We're not in Sweet Valley anymore, Toto...
Spring Fever
April 1987
Double the fun...
The Wakefield twins never expected that the sleepy town of Walkersville, Kansas, would be twice as exciting as their own home town. But when Jessica and Elizabeth spend spring break at their great aunt and uncle's house in the country, they discover that small-town life can have its share of big adventures.
At first, things don't look so promising. Instead of a warm welcome, the local girls give them the cold shoulder. And Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman won't let the twins out of their sight. But things brighten up when the girls meet gorgeous identical twins at a local carnival, Alex and Brad Parker. Jessica thinks Brad might be the man of her dreams, but how can she get to know him when she's being watched so closely by her aunt and uncle? Then trouble really begins to brew when Elizabeth makes an unexpected discovery about the Parker twins....
Come along to the country with Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, and catch Spring Fever!
* Yes. Brad. They can't even keep track of things for the back of the book. Oi.
For some reason I always want to call this one Spring Fling. Is it years of YA/juvenile fiction with rhyming titles corrupting my poor, unsuspecting brain, or would it would better than a fever? I dunno. You decide for me and let me know.
It's funny, but for a super edition, not a whole lot happens this go round. Jessica and Elizabeth are off on another spring break whirlwind adventure, this time to Walkersville, Kansas, to stay with Alice's Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman. Something tells me that if I were from a small town in Kansas, I probably wouldn't be all that fond of this book. Walkersville is very small, although there's no shortage of teenagers willing to either lust openly after the twins, or hate on them because the queen bitch tells them to. Uncle Herman is the mayor and also the owner of the local five-and-dime, which is an old fashioned place with a soda fountain. I think calling the place a five-and-dime is enough of a clue that the place isn't all that modern. Which I don't mock for anything other than being a bit redundant.
Uncle Herman and Aunt Shirley have been talking the girls up to anyone who would listen, which I would imagine to be everyone since the man is the mayor and all... Which means that the previously mentioned queen bee ain't all that thrilled when she appears at the soda shoppe and finds her boyfriend panting after a hot blond. She all but declares war on Jessica, and we're treated to our second, Wait-wtf moment of the book. The first is that Cara Walker is called Cora and as a child, I spent a good twenty minutes trying to figure out if the writer had forgotten Cara's name [blasphemy!] or if Steve had a new, freakishly similarly named girlfriend no one had told me about. Eventually I figured it was Cara and the author was a moron, because it's not like the A and the O are anywhere near one another.
Mr. and Mrs. Walker [Herman and Shirley] are Jessica and Elizabeth's great uncle and aunt, which means that they're Grandma's age. You and I know this, but the kids in the back might not. Anyway, as such, they're not exactly as lenient as, say, Alice and Ned. They escort the twins everywhere, discourage them from hanging out with undesirables, and generally cramp Jessica's style. Later we'll realize these people aren't real at all, because no one who was sixty-something in 1987 would let Jessica get away with what she does, but we're skipping ahead.
To break up the perfectly relaxing routine the twins have fallen into, a carnival comes to town. It's nothing big, but Jessica meets Alex, a handsome horse training carnie whose father owns the carnival. She falls head over heels and makes plans to visit him when the carnival closes. When she asks her aunt and uncle if she can wander into town at 10pm, she damn near well kills her aunt who says something about, "Herman, my pills!" After I finish giggling myself into a coma, Jessica continues trying to convince them that she'll be fine, she does this sort of thing all the time... and when that doesn't work, she agrees that she was talking crazy, and gosh, oh golly, is she tired. Isn't that weird? One minute she's raring to go, the next she just cannot keep her pretty eyes open. See you suckers in the morning! Liz follows and sure enough, Jessica is proving that the only reason the twins are staying in the sun room downstairs instead of one of the bedrooms upstairs is so that Jessica can slip out with the greatest of ease. When asked what exactly she's supposed to do if their aunt and uncle come looking for her, Jessica tells her to tell 'em she's in the can and away she goes, promises of this being the first, last, and only trip to the carnival after dark. Which is Jessica speak for "This is cool for the rest of our visit, right? Thanks, Liz, love ya, bye!" How is it that Liz and Jessica have been together forever, but I can speak the sneaky twin-speak and Liz cannot? Oh, Margo, you'd have killed Jessica immediately after assuming Liz's identity just for the sheer annoyance.
