Young Adult Revisited

Elizabeth decides that it would be really cool to take part in a foreign exchange student program, so she sends off for more information. When the packet comes, she learns that they can't take part in it because they don't speak a second language. Enter Ned and Alice, who decide that taking in a foreign exchange student is a great idea. Jessica immediately starts daydreaming about seeing a hot guy show up. When the lady from the program calls, she mishears Giovanna as Giovanni and assumes she's a boy. She tells all the Unicorns, and they start planning a bunch of parties and events to welcome him to town. Amy and Elizabeth have to break the news that it's actually a girl staying with them. While trying to track down a cot for her, they meet a neighbor named Mrs. Dalone. Her family was from Italy, so she introduces them to spumoni and shows them photos her cousin took. Jessica instantly thinks that Giovanna will be a country bumpkin with no fashion sense ...

It's almost Christmas in Sweet Valley, so what better time to pull a choral competition out of nowhere? Sweet Valley Middle School made it into the national choral competition, but since they're competing against bigger schools, they need ten more people. They decide to hold an open audition for some new singers. Since Jessica and Elizabeth were far too busy for chorus before, they decide to audition now. Right before the auditions, they run into Anna Barrett. She seems super nervous and reveals that she can't sing. She's adopted and recently found a letter about how her older sister Leslie was adopted by an Australian guy and his wife. They're moving to the embassy in Washington DC, and since that's where the event takes place, she knows that she has to go there. Her parents won't tell her about Leslie, but they did say she could go to the contest. Since the teacher lets them audition in groups of four, she partners with Ellen and the twins. Th...

Mandy Miller totally like-likes Peter Jeffries. I know this because it was mentioned in a previous book, but now she doesn't know if he likes her. There's a big dance coming up for Valentine's Day, and she wants to ask him to the dance but she isn't sure if he'll say yes or even if he likes her. In the midst of all this, the Unicorns decide to throw a big fundraiser to raise money for the hospital. They decide to call it Yours for a Day. Kids can sign up to be a servant or they can be a master. Masters have to pay $5 for one day or $10 for two days, and their parents will match their donations. Since this is Sweet Valley and everyone wants to help everyone, they end up with the exact same amount of servants as they do masters. Jessica winds up with Lloyd, who is pissed that she lied about the earthquake in the last book. He makes things pretty hellish for her. She has to eat a bunch of random cafeteria food, help him with science experiments, and e...

For some strange reason, Sweet Valley Middle School students have the chance to do summer internships. Jessica tells Steven about working at the makeup counter at the mall, but he points out that it's three days before the internship should start and that if she hasn't heard back yet, she probably didn't get the job. She calls the store, only to find out that the woman in charge of stuff like that is gone for the day. Elizabeth shows up with some big news. She entered their names in a job lottery, and they both got jobs working at the zoo along with Bruce and Melissa McCormack. Zoos freak out Jessica, but she agrees to go for one day. She gets assigned a job working in the bear habitat, but she refuses to actually do any real work. She spends the day calling the mall, only to learn that the woman didn't receive her application. Jessica leaves early to go to the mall, and she tries to apply to dozens of different stores. Each one turns her down because she a...

In case you missed the other books in this story, Jessica basically stole the fiance of her mom's college roommate's daughter Sue. Sue was kidnapped for a time, and after they found her, a private investigator named Sam caught the kidnapper taking the fake ransom. Jessica sees the kidnapper and realizes that he was wearing the same ring she gave Jeremy. Dun dun dun duh. Jeremy shows up at the house, and she still throws herself into his arms. She convinces herself that it was just a similar ring and that her Jeremy would never do something like that. After the two go out on a date, he tells her that he wants to really show her how much he loves her. This leads to her and Lila shopping for lingerie for her big night. What she doesn't know is that Sue and Jeremy are still together. They keep sneaking around on dates, and he keeps telling her that he isn't interested in Jessica. Sue is conveniently in the dressing room next to Jessica and overhears her co...

Abbie Richardson isn't a new student at SVH but she might as well be. Though she was super close to Jessica during their freshman year, she met a guy named Doug from another school and dropped her life for him. They broke up, so now she suddenly wants to be everyone's best friend again. Meanwhile, Cara is incredibly in love with Steven, which makes Jessica very unhappy. After warning her that she shouldn't settle down with anyone in high school, she suggests that Cara put some spice back into their relationship. When Steven announces that he suddenly has allergies and needs to come home for testing, she thinks they can finally spend some time together. All Steven wants to do is sleep and study, which makes her feel like he doesn't care. The Oracle decides to run a humor contest for the newspaper. Abbie enters a comic strip about a girl named Jenny that pretty much mirrors her life, and while everyone loves it, they also love a funny Miss Manners column...

All the little kids are excited that Mr. Fowler decided to throw a big Halloween party for them at Hathway Manor, a supposedly haunted house. Lila doesn't seem quite as thrilled as everyone else, and even though she's shaking in her shoes, she refuses to say that she's scared of ghosts. It turns out that the ghost who haunts the house is Laura Hathway, who was an invalid and once lived there. The day of the party arrives, and everyone shows up. They find a portrait of Laura, and it turns out that she looks just like Lila. Lila dresses up an in an old Victorian costume, and she acts just as scared as she did before. Elizabeth goes as a tiger cat, Jessica goes as a genie, and one of the other kids dresses up like a turtle. The party only takes place on the first floor, but some kids sneak away. They head back downstairs, go through a haunted room, and wind up outside. Elizabeth looks up and sees a light in the window, which everyone thinks is the ghost. They ...