Entry tags:

cheerleading, recapper: kiwiria, sociopathic jessica, suicide attempt, sweet valley high

SVH #10 - Wrong Kind of Girl
Sweet Valley High #10 - Wrong Kind Of Girl, or, The One Where Being Mean Has Consequences.

As requested.

This book starts off with a very... interesting quote:

"As she looked over the list of girls who had signed up to try out for the cheerleading squad, Jessica Wakefield purred like a satisfied cat."

Really? A satisfied cat? Am I the only one who thinks this is a weird simile? In my head "purring" and "satisfied cat" has definite sexual connotations. Not so to Ms. William I assume.

Anyway, the premise of the book is that the Sweet Valley High cheerleading squad needs two new members, and of course 75 people signed up to try out for those measly two spots. Not living in the US and never having attended a school that had a cheerleading squad, you'll have to enlighten me - is this realistic? Is being a cheerleader the end-all and be-all as it's made out to be here?

Or as Jessica herself muses:

"The cheerleaders at Sweet Valley High were the cream of the crop - the prettiest, most sought-after girls not only in the school but in the entire town of Sweet Valley."

Tough luck Liz, you're obviously not sought after.

As Jessica reads through the list she is offended that Annie Whitman - or 'Easy Annie' as she's called - DARES to put down her name. Obviously, she's the wrong kind of girl, and Jessica won't have her on the team at all! And why not? Well, allegedly because she'll give the squad a bad reputation (although how Annie's behaviour is worse than Jess' I'm not quite sure... they both 'play the field', no mention of sex at all, other than the connotations of 'easy'), but really I just think Jessica is on a power trip as usual.

Liz tries to talk sense to Jessica, reasoning that perhaps Annie is turning a new leaf. Liz has been tutoring her in math, and realizes that Annie is terribly lonely. Getting into the squad could be the best thing that ever happened to her. Of course Jessica will have nothing of it. Once she's made up her mind, her mind is MADE UP!

Elizabeth goes to Annie's place for another tutoring session. This is the first time she's actually been to Annie's house - until then all the tutoring has been done at school. While there she's told that Annie's parents were only 16 and 17 when they had her. They got married, but it didn't last long, and now Annie's mother has a 'special friend', Johnny. Annie is proud of her mother for having and keeping her, but wishes she had more time for her. Liz muses that though her mother is busy, she always has time for her and Jess. It also becomes apparent that Annie has no idea about the reputation she has. She's not consciously being a flirt, she just sees the guys as good friends, and enjoys the fact that while she doesn't have many close friends, at least she's popular with the boys. Poor, deluded Annie.

Just before Liz leaves, Annie's mother and Johnny arrive home. Johnny could NOT be more of a sleazebag. He's totally creepy, hitting on Liz in front of everybody. Ew! I felt unclean just *reading* about him.

Oh, and Liz RIDES THE BUS home!!! Apparently in this book it's no big deal. When she comes home she sees Jessica drilling Cara through the cheers, as Jessica really wants Cara to be one of the two people to become cheerleaders. I just think it's in order to let us see her pining for Steve, who at this time is actually going out with TRICIA and not just some girl who Looks Just Like Her(TM).

The first of three try-outs for the cheerleading squad take place, and Annie astounds everybody by being extremely talented and really perfect for the spot. She's the only person other than Maria who's able to do back-flips, which impresses everybody... everybody, that is, except for Jessica. Jessica basically takes it as a personal insult that Annie is so good. Even more so when there's a dance contest at the Beach Disco after finals, and it ends in a DRAW between Jessica and Annie! How DARE she show her up like that? Annie, on the other hand, just thinks that her chances of getting into the squad increased, now that Jessica saw how well she moved. She really is terribly naive.

I have to say, I love their cheer though *giggles* I guess Kate does have a sense of humour after all!

"We who are about to win, salute you. Go Gladiators!"

Between talking to Annie and trying to talk sense to Jessica, Elizabeth gets more and more frustrated about being put in the middle. She needs to talk it out, but will burden neither Enid nor Todd with 'problems nobody can solve'. I'm sorry, isn't that what best friends and boyfriends are for? To take half the burden so you won't have to carry it alone, even if there's nothing to be done? Her main reasons for not doing so, is that she doesn't want to put Jessica in a bad light, which I can kinda understand I guess, but it results in Todd thinking she's no longer in love with him (he really is secure, isn't he?!), and that she's so distracted because of another guy! They get into a fight about it, which Todd's mother overhears. I don't know about you, but that would really embarrass me (I tend to try to limit my fights to only me and the person I'm fighting with being around), but Todd just replies "Mom, we're having a discussion", and sends her out of the room!

