Sweet Valley High #53 Second Chance
Ah, the gifts my insomnia bequeaths on you lot. Yes, another recap! I started this book at 2:30 AM and finished it at 3:20 AM. So 50 minutes of pure, delightful reading. This is another Bruce + Girl-of-the-week ones. I just did one of those so I am totally ready for another!
Here’s the cover:
It wonders if a normal life will make Kristin Thompson happy. Since we haven’t heard of Kristin until this point, I am guessing that very few of us can answer that question.
The A plot and B plot are so woven together, I won’t try to separate them.
Enid: I’m starting a Big Sister’s chapter because the story requires it!
Elizabeth: Enid you are so awesome!
Enid: **blush**
Elizabeth: Are there enough Big Sisters for all the girls?
Enid: We need two more. One girl likes shopping, the other tennis.
Elizabeth: Jessica for the shopper. (Jessica strolls by) **Liz twists her arm**
Jessica: Yeah, I’ll be a Big Sister as long as it doesn’t take away from my tanning time. (twins so similar, yet so very different)
Elizabeth: Who do we know that likes tennis and would sponsor the girl? Her mom died last year and she is only in third grade.
Enid: Bruce Patman? He loves to brag about his tennis game.
Jeffrey: What about Kristin Thompson. She is practically a pro.
E&E: Wonder if she has time, oh well, can’t hurt to ask.
Kristin Thompson, tennis champ, is spending her lunch hour in the library working on homework. Her schedule is crazy. Get up early to run or weight train, go to school, tennis until late, then homework until bedtime. She never gets to have a normal life. She doesn’t miss it, but she sort of does. A big tournament is approaching and winning it would allow her to play in some pro Cup on an all-star team. Liz catches up with Kristin after school and does some more arm-twisting along with asking and Kristin promises to think about being a Big Sister. As Kristin bikes away, she fights tears. Turns out her mother died when she was seven so she has lots in common with the little girl she might be a Big Sister to. Her mom was a pro tennis player and was on her way to Wimbledon, the only major tournament she hadn’t won, when her plane crashed into the ocean. At practice, Kristin is distracted and isn’t playing very well, but because she is a pro at heart, she muscles through the practice. Kristin’s coach is
Dorrie (unfortunately, not a fish looking for a lost clownfish) who was her mom’s best friend and doubles partner before her death. Kristin frets about her awfulness but Dorrie tells her that part of being a pro is learning to deal with the up day and the down days. Kristin doesn’t tell Dorrie that her raging emotions are the reason for her crap playing because she makes it a point not to be weak around either her coach or her father. Kristin’s dad owns the tennis club where she plays so it is practically home to them. They usually eat dinner there too as a little not-quite-family. When Kristin orders, her dad helicopters around asking if that is the correct food for her to be eating and whether she has been getting enough sleep, and if she is coming down with anything. Kristin is about to blow up on him when Dorrie steps in and changes the subject. But eventually it works its way back to tennis and her dad heaps the pressure on her. She asks that what would the two of them do if she didn’t make the pro team, and her dad can’t even imagine that happening. So instead of reassuring her that he’d love her in any case, he totally discounts her fears.
The next morning, Kristin tells Liz that she’ll do the Big Sister job but only if everyone understands how busy she is. Liz suggests that Kristin take her little sister, Emily Brown, to tennis practice and thus combine the two. Kristin thinks that is a great idea. After school, Dorrie has a doctor’s appointment so Kristin has a free hour. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. There isn’t enough time to go to the beach and she doesn’t really have any friends to hang out with. So, she wanders over to the athletic fields where Bruce Patman is playing Adam Tyner. Bruce is miles better than Adam, but asks Kristin for some pointers. She gives him some and he gets even better. Everyone then pressures Kristin into playing Bruce. She is kicking his butt but then realizes he’d be embarrassed to lose to a girl in front of his friends. So she throws the game. Boo, hiss! You should have wiped the court with him. Bruce offers her a ride to her practice. She is surprised to see he has a Porsche since she doesn’t pay attention to what is going on in the school. They fail to mention that Bruce’s license plate says 1BRUCE1. On the drive to the club, Bruce is pretty heavy-handed with his flirting but since Kristin is so naïve, she is flattered. Bruce asks her to a movie on Friday. Bruce doesn’t have a date already set for every Friday for the next year? Shocked! Kristin accepts though she knows she really should be doing homework, practicing, or sleeping at that time. Kristin lies to her dad on Friday telling him she is going to the library-she thinks he would be upset with her if she said she had a date. After the movie, Kristin had fun and wants to go to the Dairi Burger but makes Bruce take her home again at 10 pm. Bruce is shocked that a girl doesn’t want to spend extra time in his company.