Alex and Jessica hit it off, but Alex cannot get out of work long enough to see Jessica during the day. Jess is bummed, but like I just said, she's more than willing to sneak out, night after night, to get a little carnie action. Woo. What I failed to mention earlier is that Alex has a twin named Brad. It's funny, when I think of the name Brad, I think of two people. Brad Pitt, sure, but mostly I think of Brad from Hey Dude. Anyone else?
Brad meets Liz the next day and they really hit it off, too. Which is all well and good until you remember she's dating Jeffrey at this point. Liz feels bad, but Jessica [and her own hormones] manages to convince her that vacation romances don't really count as cheating. It's experiencing something new! Even as she admits she'd be ticked if she found out Jeffrey was meeting girls without telling or thinking of her, she still goes on with the Brad dates. Sometime after nearly kissing the boy, Liz gets a call from Jeffrey and suddenly she realizes that for as much as she likes Brad, it might have been the novelty of finally dating a twin with her twin [even going so far as to say, "I just can't get over how identical you two are" or something, and then kicking herself since she hates it when people say that to her] or maybe the country air, but she's really In Love with Jeffrey, so she and Brad cool off.
To distract us from the lovey dovey stuff going on, let's return to the displaced queen b, shall we? I said there were at least two WTF moments in this book, and the second is that when Annie Sue declares war on the twins, Jessica doesn't immediately fire back. She doesn't scheme or plot, and not just out of respect for her aunt and uncle, but because she's just so shocked at someone she doesn't even know disliking her, that she's more prone to tears and shock than declaring war right back. Which I might sort of see for the first round or two, but by the time Annie brings her little sister into the mix, Jessica should be planning revenge, not bending over and asking for more.
For the most part, Annie Sue flits around being bitchy towards either twin if she crosses their path, but doesn't really plot anything outside of that. Maybe because her friends are adopting Jessica's wild and crazy styles [the headbands, the dresses], or maybe because luck handed her such an opportunity, but her grandmother is best friends with Shirley, so naturally the twins are invited to the farm for the day. They go, sure that something horrible will happen, but not sure how to avoid it without being rude. When they arrive, they find that Annie isn't around yet, so Janie, her little sister, gives them the tour. She gets them lost, nearly gets Jessica kicked in the head by a cow, and there's a pig stampede. If I thought these were Janie's ideas, I'd be impressed. Annie stands them up [along with all her friends] which is actually really, really bitchy since her grandmother is beyond embarrassed as well as confused. The twins try very hard to be polite and assure her that it's not her fault that Annie Sue is a psychotic bitch. By this point Janie's copped to Annie Sue having planned all the little bits of evil, and the twins go home, confused and miserable.
Now, I have to say that Annie Sue has guts. I'm fairly certain that the older members of my family would be from the same era as AS's grandmother, as well as Shirley and Herman, and you know what? Even the most polite, sweetest ones of the bunch would have tanned my hide if I tried anything like that. There are certain things you do not do, and I find it really hard to believe she did not get punished for that little stunt. Then again, maybe it's possible that factored into her next bit of bitchery.
She manages to catch Jessica and Alex meeting [and smooching] after dark at the carnival. Jessica knows she's busted, but doesn't say a word to Elizabeth until Annie Sue begins to blackmail both twins. I like to think this is all crap, and that Annie Sue was grounded, too, and couldn't have told a damn thing, but I like adding things to these stories, so ignore me. Annie's really ambitious in her blackmail as she manages to waltz off with all of Jessica's fantastic accessories, with promises of more on the way. She even blackmails Elizabeth and Liz is beyond pissed, but she doesn't want to get her twin in trouble, so along with the whole mess she goes.
There's a big square dance at the end of the carnival, and the twins have agreed to double date. On Liz's last date with Brad, he cuts his hand, and by now the suspicion that Brad doesn't actually exist is a certainty. But I've got no proof other than Brad/Alex are never in the same place at the same time, and also, they're a little too identical. But I've known twins who really did look like the same person, only you'd see them standing right next to one another, so... it could happen, I told my younger self. I kept holding out for another twist, but in my heart I knew the truth.
Now, we can't leave the book with the twins not being the most fabulous of the fab, so we must have MORE drama. The twins ask if they can go to the dance with Brad/Alex and their aunt and uncle think about it before ultimately deciding they can't because they don't know these boys and also, isn't 16 a little young to be dating? Whatever. Jessica blows up and slips out to go and tell Alex their plans are ruined. Liz tries to cover for Jessica yet again...
