The Sweet Valley High Project #1: Double Love

Did you know I once had another blog?  It's true.  And on this other blog, I made it my mission to reread all the Sweet Valley High books and try to figure out why I loved them so much.  As this is the YA Department, it seems only appropriate to repost these explorations here.  So without further ado, I present The Sweet Valley High Project:
In which I reread every Sweet Vally High book and provide thoughtful insight into and analysis of the various anecdotes of the Wakefields, Patmans, Fowlers, and other famed denizens of Sweet Valley, California.

The Annas

My library books aligned recently in such a way that I read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, immediately followed by Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.  I have created a table that compares and contrasts the two Annas.

I Can't Wait To Read...

Dream School by Blake Nelson

Blake Nelson's 1994 novel Girl (which I spoke about yesterday) ends with main character Andrea Marr on the plane to college, imagining what her experience will be like, and then commenting on her musings thusly:

"...But of course that's not what happened. Not even close."

That's the last line of the book!  These words tantalized me.  I wanted more Andrea Marr!  For years, whenever I went to the bookstore I would pass by the N end of fiction to see if a sequel to Girl had miraculously appeared.  Eventually, I gave up hope.  But now....Blake Nelson is finally releasing Dream School, aka, Andrea Marr, the college years!

Will Andrea like college?  Will she hook up with another lead singer?  Will she become the lead singer of her own band?  I can't wait to find out on December 6.

Classic Covers: Girl

This is the edition of Blake Nelson's Girl that I purchased in 1997, the cover I stared at, willing my hair to get that long, the one I still pull down from my shelf and reread.

I first heard about Girl from Sassy magazine, which was excerpting the novel before it was even published.  I didn't realize a full-length novel had come out until I read a review in my friends’ ‘zine a few years later.