The next day, Liz is off to the tennis club to interview Kristin for The Oracle. Liz learns about Kristin’s mother and is generally saintly. After practice, her dad helicopters around some more because Bruce has called twice and her dad has never heard of him. Kristin calls Bruce back (one of the numbers he left was for his car phone. Ah, those were the days) and Bruce wants her to come over and check out the speakers he just got. Kristin tells him that she can’t, she is having dinner with her dad and coach, and next time to give her more notice. When he seems likely to beg, she cuts him off and says she has to go. Schooled! You go girl! It is so awesome to see a girl not falling all over Bruce. Kristin then calls Emily Brown, her new little sister.
The next day, the two meet, and Emily goes with Kristin to the tennis club. Emily is very excited and sweet and Kristin remembers how she loved tennis when she was Emily’s age. Kristin thinks that becoming Emily’s Big Sister is the best thing she ever did. After practice, Bruce has called again. Mr. Thompson worries that Bruce will interfere with Kristin’s goals in yet another over-parenting incident. Kristin calls Bruce back and he invites her for ice cream. Mr. Thompson wonders if ice cream is good for her diet and if she’ll be out too late, which totally irritates her because she is the one who knows what she can and can’t do to perform the best. It’s her body after all. But Bruce doesn’t take her to Casey’s he drags her to café-jazz place and since he is driving, there isn’t much she can do. Four hours later she is finally back. Her dad is upset she was out late and was late getting back. He storms off to bed and suggests she do the same. All she really wanted to do was see what it was like to be a teenager for once.
A few days later, Kristin has the first match of the tournament. The girl she is playing is someone she has beaten easily before, but today she is really struggling. She finally manages to beat the other girl but it totally wore her out. She worries that if she loses she’ll break her father’s heart. She feels that her crappy playing has let everyone down.
After the tournament, Bruce calls and invites Kristin to his big country club bash. Kristin isn’t sure; she thinks Bruce is really full of himself. Plus, if she wins her game on Thursday, her next one is Sunday morning and since the party is Saturday evening…but she allows that maybe she’ll go. On Thursday she barely beats the girl she is playing against and is very disappointed in her so-so game. She finally asks Dorrie if she and her father can just love her whether she wins or not but storms off before Dorrie can reply.
In a random B-story-ish moment, Liz and her new little sister and Jessica and her new little sister have a cookie bake off. Liz and her sister win, but everyone has lots of fun.
Kristin has dinner with her dad and her coach and her dad talks about her choking as though she isn’t there. She says that sometimes she just wants a normal life and her dad wonders if she is going to throw away a lifetime of work over a boy. He says that she should just relax in the time between the next match and Kristin takes that as a sign she should go to the party. Which isn’t what Mr. Thompson actually wanted but he has to swallow it anyway. Her coach backs her up saying that if she makes the pro team, neither of her authority figures is going to be there to make sure she does the “right” thing. Kristin is an athlete and knows her own limits and will have to make her own decisions. Despite this vote of confidence, Kristin feels lost. She doesn’t know what she wants any more. But really, what is important is that there is a dance. Yes a dance in Sweet Valley. They are so rare a bird, we must study it carefully.