I should point out that with Jessica doing her nightly, "Oh, GOSH, I'm so tired!" routine nightly but sleeping so late every morning, Aunt Shirley is worried that Jessica's sick, or maybe she's depressed... but that she should call Alice anyway. Liz manages to convince her that Jessica's just been running on empty so long that she's catching up on her sleep and recharging, and honestly, it's a good thing! Really.
Anyway, the night of her stalk off, Jessica's busted. Shirley and Herman come to talk to the twins and Liz cannot lie her way out of this mess, so she cops to Jessica sneaking out to visit Alex and tell him of their woe. Shirley and Herman freak out and away they all run to the carnival.
The carnival where Annie Sue's father is buying her Midnight, a gorgeous horse who isn't all that fond of people and is still being broken in. Because Jessica's just that good, she's been riding Midnight with no problem during her dates with Alex, so she's left with the horse while Alex goes off to finalize a few things with Mr. Sawyer. Annie appears, hops up on Midnight, and all hell breaks loose. Jessica hops a horse and charges after the girl who has spent her entire vacation tormenting her, and pretty much saves her life, until Alex appears to finish saving the day. By now there's a huge crowd and everyone knows how brave Jessica and Alex are, and it's okay for Alex to go with Jessica to the dance, and sure, Brad can go too, they suppose, and hey, what's with your hand, Alex? You've hurt it in the exact same spot as Brad?
Liz blows Alex off when he tries to explain [yes!] but does agree not to tell Jessica, since that should be his job.
Needless to say, he chickens out and Liz is ticked. So the night of the dance, she enlists Annie Sue [who is magically their bestest friend after throwing them a true Welcome to Walkersville party] in her plan to show Alex what it's really like dating two girls at once. This is just Liz having Annie Sue go up to him and interrupt his dance with whichever twin he's currently dancing with to say that the other girl is painfully lonely and needs his attention.
Alex finally cracks and asks Elizabeth what the fuck is wrong with her, cuz he's about to die. We find out that Alex couldn't decide which girl he liked best and even when it became clear that his heart belonged with Jessica, he couldn't figure out a way to come clean without coming across like an ass. Also, it was liberating to be Brad, to indulge the side of him that gets lost under his more Jessica-like personality traits. Because she's a pushover, Liz accepts this as an explanation and points out that everyone is multi layered, but she loses points for not looking to the future for a blooming onion analogy. Sigh.
The third wtf moment is that Shirley and Herman don't punish Jessica at all, even if they haven't figured out that all her sleeping sickness problems were really her sneaking out more than once. For as strict as they were portrayed, they would have done SOMETHING. Anything. Sigh. Even as a kid I knew my grand-anythings would kill me dead for such behavior.
Trivial Matters:
Quotes:
"You think they have tornadoes all the time, like in The Wizard of Oz?" Jessica asked hopefully.
Elizabeth laughed. "Not in April, silly," she scoffed. - p9
"No one goes on vacation for peace and quiet, Liz," she said reprovingly. "Not unless you're middle aged or something." - I would kill for some peace, quiet, and fun, Jessica. p 9
"It's just lucky she came equipped. Only my sister would have enough accessories to keep a whole town satisfied!" - Liz is right, if you don't count how Lila would probably have three times the stuff of a Wakefield twin. p 170
"We should probably scold you for sneaking out of the house, but, Jessica, we're so proud of you for being such a heroine tonight that nothing else seems to matter!" - Bull. Shit. Aunt Shirley might, might, might cave that easy, but uncle Herman would have that girl's hide, do you hear me? p196
Well, the way Elizabeth saw it, Alex had his dream evening ahead of him now. He had both Wakefield girls as his dates.
Only Elizabeth intended to make Alex see that two Wakefield girls was too much for anyone, even Alex Parker. - Dirty? 226
"You're a good kid, you know that?" Alex said huskily. - I'd have punched him for that. Kid? Bite me, Alex. p231
There's probably a reason this was the last Super Edition for awhile, and not just because the Thrillers took over for the next however many books. While a lovely pieces of candy floss, it's not exactly the best of the Supers. Annie Sue's hatred could have been so much more fun and a permanent thing, but it wasn't, and the book felt awfully short for a book that's supposed to be longer than normal. I dunno, I don't think I read this one as a little kid, and probably closer to when I started to fall out of love with the series, as I don't have the nostalgic attachment I do for most of the other books.
