Sweet Valley High #10: Wrong Kind of Girl

This is basically the book where Jessica gets to call another girl a whore and we learn that doctors in Sweet Valley should really get their license revoked.

The book starts out with Jessica going over the list of girls trying out for the cheerleading squad. Oddly enough, 75 girls sign up and later on in the book, someone mentions that it’s half the female student body. So if we have 150 girls and roughly the same amount of guys…then Sweet Valley is the same size as my craptastic little high school! Suddenly everything makes sense!

Anyway, only two spots are available and she’s already promised one spot to Cara Walker. Apparently Cara and Lila were once cheerleaders, but got put on probation/kicked off after turning on the sprinklers or doing something stupid like that to another squad. Funnily enough, when we get in the later books and Jess asks Lila to join her squad, everyone acts like Lila has never been a cheerleader before.

Jessica discovers that Annie Whitman is trying out for the squad and pitches a hissy fit. No way will Easy Annie be on her squad. After all, she goes out with guys constantly, doesn’t study very often, goes out with Bruce Patman, hits the dance club instead of working and rides around with Rick Andover. Wait a second! She sounds like a certain blonde I know…

Liz tries to convince her that Annie is a good person, but Jess doesn’t want to her it. Liz keeps it a secret that she’s been tutoring Annie in math. Her grades were so bad that she was on academic probation, but a few weeks with Liz and she’s a changed girl. Liz goes over to Annie’s house and hears all about how her mom was only 16 when she had her, her dad left and now mom has a new boyfriend Johnny. Johnny and Mona Whitman show up and Johnny kind of hits on Liz, in a creepy old man kind of way.

Jessica starts training Cara to be the best and even tries to fix her up with Steven, but alas he’s all about the Tricia in this book. Everyone shows up for the first tryouts for the squad, including Liz who’s doing an article on it. At one point, she types up all 75 names and lists them in the paper. Is news really that slow this week? And better yet, does anyone really care?

Cara is pretty good and all the girls like her, so Jess does her happy dance. Then Annie shows up and proceeds to wow everyone with some lame routine, followed by cartwheels and backflips. Jess gets pissed off and gets even more pissed off when Annie shows up with Bruce to the beach disco. They hold a dance contest and the two girls end up tying. Annie wags her tail like a little puppy, thinking that Jess will love her now, while Jess is pissed that Annie showed her up.

Liz gets all frustrated about her sister being a bitch for the 700th time in ten books, but won’t talk to anyone. Enid starts thinking that Liz is mad at her and Todd thinks she wants someone else. They even have a fight, which ends with his mom walking in to break it up. She isn’t sure what to think when the rumors about Annie start popping up again.

Here’s what I love about this book. Sweet Valley High isn’t that big, we’ve realized that. And yet, Annie somehow has no idea that people are talking about her. She keeps making things even worse too. She calls it being “social” and having a “social life” when she goes out with all these guys. At one point, she even goes out with two different guys in one night (including a high school dropout), but she doesn’t even wonder if people are talking about her.

There are give girls on the squad: Jess, Jeanne West, Maria, Robin and Helen Bradley. Helen’s brother went on one date with Annie and spread some stuff about her, so Jess gets Helen alone. She tells her that they need to vote for Sandra Beacon (Jeanne’s best friend) and Cara. Helen is so dense that she doesn’t realize they can pick anyone and not necessarily the best girl.

Then we cut to another tryout where Annie is all fantastic and makes it to the next round and then the final round. Liz comes home to find Jess, Cara and Helen gossiping by the pool and realizes who’s going to make the squad. The girls go through their final tryout and Sandra trips in the middle of her routine. The other girls readily vote in Annie and Cara, but Jessica threatens to quit if they put Easy Annie on the squad so they all crumple.

Instead of just telling the girls, they make them wait until the next day and then send them a note. Ricky, who’s the manager of the squad, has a crush on Annie and doesn’t realize that she’s starting to like him too. He actually defended her to Jess and then she makes him give Annie the bad news.

Annie reads the note and makes Ricky tell her what happened. He tells her what all the guys are saying and she’s literally shocked that people would believe the stories. Um, you never hang out with any chicks, you go out with six guys a week, you date losers and you’re surprised that people think you’re a slut?

Annie runs off and then doesn’t come back to school for a few days. Liz tries to get Jess to reconsider her decision, which she refuses. Then they get a call from Ricky that Annie’s in the hospital. Apparently she was so upset over not being a cheerleader that she swallowed a whole bottle of pills and is almost dead.

Liz makes Jess go to the hospital, where they all wait around for news. The doctor says that Annie needs something to make her hold on and bring her back to the real world. After thinking about it, Jess goes in the room and tells her that there was a mistake. They decided to make the squad eight girls and Annie is their final pick.

Annie naturally wakes up and wants to know if it’s true. They all smile and her mom rushes in, telling her that she kicked Johnny out. The doctor says she’ll be fine to practice in the next few days and Annie yanks on her SVH sweater. She and Ricky confess their feelings for each other and everything ends happily ever after.

What the fuck? Seriously…what the fuck? What kind of doctor would let a girl who just attempted suicide out of the hospital for cheerleading practice? If nothing else, she should be under observation and then be in therapy for a few months. This is just insane.

Oh and the twins learn that their dad’s friend Tom Devlin is sending his daughter Suzanne to Sweet Valley for a week. One girl gets to show her around town, while the other takes her place in New York. What will happen…?