SWEET VALLEY TWINS

Twins Elizabeth and Jessica both covet the lead role in their ballet recital.

The blond, blue-eyed middle schoolers are accomplished dancers in Madame André’s ballet class. But Jessica believes that because of her rocky first day, depicted in Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends (2022), the teacher overlooks her in favor of Elizabeth. When dancers are chosen for their recital performance of Coppélia, Elizabeth is selected for the lead, Swanilda. The dancers’ work of learning a position or a pirouette is nicely pictured in several scenes. The various skill levels among dancers are convincingly depicted, and a variety of skin colors and hair textures denote a racially diverse group both at ballet and in school. Elizabeth’s single cowlick distinguishes her from Jessica, whose hair is always smoothly styled. Elizabeth’s role as the more thoughtful and kinder of the pair is confirmed here, while Jessica’s ongoing interest in hanging out with the Unicorn club and gossiping about boys will entertain middle-grade readers. Eventually Elizabeth realizes, when Jessica points it out, that Madame André really has not fully seen Jessica’s skills, and she engineers a plan to save the day when disaster strikes. The middle-class suburb, where the girls can ride their bikes or walk to most places, feels safe and, as Elizabeth says, “It’s California—every day is beach weather.”

Guaranteed to appeal to fans, who will soon be asking when the next one will be out.