That said, all this book really was missing was for it to be summer and to have the book happen over the fourth of July. :p
Also, while I may not have been in love with the book, I felt cheated that the twins never did visit the south, but we could visit Kansas? Sigh. You could do much worse than this book, but you could also do better. To make up for the lackluster joy in the book, I point to the cover, which I actually like, but I was raised with a love for gingham... and also the knowledge that if you were to do Annie Sue's initials, she'd be ASS. I'm mature, I am, I am.
April 1987
Double the fun...
The Wakefield twins never expected that the sleepy town of Walkersville, Kansas, would be twice as exciting as their own home town. But when Jessica and Elizabeth spend spring break at their great aunt and uncle's house in the country, they discover that small-town life can have its share of big adventures.
At first, things don't look so promising. Instead of a warm welcome, the local girls give them the cold shoulder. And Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman won't let the twins out of their sight. But things brighten up when the girls meet gorgeous identical twins at a local carnival, Alex and Brad Parker. Jessica thinks Brad might be the man of her dreams, but how can she get to know him when she's being watched so closely by her aunt and uncle? Then trouble really begins to brew when Elizabeth makes an unexpected discovery about the Parker twins....
Come along to the country with Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, and catch Spring Fever!
* Yes. Brad. They can't even keep track of things for the back of the book. Oi.
For some reason I always want to call this one Spring Fling. Is it years of YA/juvenile fiction with rhyming titles corrupting my poor, unsuspecting brain, or would it would better than a fever? I dunno. You decide for me and let me know.
It's funny, but for a super edition, not a whole lot happens this go round. Jessica and Elizabeth are off on another spring break whirlwind adventure, this time to Walkersville, Kansas, to stay with Alice's Aunt Shirley and Uncle Herman. Something tells me that if I were from a small town in Kansas, I probably wouldn't be all that fond of this book. Walkersville is very small, although there's no shortage of teenagers willing to either lust openly after the twins, or hate on them because the queen bitch tells them to. Uncle Herman is the mayor and also the owner of the local five-and-dime, which is an old fashioned place with a soda fountain. I think calling the place a five-and-dime is enough of a clue that the place isn't all that modern. Which I don't mock for anything other than being a bit redundant.
Uncle Herman and Aunt Shirley have been talking the girls up to anyone who would listen, which I would imagine to be everyone since the man is the mayor and all... Which means that the previously mentioned queen bee ain't all that thrilled when she appears at the soda shoppe and finds her boyfriend panting after a hot blond. She all but declares war on Jessica, and we're treated to our second, Wait-wtf moment of the book. The first is that Cara Walker is called Cora and as a child, I spent a good twenty minutes trying to figure out if the writer had forgotten Cara's name [blasphemy!] or if Steve had a new, freakishly similarly named girlfriend no one had told me about. Eventually I figured it was Cara and the author was a moron, because it's not like the A and the O are anywhere near one another.
Mr. and Mrs. Walker [Herman and Shirley] are Jessica and Elizabeth's great uncle and aunt, which means that they're Grandma's age. You and I know this, but the kids in the back might not. Anyway, as such, they're not exactly as lenient as, say, Alice and Ned. They escort the twins everywhere, discourage them from hanging out with undesirables, and generally cramp Jessica's style. Later we'll realize these people aren't real at all, because no one who was sixty-something in 1987 would let Jessica get away with what she does, but we're skipping ahead.
To break up the perfectly relaxing routine the twins have fallen into, a carnival comes to town. It's nothing big, but Jessica meets Alex, a handsome horse training carnie whose father owns the carnival. She falls head over heels and makes plans to visit him when the carnival closes. When she asks her aunt and uncle if she can wander into town at 10pm, she damn near well kills her aunt who says something about, "Herman, my pills!" After I finish giggling myself into a coma, Jessica continues trying to convince them that she'll be fine, she does this sort of thing all the time... and when that doesn't work, she agrees that she was talking crazy, and gosh, oh golly, is she tired. Isn't that weird? One minute she's raring to go, the next she just cannot keep her pretty eyes open. See you suckers in the morning! Liz follows and sure enough, Jessica is proving that the only reason the twins are staying in the sun room downstairs instead of one of the bedrooms upstairs is so that Jessica can slip out with the greatest of ease. When asked what exactly she's supposed to do if their aunt and uncle come looking for her, Jessica tells her to tell 'em she's in the can and away she goes, promises of this being the first, last, and only trip to the carnival after dark. Which is Jessica speak for "This is cool for the rest of our visit, right? Thanks, Liz, love ya, bye!" How is it that Liz and Jessica have been together forever, but I can speak the sneaky twin-speak and Liz cannot? Oh, Margo, you'd have killed Jessica immediately after assuming Liz's identity just for the sheer annoyance.
