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Sweet Valley Kids #16
Jessica the TV Star
Jessica or Elizabeth?
Jessica Wakefield has fun pretending to be her twin sister, Elizabeth, one day when Elizabeth is home sick from school. Nobody can tell the difference!
Todd Wilkins thinks Jessica is Elizabeth, too. So he invites Jessica, thinking she's Elizabeth, to be in a television movie being filmed at his house. Can Jessica pretend to be her twin for a few more days and be in the movie, or will Elizabeth find out and get angry?
Jessica Wakefield has fun pretending to be her twin sister, Elizabeth, one day when Elizabeth is home sick from school. Nobody can tell the difference!
Todd Wilkins thinks Jessica is Elizabeth, too. So he invites Jessica, thinking she's Elizabeth, to be in a television movie being filmed at his house. Can Jessica pretend to be her twin for a few more days and be in the movie, or will Elizabeth find out and get angry?
- GenresChildrensMiddle Grade
71 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,147 books1,851 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 20, 2024
I could have sworn that the twins were in first grade in this series but apparently they’re in second. Which means they are 7 in second grade, 12 in sixth grade, and 16 in eleventh. The math isn’t mathin’.
January 23, 2025
Another twin switch story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 6, 2024Jessica the TV Srar
Liz wakes up sick. Alice says she better stay home. Jessica wants to stay home but Mrs. Wakefield sends her. Jessica’s bracelet falls off. The clasp is broken again so she takes it off so no one will know who they are. At the bus stop she sees Caroline. She asks where Jessica is. She tells her Jessica is sick. Some other girls walk over and they also think she’s Liz since Jessica always teases Caroline.
Amy thinks Jessica is Jessica but she tells her she’s Liz and with no name bracelet she buys it. Todd says he needs to tell her something by the see-saws. Todd tells him a man he knows is using his house for a movie. He’ll get to be in it. Then he says he can ask a girl and he’s asking her. Jessica says Jessica would like to be in it but he says he doesn’t want her. He says no and she can’t tell Jessica. His parents don’t want a bunch of people over there house. Jessica says she won’t.
Liz waits for Jessica to come home. Liz says hi. Jessica answers back but doesn’t look at her. She asks what happened at school. Jessica says it was a regular day. She wants to know if anyone asked about her. Jess syas she guesses so and then suggests playing with their costumes. Jessica asks wouldn’t it be fun to pretend to be someone else. Liz says like an actor and then says it would be fun to be on television like an actor. Jessica looks sad. Liz knows her twin will tell her what’s up.
The next day, Liz is well enough to go to school and Todd tells her not to forget about “you know what”. He says he’ll see her this afternoon. Jessica then coughs. Liz wonders why everyone is acting so strange. When “Liz” gets to Todd there’s a television crew and Todd points out Mr. Phillips. He tells her he and Tood will be sitting on the floor. When the phone rings Todd will answer the phone and say “Lewis residence. Mickey speaking.” When the “phone rings” Jessica jumps up too. Todd tells her she’s acting like “Jessica” (bossy). Jessica suggests they try it again with her answering the phone, but the director says let’s try it *his* way. Jessica is still excited she’ll be in a tv movie.
Liz thinks it’s weird that Todd wasn’t at soccer practice and asks him what he was going to tell her yesterday. He tells her not here. Liz gets mad at walks away. She tells Jessica she’s mad at Todd. She says she is too but she is because Liz is. Jessica decides to tell Lila her secret but makes her promise not to tell. She then tells Lila. Lila asks can she come watch and Jessica says yes but she can’t tell anyone. She then decides one more won’t hurt and tells Ellen. She tells Ellen she’s starring in a movie and she’s got the biggest part. Ellen wants to know if she can watch and Jessica says yes but don’t tell.
Liz tells Jessica she tried to talk to Todd but he kept saying no and not here. So she says she’s going to go over to his house to talk to him. Jessica says no. She thought she heard him say he had a dentist appointment. Then his grandmother is coming over. So, Liz says she’ll wait until tomorrow. Liz comes downstairs and Mrs. Wakefield confuses her for Jessica. She says Jessica must hav went with Steven over to Todd’s. Liz thinks of how Jessica lied to her and asks her mom can she go over to Todd’s.
