Sweet Valley Kids #24: Cousin Kelly’s Family Secret

Alice has some big news for the twins: Kelly is coming to spend a few days with them before Thanksgiving. They don’t think it’s strange that she’s coming early even though her mom has to make a special 4-hour roundtrip to bring her down before they come down a few days early. That is until people at school bring it up.

When Kelly gets there, they have fun playing and dressing like each other. On the first night though, Kelly has a nightmare and wakes up crying. Alice comforts her and tells the family that Laura and Greg are having some problems and might get a divorce. She asks them not to tell anyone and to keep it a secret from people at school because it will just upset her.

The next day, they all dress up in matching blue tee shirts and jeans, and everyone at school oohs and ahs over how much they look alike. Everyone seems to like Kelly, but Lila wants to know why she came early. Kelly doesn’t have an answer so Jessica blurts out that her parents might get divorced. Kelly naturally starts crying and runs off, which makes Lila feel bad. She decides to get this older girl Crystal who is the daughter of a divorced couple. Crystal explains that she likes not listening to her parents fight, and while she lives with her mom, she still sees her dad all the time. That really doesn’t make her feel any better.

The twins decide to make her feel better no matter what. Alice makes Kelly’s favorite dinner and they sleep together on the fold-out couch so they can be three peas in a pod. When they go back to school, Elizabeth keeps asking Kelly what she wants to do and making her the center of attention. She gets all the other kids involved, and the make her the Queen of the Playground.

After making her a fake crown and having her give a speech, they start playing. Winston tells a bunch of jokes, and Kelly outlaws school and all vegetables except corn and peas. While sitting on the slide, Elizabeth notices a car pulling up outside. Laura and Greg get out, and they ask Kelly to go with them on a special ride. The twins rush home and find everyone sitting in the living room. Laura announces that they aren’t getting a divorce, and Greg says they want to work on some things, and they all celebrate with a big Thanksgiving dinner the next day.

*I’m sorry Greg, what exactly are you working on? How to not cheat on your wife and be a huge douche bag?

*It’s funny that Kelly never gets mentioned in SVT, but she does in SVK since these books came out after they introduced her in SVH.

*Todd brags about going skiing over Christmas vacation and says he has a big secret. They convince Kelly to find out what it is, and she does but she won’t tell them. It turns out that his family rented a big chalet and they invited the Wakefields to come along.

*Elizabeth picks up a piece of tinfoil off the ground and makes Kelly’s crown. Even as a kid, I probably wouldn’t have worn something that was laying on the ground for god knows how long.

*This one is kind of like the G-rated version of Family Secrets, but it’s a little weird to see Laura taking Greg back given what he does later.