Shannon's Sweet Valley High Blog

The moral of the story: You better not ground your kids. They might join a cult.

The Big Deal: Nothing, really.

Synopsis:

Poor Jessica has been grounded for three weeks because of a failing math grade. Her friends have been doing fun things without her the whole time and Sam has been too into dirt biking to come over much. On her very first day of freedom, Jessica wants to spend the whole day with Sam. They go out to breakfast, and then Sam mentions that day’s race. Jessica is appalled that he actually plans to race that day, and he says he’s told her all about it and has been preparing for it all week. Jessica is super pissed. She storms out of the restaurant and drives to the mall, thinking she’ll feel better if she does some shopping. She sees a boy who looks like Sam and a group of girls who remind her of her friends who have “abandoned” her, and she starts to cry. A ginger kid sits down next to her. He introduces himself as Ted and says he knows exactly how Jessica feels. He used to be down in the dumps all the time, too. He even ran away from home, but then he met Adam Marvel. Adam befriended Ted and introduced him to a group of people who never criticize or judge. They call themselves the Good Friends. Ted lives with them now, and he invites Jessica over for dinner.

The address Ted gives her is in the bad part of town, the part where nobody Jessica has ever talked to has ever set foot, except Tricia Martin. She stops the car in front of the crappiest house ever and is dismayed when Ted runs out of the house and tells her everyone is dying to meet her. Ted introduces her to everyone, and over dinner, Jessica tells the Good Friends her whole sad story. When she’s finished talking, one of the other kids says she’s never met a cheerleader, and another says he didn’t think cheerleaders actually had problems like regular people. I can’t make this stuff up, folks. With the exception of a sulky girl named Susan, everyone is in awe of Jessica and they want to know when she’ll be moving in. Jessica is taken aback and says thanks, but no thanks. For the rest of dinner, the Good Friends lament that Adam isn’t home yet and talk about how awesome he is. Just as Jessica is leaving later, Adam Marvel comes home. He’s about thirty and gorgeous, so of course Jessica stays longer to talk to him. She’s fascinated with the man, so when he asks her to come back the next day to help the group with yard work, Jessica agrees.

When she goes back the next day, Adam personally asks her to help him clean out the garage. Jessica is totally excited that she’ll spend the whole day alone with him. Susan comes into the garage and says she thought Adam wanted her to help him. Adam tells her he changed his mind. Susan gets pissed and stalks off. Adam explains to Jessica that Susan is new to the group and hasn’t quite learned how to be a Good Friend yet. She’s still hanging on to her old selfish ways. Jessica deduces that Susan has a crush on him. Adam is delighted at Jessica’s intelligence and gives her a hug.

Jessica starts spending all her time with the Good Friends. Adam doesn’t like flashy clothes, so Jessica starts wearing weird shit like tweed skirts with white blouses. One of the things the group does is collect money for charities, and the first time Jessica goes with them, she collects more than anyone else. On the way back, Adam stops the van at the grocery store and takes some of the collected money to buy food. Jessica says he can’t use the charity money for that, but Adam assures her it’s okay.

After a few weeks of Jessica brushing him off, Sam gets fed up and shows up at her house. He demands to know what her problem is and what she’s been doing lately. Adam has told her to keep the Good Friends a secret, so Jessica avoids the question and accuses Sam of checking up on her. She really wants him to leave so she can daydream about Adam, so she tells him to go home and watch television with his bike, then goes inside.

If you’re wondering why Liz hasn’t noticed what’s been going on with Jessica, it’s because she’s having a problem of her own. She and Todd have joined the new bowling club. Justin Silver, the kid coaching the team, has a crush on Liz and she doesn’t know what to do about it. She thinks he’s handsome and funny and all that jazz, but she loves Todd. When Justin asks her out, she says he only likes her because she’s pretty, but Todd knows her well and they love each other. She wants to tell Todd Justin asked her out, but the opportunity doesn’t present itself and she feels guilty. Anyway…

One night at dinner, Ned tells Alice and Liz about the Good Friends, a new group in town that claims to raise money for charities. Unfortunately, some of the charities the group says it works for don’t exist, and others say they’ve never heard of Good Friends. And apparently, Adam Marvel, the group’s leader, may be setting up groups like this all over the country. Maybe he’s starting a cult! When Alice, Ned and Liz have finished talking about Adam Marvel, they all gossip about Jessica for a while and make fun of her clothes.