On Saturday, Kristin goes to the dance at the country club. Bruce didn’t pick her up because he had to be at the party the whole time since his parents are sponsoring it. Kristin didn’t ask what the dress code was for the event so she shows up in a flowered sun dress when everyone else is in formals. She feels awkward but Bruce doesn’t seem to notice. He does notice, however when Amy in a slinky formal comes up and steals him away. He basically ignores Kristin for the rest of the night. Kristin thinks it would be one thing to jeopardize her tournament for a really special night, but for one this crappy it is a total waste.
The next day goes awfully. Kristin got to bed early but tossed and turned for hours. She is totally off in her game and loses in three sets on the tiebreak by double faulting. So there goes her pro career. Kristin feels completely awful and thinks she let everyone down. She tells her coach that she is glad her mom is dead and can’t see what a failure she is. Dorrie sets her straight by telling her that her mom wasn’t perfect which helps Kristin cope.
At school the next day, Bruce tries to talk to her, but she has nothing do to with. She can’t believe she found his arrogant prickishness interesting. She hopes the next time she loses her head over a guy that she has better taste. She calls him self-centered and basically a jerk. He is shocked-apparently no one ever told him off before. Go Kristin!
After school, Kristin has plans to take Emily out for an ice cream cone. When she sees Emily, Emily is very upset. Apparently Emily tried to get into a tennis camp but she failed. She is just a big failure and thinks that Kristin and her dad won’t like her anymore. If only there were someone older going through the exact same thing who could be a mirror for her problems! Oh, wait, that’s exactly how Kristin was feeling. She realizes how dumb it is to think that Dorrie and her dad won’t like her now that she didn’t win. She comforts Emily and promises to help her on her game so next year, she’ll get into that tennis camp. Talking to Emily has made Kristin realize that she does want to be a tennis player more than anything. So, even though she didn’t make it to the pro team, she is going to try again the next year. She wishes the clarity had come a little sooner, but what can you do.
During dinner later in the week, the phone rings. It is the pro-team coach. The girl that beat Kristin sprained her ankle and is out for a month or two. Kristin, as first alternate, is in line to take her place until she is better. Kristin’s first match is against a really good player so the coach will understand if she doesn’t want to play. Kristin is game though and a spot on the team might be found for her if her game holds up.
Elizabeth and Enid are organizing an ice cream party for all the big sisters and little sisters and call Emily to find out if she and Kristin are going to come. Emily tells them that Kristin is in the tournament so Elizabeth decides they need a big cheering section for her. Apparently since she lost her game and totally dissed him, Bruce has been trashing her character at school-saying that she wasn’t a real champion anyway and stuff. At least he didn’t try to date rape her. The day of the tournament, and the pro coach is telling her what a tough match she has ahead of her and to not be too hard on herself when/if she loses. She looks are her competition and assures the coach that she is going to beat the girl. Kristin has her mojo back. It takes a couple of games but Kristin figures out what the other girl’s weakness is and capitalizes on it. She loses the first set but wins the next two to take the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Everyone is thrilled for Kristin and the other girl congratulates her on her win, saying that she deserved it.
After the match, Kristin and her dad have a heart to heart. He admits that he was trying to control her life but is going to try to let her go to grow up. He also mentions that well, he and Dorrie…Kristin is thrilled her dad has found love again and since Dorrie has been like a mother to her, it is great all around.
At school, now that she is a winner again, Bruce totally tries to get her to go out with him again. She shoots him down telling him that he should get serious about something and grow up and then walks off. Yes! Someone who didn’t let herself be made a victim by Bruce! You go girl!
The story ends with the ice cream party. All the big and little sisters are there as are some of the boyfriends of the big sisters. A.J., Jessica’s boyfriend, is writing an essay for a contest to be crowned King of the Citizens’ Day Ball. Jessica is feeling that she hasn’t had enough attention paid to her lately so being Queen of the Ball sounds like a good idea to her. I am sure that will end well.
# of parties: 1 (at a Country Club)
# of dances: 0
# of cheating cheaters: 0
# of times Todd punches someone/someone gets pushed in a pool: 0
# of days/weeks elapsed: 23 days (Started on a Monday, ended on a Wednesday)
So that was that. I have another one I'll post tomorrow as a special Easter present. No, no bunnies in it, but twoo wuv regained. It is totally heartwarming and mushy, I promise.
