Phase 2: Stuck in the Collection Process or A Method to the Madness?

What to do, what to do? When I was hit with the idea to start this mission, one that had never even made it onto my bucket list, I thought it would be pretty easy. I have picked up and put down Sweet Valley High books on many occasions while out thrift store shopping. I'd pick them up out of nostalgia but put them back down out of disinterest, after all, I'd quit reading them 15 years ago. 15 years? Has it really been that long? Since I've read one in ernest, yes it has. I read one once a few years ago out of boredom, waiting for my mom to get out of a church meeting, but before that, it was probably somewhere back in Jr. high.

When I decided to do this, I didn't really have a plan, so I just announced it over my facebook profile and hoped people would come forth with their used books. People have offered their comments, offered their support (one friend told me what I'm doing is awesome) but nobody has offered me their complete collection. The truth is, I don't know anybody that had a complete collection. My cousin Kelly was close though. I'd go to her house and just see them lined up on a shelf above her desk. We'd hang out and read when we were talking about boys...Kelly was cool enough to have boyfriends, I was not. Of course I wasn't, I was reading Sweet Valley High books. But even Kelly quit reading them after awhile and the ones she had were of the old school, when the twins wore matching necklaces and drove their mom's Fiat. I still don't know how it ends, but I'm coming across titles about arrests and deceit and it seems so un-Sweet Valley and not true to the original format at all. Val-asphemy, I say!

Obviously, I was hoping to keep my costs minimal, hoping for donations from kind souls who's mom's stored their books in the attack to be passed down to future generations; the future is now! I'm coming along ok, but I have yet to hit the mother load, the lot that I know is out there, some kid whose collection, the entire series got given away, perhaps unknowingly? I know it's out there. I'm in it, feet first. I have people (mainly my friend Linda and her mom, who are experts at deals and sales) on it. And now my question is...

Do I read them as I get them, or do I try to assemble the entire set first? The original goal was to read them from 1 to 144, in sequential order, but I've already broken that but it's cool because it truly is what Jessica Wakefield would do. But do I hold out hope as I still have a thrift store mission to go on and three used books stores to hit? I've been unlucky thrifting so far, but I always am when I have a purpose. Do I read now, or do I wait? I have no idea how long it's going to take me to find them all; I don't even have titles for them all. I need your help, friends. Word is there is a Sweet Valley High movie coming out and I don't want the film to spoil the dramatic ending. So help me on my mission, spread the word, and about all else, don't hate, donate!!!

Phase 2: The Collection Process

Awhile after I posited the question of what Jessica Wakefield would do, I was at my friend's house. We were vaguely discussing our "bucket" lists and she said she didn't have one because she was afraid she'd die when she completed her list. A thought came to me and as I am known to do, I said the thought out loud as soon as it came to mind. I wonder how long it would take me to read the entire series of Sweet Valley High books.

Unlike many of my thoughts that are fleeting, this one stuck. I never know which ones will and it seemed easy enough to let this one slide. What is the motivation behind reading all 144 books? Nothing other than the satisfaction of having done it. There are other things on my "buck" list, but right now, this is the one I'm working on.

Where to start, where to start. I only ever owned a handful of SVH books myself. When I started reading them in 5th grade, my friend would borrow them from her sister and then make me swear that I'd be done with it by the next day, which I usually was. Whatever really happened to them, I don't know. I'm assuming they've gotten donated, passed on to somebody else eager to know what to expect from their teenage years, which according to life in Sweet Valley is either nothing much or too much to be believed.

I started my quest by soliciting my cousin on Facebook, who had a large number of them. She said she thought she had given them to me. She'd only handed down her SVH knock-offs. I further implored my other Facebook friends, but to no real avail. I am trying to do this as grassroots as possible, making this a (relatively) low budget venture. So far I've kept my costs low, using credit at a used book store and so far purchasing only 2 from Amazon at a penny a piece. I'm scoping a few auctions of ebay but haven't placed any bids yet. I'm still hoping that I will score the mother load at a thrift store but haven't yet. I have a friend and her mom on a diligent quest too; my friend's mom is a devout bargain hunter and I have the upmost faith in her abilities.

This is what I so far:

1. Double Love

9. Racing Hearts

19. Showdown

25. Nowhere to Run

26. Hostage!

28. Alone in the Crowd

83. Second Chance

96. The Arrest

(Un-numbered) The Boyfriend War

I thought I had probably read a good number of these, easily into the 90's but I don't remember anything about an arrest, so I obviously haven't read as many as I thought I had.