Alex and Jessica hit it off, but Alex cannot get out of work long enough to see Jessica during the day. Jess is bummed, but like I just said, she's more than willing to sneak out, night after night, to get a little carnie action. Woo. What I failed to mention earlier is that Alex has a twin named Brad. It's funny, when I think of the name Brad, I think of two people. Brad Pitt, sure, but mostly I think of Brad from Hey Dude. Anyone else?
Brad meets Liz the next day and they really hit it off, too. Which is all well and good until you remember she's dating Jeffrey at this point. Liz feels bad, but Jessica [and her own hormones] manages to convince her that vacation romances don't really count as cheating. It's experiencing something new! Even as she admits she'd be ticked if she found out Jeffrey was meeting girls without telling or thinking of her, she still goes on with the Brad dates. Sometime after nearly kissing the boy, Liz gets a call from Jeffrey and suddenly she realizes that for as much as she likes Brad, it might have been the novelty of finally dating a twin with her twin [even going so far as to say, "I just can't get over how identical you two are" or something, and then kicking herself since she hates it when people say that to her] or maybe the country air, but she's really In Love with Jeffrey, so she and Brad cool off.
To distract us from the lovey dovey stuff going on, let's return to the displaced queen b, shall we? I said there were at least two WTF moments in this book, and the second is that when Annie Sue declares war on the twins, Jessica doesn't immediately fire back. She doesn't scheme or plot, and not just out of respect for her aunt and uncle, but because she's just so shocked at someone she doesn't even know disliking her, that she's more prone to tears and shock than declaring war right back. Which I might sort of see for the first round or two, but by the time Annie brings her little sister into the mix, Jessica should be planning revenge, not bending over and asking for more.
For the most part, Annie Sue flits around being bitchy towards either twin if she crosses their path, but doesn't really plot anything outside of that. Maybe because her friends are adopting Jessica's wild and crazy styles [the headbands, the dresses], or maybe because luck handed her such an opportunity, but her grandmother is best friends with Shirley, so naturally the twins are invited to the farm for the day. They go, sure that something horrible will happen, but not sure how to avoid it without being rude. When they arrive, they find that Annie isn't around yet, so Janie, her little sister, gives them the tour. She gets them lost, nearly gets Jessica kicked in the head by a cow, and there's a pig stampede. If I thought these were Janie's ideas, I'd be impressed. Annie stands them up [along with all her friends] which is actually really, really bitchy since her grandmother is beyond embarrassed as well as confused. The twins try very hard to be polite and assure her that it's not her fault that Annie Sue is a psychotic bitch. By this point Janie's copped to Annie Sue having planned all the little bits of evil, and the twins go home, confused and miserable.
Now, I have to say that Annie Sue has guts. I'm fairly certain that the older members of my family would be from the same era as AS's grandmother, as well as Shirley and Herman, and you know what? Even the most polite, sweetest ones of the bunch would have tanned my hide if I tried anything like that. There are certain things you do not do, and I find it really hard to believe she did not get punished for that little stunt. Then again, maybe it's possible that factored into her next bit of bitchery.
She manages to catch Jessica and Alex meeting [and smooching] after dark at the carnival. Jessica knows she's busted, but doesn't say a word to Elizabeth until Annie Sue begins to blackmail both twins. I like to think this is all crap, and that Annie Sue was grounded, too, and couldn't have told a damn thing, but I like adding things to these stories, so ignore me. Annie's really ambitious in her blackmail as she manages to waltz off with all of Jessica's fantastic accessories, with promises of more on the way. She even blackmails Elizabeth and Liz is beyond pissed, but she doesn't want to get her twin in trouble, so along with the whole mess she goes.