Here’s the cover:
It wonders if a normal life will make Kristin Thompson happy. Since we haven’t heard of Kristin until this point, I am guessing that very few of us can answer that question.
The A plot and B plot are so woven together, I won’t try to separate them.
Enid: I’m starting a Big Sister’s chapter because the story requires it!
Elizabeth: Enid you are so awesome!
Enid: **blush**
Elizabeth: Are there enough Big Sisters for all the girls?
Enid: We need two more. One girl likes shopping, the other tennis.
Elizabeth: Jessica for the shopper. (Jessica strolls by) **Liz twists her arm**
Jessica: Yeah, I’ll be a Big Sister as long as it doesn’t take away from my tanning time. (twins so similar, yet so very different)
Elizabeth: Who do we know that likes tennis and would sponsor the girl? Her mom died last year and she is only in third grade.
Enid: Bruce Patman? He loves to brag about his tennis game.
Jeffrey: What about Kristin Thompson. She is practically a pro.
E&E: Wonder if she has time, oh well, can’t hurt to ask.
Kristin Thompson, tennis champ, is spending her lunch hour in the library working on homework. Her schedule is crazy. Get up early to run or weight train, go to school, tennis until late, then homework until bedtime. She never gets to have a normal life. She doesn’t miss it, but she sort of does. A big tournament is approaching and winning it would allow her to play in some pro Cup on an all-star team. Liz catches up with Kristin after school and does some more arm-twisting along with asking and Kristin promises to think about being a Big Sister. As Kristin bikes away, she fights tears. Turns out her mother died when she was seven so she has lots in common with the little girl she might be a Big Sister to. Her mom was a pro tennis player and was on her way to Wimbledon, the only major tournament she hadn’t won, when her plane crashed into the ocean. At practice, Kristin is distracted and isn’t playing very well, but because she is a pro at heart, she muscles through the practice. Kristin’s coach is
Dorrie (unfortunately, not a fish looking for a lost clownfish) who was her mom’s best friend and doubles partner before her death. Kristin frets about her awfulness but Dorrie tells her that part of being a pro is learning to deal with the up day and the down days. Kristin doesn’t tell Dorrie that her raging emotions are the reason for her crap playing because she makes it a point not to be weak around either her coach or her father. Kristin’s dad owns the tennis club where she plays so it is practically home to them. They usually eat dinner there too as a little not-quite-family. When Kristin orders, her dad helicopters around asking if that is the correct food for her to be eating and whether she has been getting enough sleep, and if she is coming down with anything. Kristin is about to blow up on him when Dorrie steps in and changes the subject. But eventually it works its way back to tennis and her dad heaps the pressure on her. She asks that what would the two of them do if she didn’t make the pro team, and her dad can’t even imagine that happening. So instead of reassuring her that he’d love her in any case, he totally discounts her fears.
The next morning, Kristin tells Liz that she’ll do the Big Sister job but only if everyone understands how busy she is. Liz suggests that Kristin take her little sister, Emily Brown, to tennis practice and thus combine the two. Kristin thinks that is a great idea. After school, Dorrie has a doctor’s appointment so Kristin has a free hour. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. There isn’t enough time to go to the beach and she doesn’t really have any friends to hang out with. So, she wanders over to the athletic fields where Bruce Patman is playing Adam Tyner. Bruce is miles better than Adam, but asks Kristin for some pointers. She gives him some and he gets even better. Everyone then pressures Kristin into playing Bruce. She is kicking his butt but then realizes he’d be embarrassed to lose to a girl in front of his friends. So she throws the game. Boo, hiss! You should have wiped the court with him. Bruce offers her a ride to her practice. She is surprised to see he has a Porsche since she doesn’t pay attention to what is going on in the school. They fail to mention that Bruce’s license plate says 1BRUCE1. On the drive to the club, Bruce is pretty heavy-handed with his flirting but since Kristin is so naïve, she is flattered. Bruce asks her to a movie on Friday. Bruce doesn’t have a date already set for every Friday for the next year? Shocked! Kristin accepts though she knows she really should be doing homework, practicing, or sleeping at that time. Kristin lies to her dad on Friday telling him she is going to the library-she thinks he would be upset with her if she said she had a date. After the movie, Kristin had fun and wants to go to the Dairi Burger but makes Bruce take her home again at 10 pm. Bruce is shocked that a girl doesn’t want to spend extra time in his company.
