Young Adult Revisited

Carson Drew is taking George and Nancy to visit his best friend and former classmate Henry Wilcox in Alaska. Bess would go too, but she's on vacation in Florida. Not long after arriving, they find the perfect gift to bring her: a tiny little puffin carved out of stone. John, Henry's driver/friend, picks them up at the airport and takes them back to the house where they meet Henry's son Steve. He instantly develops the hots for George but keeps making rude comments and acting hostile around Nancy. He then introduces them to his best friend Craig, who trains sled dogs. Craig tells them that Steve is planning on entering some big race and that this competitor named Lindsay wants to cream him. Before he can go any further, there's a knock at the door. It's the police looking for Henry. Nancy gets her first clue that something is wrong when she sees John having a whispered conversation on the phone that he stops when he sees her. At dinner that night, Henry te...

Even though Dawn spent something like six Halloween seasons in Stoneybrook before moving to California for "six" months, she's in California for Halloween. While out shopping with Carol, she stops to buy some mousse and arrives back at the car before Carol. Dawn also swings by Ellie's Variety Shop to get paint for Jeff's monster costume. Ellie chides her about now dressing up for Halloween, but Dawn says she's too old for that kind of thing. She hears someone scream and sees a guy in High-Fly sneakers and a clown mask go running by. Turns out he just robbed the convenience store, so she has to go to the police station as a witness. Even though there was just robbery, the town imposes a curfew for all kids and decides that if anything else happens, the town will cancel Halloween. The We Luv Kids Club decides to plan a backup Halloween party for the kids. Dawn also goes to sit for Ryan and Erick. I swear that I do not remember the writer spellin...

Remember ever so long ago, when I posted about starting Nancy Drew reviews? After buying about 30 of the books for less than $1 a piece, I figured it was time to get started! Nancy, Bess, and George are Italy on an Emerson College retreat. Bess can't stop thinking about how great it would be if Ned, Burt, and Dave, their "special friends", were there. Nancy then comes in with a grim look on her face and announces that the boys came to surprise them and landed in jail. Though she called her dad back in Riverside for help, he hasn't gotten back to her yet. While on a gondola ride, they hear a loud crashing sound and run off to investigate. They discover that someone broke into a fancy crystal place and left the door open. Though they don't find anything, the gondola driver suspects them of robbing the place and even considers going to the police. Later that same night, there is a knock at the door. Nancy uses her rudimentary Italian skills to de...

The twins' Aunt Helen is coming for a visit, and since they just cleaned the house and don't want to clean anymore, they decide to go for ice cream. Since Steven is there too, they figure they can't all get in trouble for not coming home right after school. When the bill comes, Jessica realizes that she doesn't have any cash. Lila lets her borrow the $2 but only after giving her a lecture on how she needs to learn how to handle her money responsibly. That's easy for someone with an $8,000 a week allowance to say. Helen had a cast on her arm that she won't talk about but gives the kids each an envelop with $100 inside. Ned suggests they pool their money or put it in a savings account for college. They hate his ideas, and even Helen tells them to just do something fun with it. Jessica calls Lila and brags about all her new cash, but Lila doesn't really care and tells her that she'll blow it pretty soon. Jessica decides that this is the per...

As if we needed even more proof that the parents in Stoneybrook have no sense, here comes this book. Dawn found out from Mallory that the community center offered sailing lessons and decided to sign up. So did Claudia, even though her family supposedly goes sailing every summer. They get to race against each other at the end of the session and somehow tie. Claudia isn't too happy and suggests a rematch. Since Jeff is coming for a visit, Dawn wants to take him on her boat. Claudia originally asks Mallory to go with her, but their family is going out of town, so she winds up taking Becca. Haley then hears and wants to go, and since they want even teams, Dawn agrees to take itty bitty Jamie with her. The day before the race, Dawn is working out when Logan calls. He asks her to pass along a message to Mary Anne that he has to cancel their date because his parents rushed Hunter to the hospital. Jeff and her mom call, she gets distracted, and goes back to exercising inst...

After oh so many books, Ellen has finally grown a backbone. Her parents finally agreed to let her have her own phone line, as long as she pays for it out of her own allowance. Janet's birthday is coming up, and everyone wants to plan a big party. She uses her phone to call everyone and get gift ideas but claims she couldn't get through to Jessica because the Wakefield line was busy. Jessica has a few ideas but they all outvote her and decide to get Janet a gift certificate for a psychic reading. Jessica really hates the idea of Ellen taking over and decides that they should throw the party at her house. She can't use the phone to call anyone though because Steven won't get off the phone with his girlfriend. Ellen calls everyone that same night and gets their support to have the party at her house. Janet then calls and asks her to host the next Unicorn meeting since she's busy. Anyone curious why Janet isn't around so much? Apparently Janet has g...

There's some random girl named Veronica who keeps popping up in this book. She apparently tried to steal Todd from Liz at one point but I never read that book. Elizabeth really, really doesn't like her but Jessica tries to get her to relax and says that she's reformed or something. While at lunch, Ellen brags about her earrings, which her mom let her borrow. They're from Mexico and super heavy, so she takes them off and leaves them on the table when they all run off to get fresh brownies. When they come back, her earrings are gone. Despite everyone looking for them, no one finds them, and Ellen's mom is so mad that she grounds her for a week. This leads to a rash of thefts but only of girls who are Unicorns. Someone steals Mandy's new hat, Janet's hairbrush, Mary's denim jacket, and Ellen gets hit again when someone steals her deodorant. The worst is when Lila starts watching her new Watchman, a tiny television that her dad bought for he...