Sam tells Liz he’s worried about Jessica and that she’s been lying about going to the library every night. Liz realizes she needs to try to talk to Jessica, and she decides a good, neutral subject would be Ned’s news about the Good Friends. Jessica is furious when Liz accuses them of being a cult. She throws Liz out of her room. Liz thinks about Jessica’s reaction and puts it together with Sam’s complaints and Todd’s assertion that he saw someone who looked like Jessica collecting money at the mall. Liz is sure it all fits together somehow, but she just can’t…quite…figure…it…out.

The next day, Sam comes over to the Wakefields’ house and drags Liz and Todd to his car, saying he followed Jessica that morning and he knows where she’s been going. They drive to the worst part of town and see the twins’ Fiat parked outside a house with a sign hanging on the door that says “The Good Friends.” Liz explains to Sam that she thinks Jessica has joined the cult, all while Todd sits there telling her she’s jumping to conclusions. Liz waits until Jessica gets home that night and tells her she knows where she’s been going. Jessica is mad at first, but then she tells Liz all about Adam and the things he does to help others. She promises she’ll leave the group immediately if it turns out there is any truth to Ned’s claims.

Liz is still worried, so she decides to be Jessica and infiltrate the cult. She forces Jessica to go to a movie with Sam, then she and Todd go to the house, where Todd will wait outside just in case Liz needs help. The Friends are having a “discussion night,” which basically consists of everyone saying they agree with Adam. Liz thinks Adam is totally creepy. A group of Friends comes in all worked up about something. They were collecting at the mall when one of them, Brian, disappeared. Adam sends everyone to the mall to look for him, except Liz and Susan, the sulky girl. Adam sees the other kids out, and while he’s gone, Susan whispers to Liz to get out while she can. Liz is confused, and then Adam comes back so they can’t talk any more. Liz talks to Todd that night and tells him how scared she was. Todd tries to convince her to tell her parents what’s going on, but Liz is sure that’s a bad idea.

That Justin guy keeps bothering Liz, so she finally agrees to go out with them. They go to the mall, where they see one of the cult members collecting money. Liz freaks out and pulls Justin in the other direction. She doesn’t feel like she can tell him what’s going on, and this makes her really wish she was with Todd instead of him. Blargh.

At dinner one night, Ned starts talking about the Good Friends investigation. Liz and Jessica find out Brian’s parents snatched him back, and once he’s had time to recover, he’ll testify against Adam Marvel. Liz and Jessica argue later, and Jessica finally lies and says she’ll stay away from the group. She goes to the house the next night and tells Adam everything. They talk about Brian, and Adam says it was horrible of his parents to kidnap their own son. He’s upset that he has no way of contacting Brian, and manipulates Jessica into thinking it’s her idea to get Brian’s address and phone number from Ned’s files.

She meets Adam the next day and gives him Brian’s address. Jessica asks him what’s to stop Brian’s parents from taking him back again, and Adam says they’re going to move on and set up house in another town. He tells Jessica the group needs her more than ever, especially now that Susan has gone home. The next night, she packs a bag and heads for the house. She hesitates when Adam tells her to get into the van, and then Liz, Sam and Todd show up. Sam runs inside while Liz pleads with Jessica to come home with her. Jessica is torn, but keeps defending Adam. Then Sam comes out of the house carrying Susan in his arms. He found her bound and gagged upstairs.

Todd has called the police, and they arrest Adam, Susan explains that she’s a reporter, and everything is back to normal by the next page. Sam apologizes to Jessica for not realizing how depressed she was from being grounded. Steve says he’s upset that Cara is going to London for a week, and then the book ends.

Quotes:

There was only one blonde in the room, and she didn’t even have a tan.

This pretty much sums up Jessica’s first impression of the Good Friends.

Sam knew she didn’t like popcorn, but did he care? No. He liked popcorn, so every time they went to a movie, he bought popcorn. And every time, he ate it himself!

That’s because he likes it, Jessica.

“A cult!” Elizabeth gasped. “Here? In Sweet Valley? But that’s impossible!”

I love that Liz’s reaction to stuff like this is never “That’s awful!” or “That’s scary!” Her first reaction is always to say it’s impossible.