The next day, Liz is off to the tennis club to interview Kristin for The Oracle. Liz learns about Kristin’s mother and is generally saintly. After practice, her dad helicopters around some more because Bruce has called twice and her dad has never heard of him. Kristin calls Bruce back (one of the numbers he left was for his car phone. Ah, those were the days) and Bruce wants her to come over and check out the speakers he just got. Kristin tells him that she can’t, she is having dinner with her dad and coach, and next time to give her more notice. When he seems likely to beg, she cuts him off and says she has to go. Schooled! You go girl! It is so awesome to see a girl not falling all over Bruce. Kristin then calls Emily Brown, her new little sister.
The next day, the two meet, and Emily goes with Kristin to the tennis club. Emily is very excited and sweet and Kristin remembers how she loved tennis when she was Emily’s age. Kristin thinks that becoming Emily’s Big Sister is the best thing she ever did. After practice, Bruce has called again. Mr. Thompson worries that Bruce will interfere with Kristin’s goals in yet another over-parenting incident. Kristin calls Bruce back and he invites her for ice cream. Mr. Thompson wonders if ice cream is good for her diet and if she’ll be out too late, which totally irritates her because she is the one who knows what she can and can’t do to perform the best. It’s her body after all. But Bruce doesn’t take her to Casey’s he drags her to café-jazz place and since he is driving, there isn’t much she can do. Four hours later she is finally back. Her dad is upset she was out late and was late getting back. He storms off to bed and suggests she do the same. All she really wanted to do was see what it was like to be a teenager for once.
A few days later, Kristin has the first match of the tournament. The girl she is playing is someone she has beaten easily before, but today she is really struggling. She finally manages to beat the other girl but it totally wore her out. She worries that if she loses she’ll break her father’s heart. She feels that her crappy playing has let everyone down.
After the tournament, Bruce calls and invites Kristin to his big country club bash. Kristin isn’t sure; she thinks Bruce is really full of himself. Plus, if she wins her game on Thursday, her next one is Sunday morning and since the party is Saturday evening…but she allows that maybe she’ll go. On Thursday she barely beats the girl she is playing against and is very disappointed in her so-so game. She finally asks Dorrie if she and her father can just love her whether she wins or not but storms off before Dorrie can reply.
In a random B-story-ish moment, Liz and her new little sister and Jessica and her new little sister have a cookie bake off. Liz and her sister win, but everyone has lots of fun.
Kristin has dinner with her dad and her coach and her dad talks about her choking as though she isn’t there. She says that sometimes she just wants a normal life and her dad wonders if she is going to throw away a lifetime of work over a boy. He says that she should just relax in the time between the next match and Kristin takes that as a sign she should go to the party. Which isn’t what Mr. Thompson actually wanted but he has to swallow it anyway. Her coach backs her up saying that if she makes the pro team, neither of her authority figures is going to be there to make sure she does the “right” thing. Kristin is an athlete and knows her own limits and will have to make her own decisions. Despite this vote of confidence, Kristin feels lost. She doesn’t know what she wants any more. But really, what is important is that there is a dance. Yes a dance in Sweet Valley. They are so rare a bird, we must study it carefully.
On Saturday, Kristin goes to the dance at the country club. Bruce didn’t pick her up because he had to be at the party the whole time since his parents are sponsoring it. Kristin didn’t ask what the dress code was for the event so she shows up in a flowered sun dress when everyone else is in formals. She feels awkward but Bruce doesn’t seem to notice. He does notice, however when Amy in a slinky formal comes up and steals him away. He basically ignores Kristin for the rest of the night. Kristin thinks it would be one thing to jeopardize her tournament for a really special night, but for one this crappy it is a total waste.
