Young Adult Revisited

Dawn loves living in Stoneybrook, but she feels like something is missing. She keeps thinking about her dad and Jeff and wondering about their lives. She even misses Carol a little and wonders if her dad is serious about her. When she brings it up, Sharon suggests that they buy tickets for Thanksgiving. Dawn is disappointed that she can't visit sooner but pretends that she's fine. Stoneybrook and Lawrenceville decide to host a new competition to raise money for charity. Called Run for Your Money where people can form teams and compete against each other, and Richard and Sharon decide to enter. After having fun and goofing around, Dawn realizes that she'd have more fun is Jeff and her dad were there, and she bursts out that she wants to go home. Sharon thinks she just wants to visit, but Dawn lets her know that she wants to go back for six months. Dawn decides to call her dad and tell him her thoughts, but he doesn't really seem that happy about her plan...

The Wakefields are going to Mexico for five days, and since it's a few days before they leave and they haven't mentioned a sitter, the twins and Steven think they have the house to themselves. Jessica instantly decides to throw a party, but Steven planned to throw his own party, so they decide to combine parties. The only problem is that they have no money. They find a solution when Ned asks them to clean out the garage while they're gone. They can have a yard sale and keep half the profits with the other half going to charity. Two days before they leave, Ned reveals that they hired a sitter named May Brown to stay with them. Jessica pitches a fit, but it's too late. She'll be there. They come home from school to find May waiting for them in the kitchen. She immediately gives them a list of her new rules. No more than one hour of television per day, nine o'clock curfew even on the weekends, and no snacking between meals. They can only have a glass of ...

Sweet Valley Middle School needs to raise money for some new library books and supplies. They decide to a do a bike-a-thon where the kids get donations for each mile they ride on their bikes. They also give away a free top of the line racing bike to the winner. Nearly everyone in school decides to ride, except for Bruce who thinks it's a waste of time because he already has an expensive new bike. Lois decides to ride too, which surprises everyone because she's so fat and overweight (their words, not mine). Bruce especially likes picking on her and making fun of her. At one point, he stands up and tells everyone what's on her lunch tray, and everyone laughs at her for eating so much. While waiting in line for lunch a few days later, Bruce accidentally trips over her book bag. He decides that she did it on purpose and decides to get back at her. Lois worked really hard to get a lot of donations, and she got 23 people to sponsor her. Bruce goes to his parents, ...

Kristy, Bart and Charlie take a group of kids to another big game. This is one of the few books where the Krushers and the Bashers play together as the Krashers. At the end of the game, they start back home and it starts raining. Charlie gets lost, the rain starts coming down harder, and they somehow get across a bridge just before the rain washes it away. They find a big house in the middle of nowhere and decide to stop and ask for help. They see a smaller house nearby, and a man comes out and tells them that he's the caretaker for the bigger house. He gives them a little food and some blankets and offers to let them stay in the bigger house for the night. He then makes a cryptic comment about their odds at lasting throughout the night. Everyone takes a tour of the house, and they find a girl's room. They do a little more touring before winding up back in the same room. Karen finds a diary, and Patty, one of Bart's players, finds the key. Kristy reads it, ...

Sweet Valley Middle School is about to launch yet another special program. This one is a special creative writing class that meets after school, and Mr. Bowman gets to pick the chosen few who take part. Elizabeth and Amy naturally end up in the class, but so does Todd Wilkins, which is odd since he never wanted to write before. He's a little worried because the class ends just 15 minutes before basketball practice, and he isn't sure he can do both. Todd has a lot on his plate lately because he's the star of the middle school team, and you know how important middle school basketball is in terms of life. His dad was once a great player, but he blew out his knee before he could make it to the pros. He keeps pushing Todd to be a better player and focus all his attention on the sport. Mr. Ramirez, the new teacher of the program, is a super cool guy who lets the kids call him Mark. He encourages them to work together on a story to show them that the greatest stor...

Cry of the Cat opens with a girl and boy getting attacked by a cat before it cuts to a girl checking on her little brother. He's screaming because the movie is so scary, but she turns it off and calms him down. Tanner tells Alison to have a "mice" day, and she lets us know that it's an in joke because she has a big collection of mice. Alison meets up with her best friend Ryan, and the two head back to school for rehearsals of a play they're in together. She sees a cat run out in front of her, and it runs under her bike before she can stop. Ryan wants her to just leave it behind, but she wants to see if it's okay. When she realizes the cat is dead, she sees a house nearby with the door open. A young girl named Crystal opens and flips out, saying that it's Rip and only her mom can help. Alison is still really upset over what happened but goes to school anyway. While working on stage, she keeps hearing a cat meowing but no one else can hear...

Ken Matthews is the hottest thing to hit football in years, but he might not maintain his status for much longer. The big centennial picnic happens in a few days, and he's in danger of failing English. If he can't pass, he won't get to play in the big game. Luckily, Liz offers to tutor him so things should be okay. The ridiculous thing is that he just has to write a short story, which is a huge part of his grade. As long as he writes a story and submits it, he'll pass. The problem is that he's now dating Suzanne Hanlon, and she doesn't have a whole lot of time for the things he likes. She likes foreign films and fancy restaurants, and he doesn't seem to like anything except football. She does invite him to come to dinner at her house, but things go wrong. Suzanne tells him not to bring up sports because her dad doesn't like athletics, but when he brings up business, her dad gets a little cold. Elizabeth shows him a story she worked on an...