Oh, and apparently Liz' full name is Elizabeth Benedict Arnold Wakefield!!! Is there a mention of Jess' full name anywhere?
Edit: Guess I need to read up on US history. Thanks to dichroic I now know that Benedict Arnold was a huge traitor, and that THAT's why Jessica called Liz by that name. Colour me stupid :-P

It really means the world to Annie to get into the squad, but Jessica is equally determined that no matter how talented the girl is, Annie is just wrong for the team! Jessica really is terribly mean, getting everybody to vote for Cara as one of the people getting in (truth be told, Cara deserves to get in), but then voting against Annie as the other person, despite the alternative - Sandra - falling flat on her face during try-outs, just because of who Annie is, and bullying the other members of the squad into voting against her too, by giving them an ultimatum - that if they pick Annie, they'll need to hold new try-outs, because then she, Jessica, is leaving!

Right about here I'd be thinking, "Hmmm... is Jessica really that important for the team? She can't even do back-flips, like Annie!"

After the final try-out, Liz is at home, waiting for Jess to come home and tell her who got in. Jess just smiles slyly, but refuses to tell Liz anything. Really Liz, when Jess smiles like that, do you even doubt that she got her way as usual? Obviously, you're terribly naive too! It seemed totally contrived that so big a deal was made of Liz trying to get Jess to tell her, when it ought to be blatantly obvious to anybody who knows Jess, exactly what happened.

The chore of telling Annie that she didn't make it, is given to Ricky, the manager of the cheerleading squad, who just happens to be falling head over heels in love with Annie. She runs away from him after he tells her, and he chases her, wanting to give her any support she might need. Annie is devastated. She was so certain she'd get in, and knew she was the best person there, which the possible exception of Cara (even in her grief she's still fair! Oh, what a girl!). She pressures Ricky to tell her who voted against her, and why, and when he finally does (the poor guy! Imagine having to tell somebody you're in love with, that people think she's easy!), she cries out from the shock, and runs away.

Ricky gets really worried when Annie doesn't turn up for school the next couple of days, and finally skips the last lessons of a day to go to her place and check whether she's okay. The door is locked, but he intuitively knows that something is wrong, and breaks down the door, only to find her unconscious on the bathroom floor, with an empty bottle of pills in her hand. He rushes her to the hospital and calls Elizabeth (Elizabeth? Why HER?!) to tell her what happened. Elizabeth knows that this is Jessica's fault and is pissed. She drags Jessica along to the hospital, saying that even though Annie might not want her there, SHE does. Wow, never knew that Liz had a spine after all! What a time to show it.

At the hospital Ricky breaks down and cries over all the "cruel and heartless people" who caused Annie to do this. Jessica knows he's talking about her, and realizes that she deserves every word. For once Jessica actually gets to feel the consequences of her actions... if only she'd learn from them! Annie's mother arrives, crying over her 'kitten', and how this is all her fault, for not spending more time with Annie. How could she not even know that her daughter was so out of it? She breaks up with Creepy Johnny in order to spend more time with Annie. YAY for getting rid of Creepy Johnny, but I can't help but wonder what good he did in the first place. Introduce a character just for 1 page? Ah well.

The doctor comes out and tells them that Annie could be fine, but it is as if she has no will to live! Oh, the melodrama! Jessica approaches the doctor and tells him that it's all her fault, but that if it'll help Annie live, she can be on the cheerleading squad after all! Between the two of them, she and Ricky spend the entire night talking to Annie, explaining all that she has to live for, and finally Annie wakes up! Her first word being "Jessica". That would really bum me out if I were Ricky or her mother, but never mind.

After this near-death experience, Annie realizes that there's more to life than cheerleading, but that doesn't stop her from happily accepting the position as the 8th member of the squad and being touched to tears when the rest of the squad perform a cheer right outside her window: "Get well, Annie!"

No real B plot in this one, except the usual build up to book 11 - Suzanna coming to SV and one of the twins get to go to NY instead. Read the review to see what happens!