There's a big square dance at the end of the carnival, and the twins have agreed to double date. On Liz's last date with Brad, he cuts his hand, and by now the suspicion that Brad doesn't actually exist is a certainty. But I've got no proof other than Brad/Alex are never in the same place at the same time, and also, they're a little too identical. But I've known twins who really did look like the same person, only you'd see them standing right next to one another, so... it could happen, I told my younger self. I kept holding out for another twist, but in my heart I knew the truth.
Now, we can't leave the book with the twins not being the most fabulous of the fab, so we must have MORE drama. The twins ask if they can go to the dance with Brad/Alex and their aunt and uncle think about it before ultimately deciding they can't because they don't know these boys and also, isn't 16 a little young to be dating? Whatever. Jessica blows up and slips out to go and tell Alex their plans are ruined. Liz tries to cover for Jessica yet again...
I should point out that with Jessica doing her nightly, "Oh, GOSH, I'm so tired!" routine nightly but sleeping so late every morning, Aunt Shirley is worried that Jessica's sick, or maybe she's depressed... but that she should call Alice anyway. Liz manages to convince her that Jessica's just been running on empty so long that she's catching up on her sleep and recharging, and honestly, it's a good thing! Really.
Anyway, the night of her stalk off, Jessica's busted. Shirley and Herman come to talk to the twins and Liz cannot lie her way out of this mess, so she cops to Jessica sneaking out to visit Alex and tell him of their woe. Shirley and Herman freak out and away they all run to the carnival.
The carnival where Annie Sue's father is buying her Midnight, a gorgeous horse who isn't all that fond of people and is still being broken in. Because Jessica's just that good, she's been riding Midnight with no problem during her dates with Alex, so she's left with the horse while Alex goes off to finalize a few things with Mr. Sawyer. Annie appears, hops up on Midnight, and all hell breaks loose. Jessica hops a horse and charges after the girl who has spent her entire vacation tormenting her, and pretty much saves her life, until Alex appears to finish saving the day. By now there's a huge crowd and everyone knows how brave Jessica and Alex are, and it's okay for Alex to go with Jessica to the dance, and sure, Brad can go too, they suppose, and hey, what's with your hand, Alex? You've hurt it in the exact same spot as Brad?
Liz blows Alex off when he tries to explain [yes!] but does agree not to tell Jessica, since that should be his job.
Needless to say, he chickens out and Liz is ticked. So the night of the dance, she enlists Annie Sue [who is magically their bestest friend after throwing them a true Welcome to Walkersville party] in her plan to show Alex what it's really like dating two girls at once. This is just Liz having Annie Sue go up to him and interrupt his dance with whichever twin he's currently dancing with to say that the other girl is painfully lonely and needs his attention.
Alex finally cracks and asks Elizabeth what the fuck is wrong with her, cuz he's about to die. We find out that Alex couldn't decide which girl he liked best and even when it became clear that his heart belonged with Jessica, he couldn't figure out a way to come clean without coming across like an ass. Also, it was liberating to be Brad, to indulge the side of him that gets lost under his more Jessica-like personality traits. Because she's a pushover, Liz accepts this as an explanation and points out that everyone is multi layered, but she loses points for not looking to the future for a blooming onion analogy. Sigh.
The third wtf moment is that Shirley and Herman don't punish Jessica at all, even if they haven't figured out that all her sleeping sickness problems were really her sneaking out more than once. For as strict as they were portrayed, they would have done SOMETHING. Anything. Sigh. Even as a kid I knew my grand-anythings would kill me dead for such behavior.
Trivial Matters:
- Uncle Herman Walker's grandfather founded Walkersville, Kansas. Hence the name.
- Lila's in Rome while the twins are in Kansas. Jess doesn't think this is exactly fair.
- Want to refer to the twins by some cutesy name? Don't go with "clones, carbon copies, double images, or the ditto sisters" as they've heard them all. The ditto sisters? Oh lord.
- Aunt Shirley is petite with dark hair, peppered with silver, almond shaped blue eyes, and a heart condition.
- Uncle Herman is slightly portly, in his mid 60's, silver gray hair and mustache, and a booming voice, befitting the mayor of a small town.
- Uncle Herman and Aunt Shirley are Alice's family, and when she was 16, she spent time out in Walkersville as well.
- Jessica takes four pieces of luggage, including a dress bag [last thing off the plane] to Elizabeth's one piece.
- The Walkers have a navy blue Chevrolet.
- The infamous Cora incident happens on page 17. How's that for painfully trivial?
