Sweet Valley Kids #37: The Big Race

If you ever wondered when the twins found out that Elizabeth is exactly four minutes older than Jessica, it's in this book.

Their teacher sits them down to tell them about the big soap box derby race coming up. All the kids go a little insane at the idea of building and racing their own cars but especially Ken. Ken's dad not only won the championship when he was younger but he actually made it all the way to the finals in Ohio. Yay! My state!

While talking to their parents that night, Ned tells them that both them and Steven were born in the middle of the night and mentions the twins coming out at different times. It apparently never occurred to them before that they didn't come out at the same time. Elizabeth decides that since she's the older twin, she should act like an older kid.

Alice takes them to buy everything they need for their cars except for wheels. They run into Ken and his dad, who already have wheels, but Ken refuses to give them any help. Elizabeth then acts like she knows everything there is to know about building a race car and keeps talking down to her twin since she's such a kid and all. Jessica is the only one smart enough to talk to Andy, the smartest kid in school, and get some advice. He suggest they use wheels from a lawnmower or a carriage.

When that fails, Alice takes them to the junk yard. They both turn down a bunch of wheels and come across the perfect set at the same time. Liz pretty much rips them out of her sister's hands and claims that as the older sister, she gets them. Jessica finds another pair that Steven claims won't work. They get that if she's right, he'll help her build her car. She really is right and he does help, but he keeps pointing out how she needs to build a better and more stable car like Liz did.

When Liz makes one more rude comment about her car, Jessica stops speaking to her. They go two full days without talking at all. All the kids agree to meet on the hill used for the actual race to practice and check out each other's cars. Jessica's car is one of the fastest, but on her second trip down the hill, it completely falls apart. Liz might have a fast card but speeds scare her, so she keeps stopping before the finish line. Ken has the best looking and the fastest car around, but he keeps rubbing it in all their faces, which causes Liz to come up with a plan.

On the day of the race, she turns her car over to Jess. Jess only finishes sixth but makes it into the final race. Todd spins out and almost causes her to crash, but she gets around him and picks up speed when Ken has to get around Todd too. He gets distracted just enough that she pulls out in front and wins. Even though he was an ass about winning the whole book, he just smiles and says that he'll win next year. The twins then invite their friends to the beach to celebrate with them.

*Liz wakes up after Jess and demands that she get to use the bathroom first because she's older. She then comes downstairs, takes all the biggest pancakes from the stack on the table, and uses the last of the syrup without apologizing.

*Remember that book where Jessica turned up her nose at banana pancakes? In this book, she gets mad because Liz takes the pancakes with the most bananas.

*Winston decides that building a race car is way too hard and gives up after one day, which is probably what I would do.

*Ken shows up with a sleek and professional looking derby car, complete with a bright red paint job. Yeah, I'm sure he built that all by himself.

*Honestly though, there's no way any of these kids could build these cars without help. Do you really think the twins or Todd could build a derby car with steering wheels that actually work and a real breaking system?

*The end sets it up for a book about Eva possibly moving. I've never read that book and don't know if it actually happens, but it would make sense given that she's not in any of the other series.