The Cover: She really must be brainwashed if she left the house looking like that. The cover art is really bad lately. She looks about twelve. Sam is pretty cute. Ted looks dirty somehow.

The moral of the story: Boys and girls should just stick to their gender roles.

The Big Deal: Not much. Some dirt bike races.

Synopsis:

Some girl named April Dawson is dating Michael Harris, who you may remember from such disasters as being engaged to Maria Santelli. Michael and April race dirt bikes, but while it’s just a hobby for April, it pretty much consumes Michael’s life. All he ever thinks about is racing his bike and beating Artie Western. You probably won’t remember Artie from such annoyances as asking Cara to dance and making Steve jealous. April doesn’t really get what the deal is between Artie and Michael. They were best friends a year ago, but Michael won’t say what happened to end their friendship. One day, April asks Maria if she knows about Artie Western. Maria says she never got to know him very well, but both she and Liz agree that Artie is a great guy. This surprises April, since all she ever hears is how much Michael hates him.

Liz and Todd are in the Wakefields’ kitchen that afternoon. The sink gets backed up and Todd gets it unblocked, then teases Liz for not knowing how to fix a clogged sink. Even though Todd was clearly just teasing, Liz gets all defensive and acts like Todd was saying she couldn’t do it because she’s a girl. So now they’ve got a stupid bet going: they’ll each list three things they do well, and each will have to do the things on the others’ list. I hate this. And the challenges are: For Liz – change a tire, build a shelf, replace a washer. For Todd – Do the grocery shopping for a week, make an apron, cook Liz’s dinner, including chocolate chip cookies. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.

Michael is really upset one day and tells April his grandmother in Texas is in the hospital. The reason he’s so upset is that his parents are taking him with them to go see her and he’ll miss a race. He’s, like, terrified that Artie Western will win if Michael’s not there to beat him. April is worried about Michael’s obsession and asks Cara if she knows what happened, since Cara used to date Artie. (I don’t think they ever even went out, but I’m too lazy to check.) Between Cara, Jessica, Amy and Lila, April finds out the boys were either fighting over a girl, fighting over a bike, or one of them almost got the other killed. In short, nobody knows.

That night, while Michael flies to Texas, April goes to a film festival by herself and meets none other than Artie Western. They start talking in line and end up going for pizza together after the movie. Artie asks how Michael is doing and expresses his admiration for Michael’s riding skills. April asks Artie what happened between them, but Artie won’t tell her and just says it was a misunderstanding that was as much his fault as Michael’s. April is surprised, considering Michael acts like Artie is the devil. The next day is the rally Michael is missing. It’s a relay, and April isn’t planning on entering without her partner. Artie calls and says his partner is sick. He and April decide to enter together.

Jessica has decided she needs to meet some new boys, so she decides to go to the rally. I guess she and April are friends, even though we’ve never met April before this book. Jessica gets a magazine about dirt bikes in the hopes of figuring out what a person wears to a dirt bike rally. April and Artie win their race, and Jessica assumes the thing between Artie and Michael has been resolved. After the race, April invites Jessica to go to the Dairi Burger with her and some of the other bikers. When she sits down at their table, Jessica meets Sam Woodruff and instantly falls in love.

Monday morning, Jessica sees Michael and tells him how awesome April and Artie were in the race. Then Ken comes up and says he saw April and Artie at Guido’s the other night and he’s really glad Mike and Artie patched things up. Michael looks mad. Jessica realizes they fucked up and drags Ken away. At lunch, Michael and April have it out, and in the end Michael still won’t say what his problem is with Artie, but April agrees to stay away from him. Michael calls that night to apologize for all his yelling, and April tells him Artie said some really nice things about him.

Alice finds Jessica’s dirt bike magazine and gets all scared and reminds Jessica how she and Ned feel about motorcycles. Jessica calms her down by saying she’d never get on a bike because wearing a helmet would mess up her hair. Then Sam finally calls and asks her out for the next night. Jessica is afraid he’ll show up on his bike so she says she’ll meet him at Guido’s. Liz and Enid go to the hardware store to get stuff to build a shelf, but the sales guy is really unfriendly and unhelpful. They don’t understand any of his questions and end up leaving. Jessica takes Liz back to the store a few days later and flirts with a salesman to get his help. Liz doesn’t like it, but as far as I’m concerned, actually buying the shit just requires people skills. It’s building it that’s going to get you, Liz. I hope it falls down when you try to put a book on it.