I have to admit to cheating a little though. My goal was to read them all, in order. While waiting for books 1 and 2 to arrive, I read Alone in the Crowd and Hostage. I remembered both books but not the orders they came in, I thought the series waited awhile before anyone got kidnapped but they seem to jump right in to the shenanigans.

Hostage! is a tale of vengence. Regina Morrow is kidnapped and held hostage in her own home. Her parents are being held elsewhere, while her brother is in San Francisco (apparently the kidnappers forgot about him). Elizabeth noticed things were astray at the Morrow estate and then took it upon herself to figure out what was going on. She enlists the help of Jessica, Bruce Patman and Regina's brother Nicholas. Their skills involve sticking a letter inside a teen magazine for Regina and Regina tossing a compact with a letter in out her window. Elizabeth and Nicholas head in one direction, Jessica and Bruce in another and foil the kidnappers plan. And in the end, everyone eats pizza together.

In Alone in the Crowd, Lynn Henry writes a song about a boy (Guy Chesney from the rock band The Droids) and submits her song for a song writing contest, sponsored by non other than The Droids. Lynn, being nothing if not a scholar of Sweet Valley High, submits her song anonymously. Guy becomes fixated on the song and its singer, attributing his admiration of the mystery song writer to his admiration for Linda Ronstadt. Oh yes, Linda Ronstadt.

Guy confesses his feelings Elizabeth "Liz" Wakefield and she, the supposed keeper of the secrets at SVH, reveals enough information for Guy to figure it out but little enough for Elizabeth to not feel guilty about. After all, she is helping "a friend find the love he's been looking for his whole life." All 16 years of it apparently. Want to guess what happens next? Everybody loves happily ever after.

Tonight, I am going to start where it all started. Book 1, Double Love. I'd feel bad about starting out of order, but I distinctly remember starting out reading them out of order until my friend started loaning them to me in order. So far, so good. I'm optimistic that just like in Sweet Valley, all will prevail in the end and I will be successful in my quest.

Follow my adventures as I follow the adventures of my old school favorites!

Phase 1: What Would Jessica Wakefield Do?

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my brother's truck waiting for him and his girlfriend in a restaurant parking lot. They'd told me to be there around 7:30-ish and then called me to ask where I was...sitting here waiting for you. He was calling to say the restaurant had an hour waiting and asked why I'd gotten there so early. Because you told me to. He suggested going to the mall, but I didn't want to lose my parking place so I stayed there. While I was sitting, waiting, a thought came to mind and I began to wonder, What Would Jessica Wakefield would do.

I hadn't thought about Jessica Wakefield in years. She hadn't been a part of my life since I quit reading Sweet Valley High books some time in high school. It was a long run, considering I started reading Sweet Valley High books when I was in fifth grade and couldn't imagine doing half the things Jessica and her twin sister Elizabeth were doing. Even back then my fifth grade self knew something was weird: why did these sixteen year olds act like they were 80?

I had baby-sitters so I knew some sixteen year olds and they were cheerleaders, had sprained ankles, slept in and got grounded, which the Wakefields did, but my baby-sitters never used the word studious to describe themselves or talk about parties being wonderful. I could accept a certain amount of embellishment (I've never known anyone that was held hostage like Regina Morrow was or Elizabeth Wakefield before her) but I still expected accurate dialogue, even from a book written in 1986.

It occurred to me that if Jessica Wakefield were a real person, she'd probably be on a reality show, something along the lines of The Hills more so than Survivor or even The Amazing Race, even though reality shows weren't around back in the day. I also realized I missed her. She and her lame sister were such a part of my life, not as much the gospel for my teenage years because Judy Blume had that covered, but because they did stuff I'd probably never do like meet royalty, get kidnapped, or have a twin sister.

I miss my old friends, Jess and Liz and their posse: Brother Steven, Mother Alice, Father Ned. Friends Enid, Lila, Bruce, Amy and various others. As much as I miss them, I have to say, I've been a bad friend...I don't know how the series ends. Somewhere along the way, I started high school, wrote for the school paper and hated the popular girls. For my own peace of mind, I need to know how it all goes down. So I started my quest, a rather simple resolution: by the end of the year, I want to read the entire Sweet Valley High series.

Sadly, my local library doesn't carry the books anymore and a trip to a local bookstore proved successful yet disjointed; I found a bunch of books but they weren't in order. I implore you, if you see one or ten at a local thrift store or in a box in the back of your closet, help a girl out!