The next day goes awfully. Kristin got to bed early but tossed and turned for hours. She is totally off in her game and loses in three sets on the tiebreak by double faulting. So there goes her pro career. Kristin feels completely awful and thinks she let everyone down. She tells her coach that she is glad her mom is dead and can’t see what a failure she is. Dorrie sets her straight by telling her that her mom wasn’t perfect which helps Kristin cope.
At school the next day, Bruce tries to talk to her, but she has nothing do to with. She can’t believe she found his arrogant prickishness interesting. She hopes the next time she loses her head over a guy that she has better taste. She calls him self-centered and basically a jerk. He is shocked-apparently no one ever told him off before. Go Kristin!
After school, Kristin has plans to take Emily out for an ice cream cone. When she sees Emily, Emily is very upset. Apparently Emily tried to get into a tennis camp but she failed. She is just a big failure and thinks that Kristin and her dad won’t like her anymore. If only there were someone older going through the exact same thing who could be a mirror for her problems! Oh, wait, that’s exactly how Kristin was feeling. She realizes how dumb it is to think that Dorrie and her dad won’t like her now that she didn’t win. She comforts Emily and promises to help her on her game so next year, she’ll get into that tennis camp. Talking to Emily has made Kristin realize that she does want to be a tennis player more than anything. So, even though she didn’t make it to the pro team, she is going to try again the next year. She wishes the clarity had come a little sooner, but what can you do.
During dinner later in the week, the phone rings. It is the pro-team coach. The girl that beat Kristin sprained her ankle and is out for a month or two. Kristin, as first alternate, is in line to take her place until she is better. Kristin’s first match is against a really good player so the coach will understand if she doesn’t want to play. Kristin is game though and a spot on the team might be found for her if her game holds up.
Elizabeth and Enid are organizing an ice cream party for all the big sisters and little sisters and call Emily to find out if she and Kristin are going to come. Emily tells them that Kristin is in the tournament so Elizabeth decides they need a big cheering section for her. Apparently since she lost her game and totally dissed him, Bruce has been trashing her character at school-saying that she wasn’t a real champion anyway and stuff. At least he didn’t try to date rape her. The day of the tournament, and the pro coach is telling her what a tough match she has ahead of her and to not be too hard on herself when/if she loses. She looks are her competition and assures the coach that she is going to beat the girl. Kristin has her mojo back. It takes a couple of games but Kristin figures out what the other girl’s weakness is and capitalizes on it. She loses the first set but wins the next two to take the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Everyone is thrilled for Kristin and the other girl congratulates her on her win, saying that she deserved it.
After the match, Kristin and her dad have a heart to heart. He admits that he was trying to control her life but is going to try to let her go to grow up. He also mentions that well, he and Dorrie…Kristin is thrilled her dad has found love again and since Dorrie has been like a mother to her, it is great all around.
At school, now that she is a winner again, Bruce totally tries to get her to go out with him again. She shoots him down telling him that he should get serious about something and grow up and then walks off. Yes! Someone who didn’t let herself be made a victim by Bruce! You go girl!
The story ends with the ice cream party. All the big and little sisters are there as are some of the boyfriends of the big sisters. A.J., Jessica’s boyfriend, is writing an essay for a contest to be crowned King of the Citizens’ Day Ball. Jessica is feeling that she hasn’t had enough attention paid to her lately so being Queen of the Ball sounds like a good idea to her. I am sure that will end well.
# of parties: 1 (at a Country Club)
# of dances: 0
# of cheating cheaters: 0
# of times Todd punches someone/someone gets pushed in a pool: 0
# of days/weeks elapsed: 23 days (Started on a Monday, ended on a Wednesday)
So that was that. I have another one I'll post tomorrow as a special Easter present. No, no bunnies in it, but twoo wuv regained. It is totally heartwarming and mushy, I promise.