The Running Bibliophile

The Sweet Valley Twins book series is what made me an avid reader as a child. I couldn't get through each book fast enough. This book series is perfect for children between the ages eight and twelve, and I definitely urge people to introduce these books to their kids, especially those who aren't interested in reading. I wish they had been introduced to me a lot earlier. As part of my rereading my way through my childhood, I picked up The New Girl (Sweet Valley Twins, #6) created by Francine Pascal. What I love about this series is that it always seems to deal with real life issues that children might deal with and teaches a lesson. In The New Girl (Sweet Valley Twins, #6) , the lesson is that things aren't always what they seem and bullying isn't the answer. Kindness can go a long way, so don't act like a jerk towards people. Rereading this book as an adult, I didn't remember anything about this installment going into it. I think this was one of ...

Sneaking Out (Sweet Valley Twins, #5) , created by Francine Pascal, picks up after the prior book Choosing Sides (Sweet Valley Twins #4) . All anyone at Sweet Valley Middle School can talk about is the upcoming Johnny Buck concert. Yet again, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield's parents believe the twins are too young to go to the concert by themselves. Responsible Elizabeth accepts their decision, but wreck less Jessica will stop at nothing to get her way and attend the concert. For the most part, I liked this installment of the Sweet Valley Twin series. However, I really disliked how irresponsible Jessica acted all the way around. She takes on a dog sitting job despite being afraid of dogs but pushes the work of on everyone else. On top of that, she sneaks out of the house so she can go to the Johnny Buck concert. It never ceases to amaze me that she never seems to get grounded and that her parents don't see through her antics. I always liked Elizabeth better than Jessi...

The Mercandy mansion is said to be haunted because lights flicker in the windows at night, and the owners are never seen. Just ask anyone at Sweet Valley Middle School . . . they'll swear it is haunted. When Nora Mercandy moves into the house, rumors about her being a witch spread rapidly throughout the school. Elizabeth Wakefield sets out to solve the mystery of the Mercandy mansion and prove that Nora is just a normal girl. The major theme of The Haunted House (Sweet Valley Twins, # 3) created by Francine Pascal is bullying. Because of rumors about the Mercandy house, people jumped to conclusions about Nora and began picking on her. Lila was the ringleader of it all and was merciless. The underlying theme is to not jump to conclusions. The majority of the students at Sweet Valley Middle School made assumptions about the Mercandy family because of things they had seen and heard. Those assumptions were gossiped about and spread around. Everything was easily explained had ...

Identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are twelve years old and do everything together from sharing a bedroom to dressing alike and even doing the same things after school. When they start Sweet Valley Middle School, Elizabeth and Jessica realize that their lives are changing. Elizabeth wants to work on the sixth grade newspaper aptly named The Sixers , and Jessica is eager to join the Unicorn Club, a snobby club of the most popular girls. Will they continue to do everything together or begin to explore their individuality? In elementary school, I so desperately wanted to win the Book It Program sponsored by Pizza Hut, but I found chapter books so boring. Every book my teacher recommended was so tedious that I found myself struggling to finish. I never made it to the minimum amount of books required to win a personal pizza from Pizza Hut through their reading program because books just weren't holding my interest.  Around age 10, my mom and I stopped at a gara...