Jessica’s relationship with Sam gets off to a smashing start. They have tons in common, such as being popular, enjoying parties and being good at sports. Sam is perfect except for the fact that he rides a dirt bike. Every time they go out, all Jessica can think of is how upset her mother would be if she knew Jessica was dating a guy with a dirt bike. I don’t know why. I mean, it’s not like Alice Wakefield has ever done any actual parenting before, so I don’t know what Jessica thinks she’s going to do.

April knows she can’t stay with Michael much longer if he’s going to continue to be all obsessive and horrible. She wants to do something fun and relaxing. She says Ken and Terri go bowling sometimes and she’d like for her and Michael to join them, but Michael only wants to work on his bike. She tries again for the next night, but then he wants to work on her bike. One night, she finally gets him to agree to a date, but then he calls and says his dad has to work late and he has to stay home with his sister. April thinks he’s relieved that he has an excuse to stay home with his bike, and she goes ahead and gets pissed at him based on this assumption. She goes to the movies by herself.

April runs into Artie at the theater and they go for coffee afterward. April finally learns the whole story about Artie and Michael, which is long and uninteresting. It comes down to the two of them racing, Michael crashing, and then thinking Artie somehow made him crash on purpose. Whatever. Artie takes April home, and there’s Michael sitting on her front porch with a bouquet of flowers. The boys almost have a fistfight, but decide to settle the score on the bike path the next day.

April calls the Wakefields the next day, hoping to find Sam because Sam is someone Michael would listen to. Sam isn’t there, but Liz is and this is how she fills her meddling quota for the week. She and Enid pick up April and they find the boys just in time to fail in stopping them from racing. Michael cuts in front of Artie, causing Artie to crash. They call an ambulance and everyone goes to the hospital.

Artie’s fine, but April is pissed at Michael and won’t talk to him. She’s also told him Artie doesn’t want to see him, but Artie would like nothing more than to have his friend back. Liz wishes there was something she could do to let Michael know that Artie doesn’t hate him. I guess she finally figures out she can, you know, tell him, so Michael goes to the hospital with some burgers and fries from the Dairi Burger. They make up, and later, Artie tells April he wishes she would make up with Michael, too.

Liz gives this convenient wrap-up for me near the end: “April and Michael are back together. Artie and Michael are friends again. Jessica and Sam are out celebrating his victory in the last race. My parents are so happy Jessica finally has a boyfriend they completely approve of that they’ve gone out to celebrate, too…And I’ve had a gourmet meal prepared for me by the best apron maker in Sweet Valley.” Todd and Liz call their contest a tie since Liz’s bookshelf crashes down while they’re eating Todd’s really awful dinner.

Quotes:

Steven shook his head. “You know, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for you to learn how to do this, too, Jessica. After all, you drive the Fiat as much as Elizabeth. What would you do if you got a flat while you were all by yourself?”

Jessica laughed. “Well, that’s easy,” she said with a toss of her head. “I’d wait till some cute boy came along and I’d get him to fix it for me!”

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Tuesday afternoon after school Elizabeth Wakefield and Enid Rollins, her best friend, found themselves standing outside the lumber and hardware store, staring at the door.

“I don’t know about this,” Enid said. “I don’t see any women in there…There aren’t even any salesladies.”

Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

“Your father and I had a long talk with Sam, and he understands exactly how we feel. He’s promised that he won’t let you get on a bike without our permission.”

I seem to remember Todd making the same promise.

The Cover: Oh, so wrong. Everything about this cover makes me sick. Artie over there on the left makes me think of when Bruce McCulloch dresses like a woman. Michael (who doesn’t look a thing like he did when he was going out with Maria) just looks like an ass. And April. Oh, April. What…um. What are you doing? T-shirt tucked into your too-high jeans, weird expression on your face. And the hair. Oh lord, the hair…

The moral of the story: It’s okay to be nosy and take pictures of people who clearly don’t want their picture taken. You’ll probably become a national hero.

The Big Deal: Ugh, nothing.

