Sweet Valley Kids #65: Steven's Big Crush
This is the only SVK book
I've read so far that has Steven as the narrator instead of one of
the twins. He's tired of his sisters being around all the time and
gets them back on Valentine's Day. Steven puts a card in Charlie's
lunchbox from Jessica and one in Todd's from Elizabeth. Charlie finds
his and makes a big deal out of how gross it is, which makes everyone
laugh at Jess. Todd just reads his and puts it away without saying
anything.
While taking the kids out
for dinner, Ned and Alice tell Steven that they signed him up for
dance lessons. His friend Bob has to go too. The twins act like huge
pests and dance around him while drawing attention to him in the
middle of the restaurant. Bob tells him that even if they have to
wear a tie and long pants, they can still do something different and
comes up with a plan.
At his first lesson, the
teacher pairs him with this girl Tina. He shows her their “plan,”
which is that they both wore heavy hiking boots. Bob jumps all over
his partner's toes until she cries, which forces the teacher to make
them both sit down. Steven tries stomping on her toes, but then Tina
shows them that she's wearing steel boots. In her dance lesson in gym
class, the girls jumped all over the guys.
It doesn't take Steven
long to realize that this is one cool chick. He develops a crush on
her but doesn't know what to do or say around her, so he mainly just
pulls her hair. After doing it one day, she asks the teacher to let
her switch partners. By their next lesson though, she's back to
dancing with him again.
Steven is so desperate
for help that he even calls a radio show. The twins hear him and make
fun of him all night. After they go to bed, he sneaks downstairs and
calls Tina on the phone, but Jessica comes in and wants to know what
he's doing. He gets so upset that he just hangs up the phone. The
next day, Jessica tells him that there's a girl on the phone for him.
When he answers, it's just the twins and Amy screeching about how he
has a girlfriend.
To show Tina how he
really feels, Steven makes her a Valentine. Before he can give it to
her though, Bob comes up with one last practical joke. Since the
teacher won't take his eyes off him, he has Steven do it. This
results in Steven telling Tina that she has a nose bleed and then
throwing fake blood at her. She's so upset that she runs off crying
and says she never wants to talk to him again.
Steven then confronts
Bob, and Bob realizes that his friend likes a girl. He then admits
that he likes girls too and that he acts out to get their attention.
Steven feels so bad that he decides to go to her house, but the twins
ditch their babysitter and go with him. He hands her the card, but
the girl tells him that she's actually Gina, Tina's twin sister. His
sisters then tease him for liking a girl who has a twin because he
told them that he never wanted to talk to a twin again.
When he gets home, the
babysitter gives him a card. It's from Tina who stopped by to drop it
off and says that even if he acts stupid sometimes, she still likes
him. Steven floats upstairs and just wants to be alone with his
thoughts, but the twins then rush in and demand that he talk with
them about where to go on their next family vacation...
*Even though Joe Howell
is his best friend in SVT and pops up in several of these books, in
this one, Steven's best friend is some random kid named Bob.
*Apparently Steven knows
for sure that he can't get out of dance lessons when Alice tells him
she paid in cash and can't get a refund.
*Ned
takes the kids to a video store to pick out a movie. The twins want
to see the same horror movie as Steven but say they don't just so he
can't get his way. Ned then makes them vote, and the twins win
because it's two against one, which doesn't seem very fair.
*They also swap out the
tie that he has to wear for his lessons for one with bright yellow
smiley faces on it.
*They apparently have a
sitter named Molly. It makes sense for them to have someone there
when they get home from school because Alice has classes, but I don't
remember there ever being a mention of a sitter before.
*The fact that Todd gets
a Valentine that he thinks is from Liz and never says anything is
actually really cute.
*The twins are so
annoying in this book! It's weird to have a story from Steven's
perspective, but it also makes me feel sorry for him.
I vaguely remember point of view from Steven in SVK but not entire book. One of their camping trips or vacations Steven mentions voting when their voting on an activity or where to go on the trip and he hates it because the twins always vote the same so they always get to do what they want. I don't remember which book it is but thought it was crappy of their parents who act like their being fair by voting when clearly it isn't. Its crappy that it continues in this book.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if its before this one or afterwards with Molly as their babysitter because the twins try and play Cupid with her and a boy. I didn't know she was in any of the other books. The later SVK were hard to get a hold of. It was always hit or miss at book stores and libraries.
I'm surprised that Tina still likes Steven after that trick.
I have maybe three more of these books, but those and the ones I already covered are the only ones I've ever found. It's funny because I remember seeing them all the freaking time before I started doing them on the blog. That one book with Jessica and the fish on the cover was at like every thrift store I ever hit. Now I'm lucky if I find one a year!
DeleteThe voting thing really annoys me and pops up in other books. If Ned and Alice really want to be fair, they should make the twins' votes count as one or give Steven an extra vote.
I agree the twins votes should count as one since they always vote the same or let them each take turns. Steven picks something, well then the twins pick something, then go back to Steven. Something fair.
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