Liz’s sees all the cars. Then she sees all the kids. Todd blows up at Liz, She tells him she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Then they realize what happened. They’re both about to confront Jessica but then Mr. Phillips comes over to them. He discovers they’re twins. He decides to use all three of them. First he (the director) has Todd answering the phone. Then he does a shot of Todd and Liz arguing over who’ll answer the phone. When the scene is over, he gives them forms to give to their parents.
After this both Todd and Liz tell Jessica there both mad at her. Jessica apologizes to Liz for the joke she played. Ken asks if she got to be the star. Jessica says she had a very important part and Todd says oh brother. Jessica starts bragging about when she’s rich she’s going to get a glass unicorn. Caroline says she has a collection of porcelain dolls. Lila tells her to prove it. Caroline says she can’t bring them to school. The next book is about if she really does have a collection of porcelain dolls.
Rating: 5 Somehow I just feel like even without the bracelts their friends should already know them apart by the way they act. Like Todd should have known by how “Liz” was trying to steal the scene away. Mrs. Wakefield DEFINITELY should have known that Liz wasn’t Jessica so there was no excuse. I know that when my cousin’s twins were first born tho for the longest no one could tell them apart but he always seemed to know by the slightest of their features.
Liz wakes up sick. Alice says she better stay home. Jessica wants to stay home but Mrs. Wakefield sends her. Jessica’s bracelet falls off. The clasp is broken again so she takes it off so no one will know who they are. At the bus stop she sees Caroline. She asks where Jessica is. She tells her Jessica is sick. Some other girls walk over and they also think she’s Liz since Jessica always teases Caroline.
Amy thinks Jessica is Jessica but she tells her she’s Liz and with no name bracelet she buys it. Todd says he needs to tell her something by the see-saws. Todd tells him a man he knows is using his house for a movie. He’ll get to be in it. Then he says he can ask a girl and he’s asking her. Jessica says Jessica would like to be in it but he says he doesn’t want her. He says no and she can’t tell Jessica. His parents don’t want a bunch of people over there house. Jessica says she won’t.
Liz waits for Jessica to come home. Liz says hi. Jessica answers back but doesn’t look at her. She asks what happened at school. Jessica says it was a regular day. She wants to know if anyone asked about her. Jess syas she guesses so and then suggests playing with their costumes. Jessica asks wouldn’t it be fun to pretend to be someone else. Liz says like an actor and then says it would be fun to be on television like an actor. Jessica looks sad. Liz knows her twin will tell her what’s up.
The next day, Liz is well enough to go to school and Todd tells her not to forget about “you know what”. He says he’ll see her this afternoon. Jessica then coughs. Liz wonders why everyone is acting so strange. When “Liz” gets to Todd there’s a television crew and Todd points out Mr. Phillips. He tells her he and Tood will be sitting on the floor. When the phone rings Todd will answer the phone and say “Lewis residence. Mickey speaking.” When the “phone rings” Jessica jumps up too. Todd tells her she’s acting like “Jessica” (bossy). Jessica suggests they try it again with her answering the phone, but the director says let’s try it *his* way. Jessica is still excited she’ll be in a tv movie.
Liz thinks it’s weird that Todd wasn’t at soccer practice and asks him what he was going to tell her yesterday. He tells her not here. Liz gets mad at walks away. She tells Jessica she’s mad at Todd. She says she is too but she is because Liz is. Jessica decides to tell Lila her secret but makes her promise not to tell. She then tells Lila. Lila asks can she come watch and Jessica says yes but she can’t tell anyone. She then decides one more won’t hurt and tells Ellen. She tells Ellen she’s starring in a movie and she’s got the biggest part. Ellen wants to know if she can watch and Jessica says yes but don’t tell.
Liz tells Jessica she tried to talk to Todd but he kept saying no and not here. So she says she’s going to go over to his house to talk to him. Jessica says no. She thought she heard him say he had a dentist appointment. Then his grandmother is coming over. So, Liz says she’ll wait until tomorrow. Liz comes downstairs and Mrs. Wakefield confuses her for Jessica. She says Jessica must hav went with Steven over to Todd’s. Liz thinks of how Jessica lied to her and asks her mom can she go over to Todd’s.