Synopsis:

Liz has joined the school’s new photography club (and is relieved when Jeffrey doesn’t join because of conflicts with soccer). The club decides to do a huge photo essay about life at Sweet Valley High. After all the recent division and tension, these kids think a mural is just the kind of gift the school could use to bring everyone back together. These are strange kids. I would say something sarcastic about how I’m sure a collage of crappy pictures will make Andy feel better about getting his ass kicked just because he’s black, but Andy is actually in the photography club and thinks it’s a great idea. I’m probably just old and jaded. They decide to keep the project a secret until it’s finished, then giggle conspiratorially when people ask them why they’re taking pictures of stupid things like Winston balancing a lunch tray on his head. Jim Roberts’ girlfriend Shelley gets annoyed and suspicious when Jim won’t show her his pictures.

Mrs. Morrow comes by the Wakefields’ house because she has something of Regina’s that she wants to give to Liz. It’s a camera. What a convenient gift, what with Liz joining the photography club and all. Liz takes Prince Albert the dog to a secluded beach to take pictures. She sees three men running along the shore and thinks they look strange because they’re not dressed for the beach. She takes a picture of them, and one of the men sees her and runs in her direction. When he gets near, he tries to take the camera away from her. Prince Albert attacks the man so Liz can get away. Once she and the dog are safely in the car, Liz thinks the man must have been insane.

A few days later, Jessica and Lila are driving to the mall. They realize they’re being followed, but the guy is really cute so they pull over. The guy thinks Jessica is Liz and apologizes for his friend’s behavior on the beach. He introduces himself as Chad and flirts a little bit before asking Jessica for the picture she took. Jessica tells him it’s in the darkroom at the high school and gives him her number and tells him to call her in a few days. She has no idea what he’s talking about, but figures she can just ask Liz for the picture and give it to Chad. She tries to tell Liz about it when she gets home, but Liz is too busy getting ready to go to Todd’s for dinner to pay any attention to her.

After dinner, Todd and Liz see something on the news about some drug ring hearing in Washington. Apparently, a man named Ron Hunter was supposed to give evidence and drop some names, but he clammed up. There’s a picture of Hunter on the television, and Liz freaks out when she realizes he looks just like one of the men she saw on the beach. Liz and Todd examine the photograph, and Liz is convinced the writing on the man’s shirt could be a clue. Unfortunately, they can’t make it out, so they decide to go to the darkroom after school the next day and enlarge the picture. I guess Liz has been carrying the picture and the negative around in her purse all this time, and it’s a good thing, too, because when she gets to school the next day, the darkroom has been vandalized and ransacked. Liz knows it was the guys from the beach looking for her picture, but she can’t figure out how they knew where to look.

Meanwhile, the photography club has been so intent on keeping their stupid photo mural a secret that their personal relationships have started to suffer. Nicholas Morrow doesn’t like that Andrea Slade keeps taking pictures of other guys, and Shelley Novak is pissed at Jim for never telling her what he’s doing. Jim is supposed to meet Shelley at the Dairi Burger at four-thirty, but cleaning up the ruined darkroom takes a couple hours. He gets to the Dairi Burger just in time to see Shelley leaving with Greg Hilliard, a guy she had a crush on before she met Jim. Kids, it’s just a photography project. It’s not worth losing your girlfriends and boyfriends over.

Chad calls Jessica and asks her out, but tells her not to forget the picture. Jessica tears Liz’s room apart looking for it, but can’t find it. While she’s doing that, Todd and Liz are using Amy Sutton’s father’s studio to enlarge the photo enough to see that the man’s shirt says “Rick’s Place.” They look in a phone book and find out it’s a restaurant in Big Mesa. Todd takes Liz home to change before they head out to Rick’s Place, and Liz freaks out because her room has been ransacked. She doesn’t want to call the police because nothing has been stolen. Oh, I hate you. If you think someone has broken into your house, you call the police, whether anything has been stolen or not. I mean, I know it was just Jessica, but Liz doesn’t know that.

