaving soon, but before they go, Grandma and Grandpa produce seven tickets for a popular singer’s benefit concert for all 7 of them to attend. Some lame joke is made about how they don’t just listen to “moldy oldies”. Ha?
And then the grandparents leave for San Diego to visit the twins’ cousin Robin. Will the twins ever get to see Robin? Find out in #42, JESSICA’S SECRET.
Overall, I give this book a big WTF.
But we did get some key insight to why Todd is the way he is, so maybe the book is okay after all.