- Uncle Herman's five and dime is imaginatively named "Walker's" and John Campbell runs the place while Herman does mayor type stuff. Walker's also boasts a soda fountain that Mindy mans. Yay!
- 5 Elms, the Walker's home, is six blocks from the center of town.
- Dennis Stevens, Sam, Matthew, Hank, and Louis greet Jessica happily until lithe brunette Annie Sue Sawyer and Mary, her plump blond sidekick, arrive.
- Much is made of how uncomfortable Liz is being attracted to the same guy Jessica is [until Brad waltzes onto the scene] and all I can think is, "HELLO! Todd Wilkins, book one!" Oi. And that's not even going into the numerous boyfriend swaps they'll do later on.
- Tall, broad shouldered, curly dark hair, astonishingly blue eyes, and tanned to perfection, Alex Parker is destined to be on the cover of some romance novel sometime in his future. He claims to have a twin, Brad, and a little sister, Evie. His father owns the carnival but is never seen or heard from.
- Mrs. Sawyer, Annie Sue's grandmother, has hazel eyes, silver hair, and seems to be in her early 60's.
- Janie Sawyer is nine and a half and a hellion.
- Brownie, Mrs. Sawyer's cow, is cranky and only lets Mrs. Sawyer milk her, and always/only from the left side. Janie tries to get Jess to approach from the right side and Jess nearly gets kicked for her trouble.
- Items Annie Sue blackmailed Jessica out of: A rhinestone headband made in LA, gifted from Lila, a plastic sport watch, a rhinestone pin, the promise of Jessica's red cowboy boots, and a big beaded silver necklace the night Midnight went nuts. She also snagged Elizabeth's sunglasses.
- 'Brad' ripped his right hand on a nail, and before you go screaming about lock jaw, he had his tetanus shot a couple of months prior. Fun times, that shot.
- Annie Sue and Dennis have known one another since they were six and it seems likely they'll get married. Jessica is horrified at the thought.
- Jessica wears a red and white gingham dress with a petticoat that she borrowed from Annie Sue and Liz goes with a "slim-cut denim skirt and a red and white checked cotton blouse." There's mention of a bright bandanna around her neck, so... mostly what the girls are wearing on the cover.
Quotes:
"You think they have tornadoes all the time, like in The Wizard of Oz?" Jessica asked hopefully.
Elizabeth laughed. "Not in April, silly," she scoffed. - p9
"No one goes on vacation for peace and quiet, Liz," she said reprovingly. "Not unless you're middle aged or something." - I would kill for some peace, quiet, and fun, Jessica. p 9
"It's just lucky she came equipped. Only my sister would have enough accessories to keep a whole town satisfied!" - Liz is right, if you don't count how Lila would probably have three times the stuff of a Wakefield twin. p 170
"We should probably scold you for sneaking out of the house, but, Jessica, we're so proud of you for being such a heroine tonight that nothing else seems to matter!" - Bull. Shit. Aunt Shirley might, might, might cave that easy, but uncle Herman would have that girl's hide, do you hear me? p196
Well, the way Elizabeth saw it, Alex had his dream evening ahead of him now. He had both Wakefield girls as his dates.
Only Elizabeth intended to make Alex see that two Wakefield girls was too much for anyone, even Alex Parker. - Dirty? 226
"You're a good kid, you know that?" Alex said huskily. - I'd have punched him for that. Kid? Bite me, Alex. p231
There's probably a reason this was the last Super Edition for awhile, and not just because the Thrillers took over for the next however many books. While a lovely pieces of candy floss, it's not exactly the best of the Supers. Annie Sue's hatred could have been so much more fun and a permanent thing, but it wasn't, and the book felt awfully short for a book that's supposed to be longer than normal. I dunno, I don't think I read this one as a little kid, and probably closer to when I started to fall out of love with the series, as I don't have the nostalgic attachment I do for most of the other books.
That said, all this book really was missing was for it to be summer and to have the book happen over the fourth of July. :p
Also, while I may not have been in love with the book, I felt cheated that the twins never did visit the south, but we could visit Kansas? Sigh. You could do much worse than this book, but you could also do better. To make up for the lackluster joy in the book, I point to the cover, which I actually like, but I was raised with a love for gingham... and also the knowledge that if you were to do Annie Sue's initials, she'd be ASS. I'm mature, I am, I am.