Chad takes Jessica bowling. She is not happy about it. She gets a little happier when they finish their game and Chad says he’s going to take her to a restaurant in Big Mesa. Todd and Liz are surprised when the blond man from the photograph shows up at Rick’s Place with Jessica. Chad and Jessica don’t see them, so they’re able to watch them. When they see Chad grab Jessica’s arm and drag her out of the restaurant, they follow. Jessica sees them from Chad’s car and points to her cheerleading jacket, but Liz can’t figure out why. Todd chases Chad’s car, but gets pulled over for speeding. Liz cries to the cop that her sister is being kidnapped, and the cop asks where Jessica and Chad might be heading. Liz finally figures out that Jessica was trying to tell her they were going to the high school.

At the school, the cops get Chad and everyone goes to the police station to hear what he has to say. Chad was part of the big drug ring in Washington, and Ron Hunter used to be part of his gang. When Ron turned traitor, they kidnapped him and put his twin brother, Rich, on the stand instead. Blah, blah, I don’t care. The police tell Liz she’s done a great service to her country, and Liz pats herself on the back for indirectly finding justice for Regina’s death by exposing a drug ring.

Everyone loves the photo essay mural and all the problems it’s caused have disappeared.

Quotes:

Elizabeth had decided on her special angle for the mural just that morning: she would photograph Sweet Valley High teachers doing what they did best. Ms. Dalton had been her first subject.

A Ms. Dalton sighting! So she’s still around, we just haven’t seen her in a really long time.

My camera and me, Elizabeth thought. Then she corrected herself. Regina’s camera and me. It looked as if together they had accomplished some pretty important work.

Whatever, you haven’t even thought of Regina in at least fifty pages.

The Cover: Is she angry? Sad? Suspicious? Nauseous? Your guess is as good as mine.

The moral of the story: True love can cure blindness.

The Big Deal: Party at Amy’s house

Synopsis:

This book is about Terri Adams, a girl we’ve never heard of but who is apparently friends with Liz, John Pfeifer, Shelley Novak and Kristin Thompson. She’s the football team’s assistant statistician and she’s in love with Ken Matthews. After a big game, Amy Sutton invites everyone to her house for a party. As soon as Ken shows up, Amy plants a big kiss on him in front of everyone. Terri is upset and wishes she had stayed home. She asks Winston if she can get a ride with him. Winston’s car is in the shop so he and Maria plan to take the bus home from the party, but Ken wants to get away from Amy so he offers to drive them. On the way to Winston’s house, the rain is really coming down. After he drops everyone off, he gets into an accident. Because that’s the only reason it ever rains in Sweet Valley, to cause accidents. Todd is driving the twins home when they see Ken’s totaled car on the side of the road. The police tell them Ken is unconscious after being run off the road by a drunk driver. Because the rain isn’t enough to cause a crash; a drunk driver is always at fault. Todd, Liz and Jessica go back to Amy’s house and tell her the news. Amy plays the part of the grieving girlfriend, even though she and Ken have only been on a couple of dates.

When Terri gets to school on Monday, she can tell something has happened because the hallways are silent. She overhears Amy, Lila and Cara talking and she finds out about Ken’s accident. She also hears Amy say Ken never would have crashed if he hadn’t driven “that Terri girl” home. Terri runs to an empty stairwell and cries. Liz comes over and comforts her.

Ken spends the next couple days in the hospital with his entire head wrapped in bandages. I can’t figure out why, since the doctor makes a point of mentioning that he just has bruises and small cuts and he’ll look exactly the same when they heal. The doctor takes the bandages off and Ken is appalled to find he’s blind. The twins go to visit him at the hospital and at first he thinks he can get away with pretending he can see, but then they want him to read the card they brought him. He finally tells them the truth and Jessica screams, “It’s horrible!” Liz sends her to the cafeteria to get “soft drinks.” What teenager calls soda “soft drinks” during casual conversation? In the elevator, Jessica runs into Amy, who is coming to visit Ken. Jessica tells her that Ken is blind and Amy freaks out and leaves, telling Jessica not to even mention she saw her.

Amy walks up to Terri at school and says she blames her for the accident. If Terri hadn’t made Ken take her home, he wouldn’t be blind right now. And since Amy is popular and Terri isn’t, Terri believes everything she says and starts blaming herself. Once again, Liz comes out of nowhere to comfort her, and Terri asks her to talk to Ken’s parents about arranging for her to visit Ken at the rehab center where he’s learning to be a productive blind member of society. When they get there, they’re told they can only stay for ten minutes because Ken gets tired easily from all his rehabilitation. Now, I might have missed something, but as far as I can tell, the only thing wrong with him is that he can’t see. What kind of blindness rehab is going to tire him out to where he can’t even sit in a room with a visitor for more than ten minutes? He seems happy that Terri came to visit him, and when she starts berating herself for causing his accident, he tells her it was his own fault. Ugh, why do you damned kids always fight over who fucked up the most? It was the drunk driver’s fault. What’s the use of putting a drunk driver in the story if nobody ever pins the blame on him?

Ken stays in rehab for a month and then decides to go back to Sweet Valley High. That’s not normal, right? His first day back is all scary and difficult. Amy snubs him, everyone’s treating him strangely and he wonders if he should go to a school for the blind. I wonder the same thing. All morning, Ken’s having trouble adjusting so he goes to the football field at lunchtime to be alone. Then Terri sits down next to him and they have a great conversation about football and Ken starts to think about how awesome she is. Then he starts feeling sorry for himself and thinking no girl could ever like him now that he’s blind. He says he’s going inside and acts all indignant when Terri offers to help him.

That night, Terri is all aflutter about her feelings for Ken and she just has to talk to someone. She decides to call Liz, whose advice is to walk around blindfolded to find out what Ken’s been going through. Terri thinks that’s a great idea and does it. The next day, the twins throw Ken a surprise welcome back party in the cafeteria at lunch. Amy says hello to him and then blows him off. Ken’s all hurt, even though she already snubbed him yesterday and he didn’t even really like her to begin with. That night, Terri calls Ken and asks him to go to the beach with her the next day. Ken starts to say he can’t, but Terri tells him she’s never asked a boy out before and she’ll be crushed if he says no. Terri’s cute. I like her.

She takes him to North Haven beach instead of the regular Sweet Valley beach because North Haven is always deserted. They have a great time and start hanging out together every day. Ken is starting to get used to being blind because Terri’s so helpful. One day, after they take a run on the beach, they collapse next to each other. Ken wants to kiss her and starts playing with her hair, but then he pulls away because – say it with me – “What girl would be interested in him now?” Dude, she’s been spending every day with you for weeks. Do you think she’s interested in your scintillating conversational skills? Your vacant expression? No, she wants you, man. Ken realizes he’s falling in love with Terri, but after the way Amy dropped him, he apparently swore he’d never get involved with another girl again. This is the first I’m hearing about it, but whatever.

Ken starts acting really pissy toward Terri and she has no idea why. So she calls Liz again for advice. Liz tells her she should stop doing everything for Ken and let him learn to do it on his own. She also thinks Terri should tell him how she feels about him. So Terri goes to Ken’s house and makes him a milkshake and tries to summon up her courage, but when Ken asks her if she’ll read him his history homework, she says she can’t because she has her own homework to do. Ken gets all pissed off and throws his milkshake on the floor and says Terri’s tired of helping him and she should just leave. Terri says she’s been doing all these things for him because she loves him, and then she runs out the door. Ken feels like an ass, as well he should, and tries to call Terri a little while later but she’s not home. He thinks she must be at the North Haven beach and he’s determined to get there on his own. He walks to the bus stop and takes the bus there. He finds Terri and they declare their love for each other and make out a little bit. Then Ken notices that when he looks toward where the sun should be, the darkness is a little brighter. A few days later, his sight starts coming back.

Quotes:

Down in the first row of the bleachers, Sweet Valley High’s basketball star Shelley Novak exchanged high fives with her friend Kristin Thompson, who was well on her way to a professional tennis career. John Pfeifer, the sports photographer for The Oracle, was standing on his seat, snapping pictures of the celebration. His girlfriend, Jennifer Mitchell, was standing beside him.

Wow, it’s like a reunion of annoying and irrelevant main characters of books past.

She could just imagine the school giving him a special tribute as he stepped onto the field. Everyone would be watching her, too, to see Ken’s girlfriend’s reaction. Maybe their picture would be in the paper. Just thinking about it made Amy’s eyes mist over.

Ugh, I hate Amy.

“That Fatal Night”

Fatal: I don’t think that word means what you think it means. I’m guessing they were going for “That Fateful Night” and got confused.

The Cover: Oh, how I loathe Ken covers. He looks like such a moron. Terri has a Leelee Sobieski face. She’s cute.