Liz’s sees all the cars. Then she sees all the kids. Todd blows up at Liz, She tells him she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Then they realize what happened. They’re both about to confront Jessica but then Mr. Phillips comes over to them. He discovers they’re twins. He decides to use all three of them. First he (the director) has Todd answering the phone. Then he does a shot of Todd and Liz arguing over who’ll answer the phone. When the scene is over, he gives them forms to give to their parents.
After this both Todd and Liz tell Jessica there both mad at her. Jessica apologizes to Liz for the joke she played. Ken asks if she got to be the star. Jessica says she had a very important part and Todd says oh brother. Jessica starts bragging about when she’s rich she’s going to get a glass unicorn. Caroline says she has a collection of porcelain dolls. Lila tells her to prove it. Caroline says she can’t bring them to school. The next book is about if she really does have a collection of porcelain dolls.
Rating: 5 Somehow I just feel like even without the bracelts their friends should already know them apart by the way they act. Like Todd should have known by how “Liz” was trying to steal the scene away. Mrs. Wakefield DEFINITELY should have known that Liz wasn’t Jessica so there was no excuse. I know that when my cousin’s twins were first born tho for the longest no one could tell them apart but he always seemed to know by the slightest of their features.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 9, 2023When Elizabeth stays home from school one day with a stomach ache, Jessica goes by herself. As she isn’t wearing her name bracelet, the other children don’t know for sure which twin she is, so she decides to pretend to be Elizabeth for the day, just for fun.
But then Todd tells Jessica a secret, thinking that she’s Elizabeth—a TV show is going to be filmed at his house, and he’s going to be in it. He’s allowed to ask a female friend to be in the show too, and he wants that friend to be Elizabeth.
Jessica knows that she should tell the truth, but she really wants to be on TV.
I enjoyed this one. It feels very much like the Jessica of the later series—this is absolutely the kind of thing she’d do as a twelve-year-old or sixteen-year-old, and older Todd would probably be just as bad at realising he’s talking to the wrong twin.
But then Todd tells Jessica a secret, thinking that she’s Elizabeth—a TV show is going to be filmed at his house, and he’s going to be in it. He’s allowed to ask a female friend to be in the show too, and he wants that friend to be Elizabeth.
Jessica knows that she should tell the truth, but she really wants to be on TV.
I enjoyed this one. It feels very much like the Jessica of the later series—this is absolutely the kind of thing she’d do as a twelve-year-old or sixteen-year-old, and older Todd would probably be just as bad at realising he’s talking to the wrong twin.
December 2, 2011
When Elizabeth happens to be stuck at home sick, Todd invited Jessica (thinking that she's Elizabeth) to his home. Jessica gets excited and continues pretending to be her twin since there happens to be a TV show being filmed at Todd's house. And we all know how Jessica tends to gravitate towards the spotlight even at such an early age. The question is whether or not she'll continue pretending to be her twin--and risk the latter's anger--or pursue her dreams of being a TV star?
Whether or not Jessica learns her lesson by the end of the story is never really crucial to any Sweet Valley book--including this one--since Jessica always acts the same--selfish and underhanded--by the next book.
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title: Jessica the TV Star (Sweet Valley Kids #16)
Author: Francine Pascal
Reviewed By: Purplycookie
Whether or not Jessica learns her lesson by the end of the story is never really crucial to any Sweet Valley book--including this one--since Jessica always acts the same--selfish and underhanded--by the next book.
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title: Jessica the TV Star (Sweet Valley Kids #16)
Author: Francine Pascal
Reviewed By: Purplycookie
December 6, 2021
Liz wakes up sick and has the day off school. Jess is mistaken for her, and decides to play along... especially when Todd has a big super secret to share with ‘Liz’... a TV movie is filming at his house and he wants her to be in it with him! Jess is excited, although wishes she could be in it as her. But Todd says some not so nice things about her when she suggests it. Liz is back and doesn’t get why Jess is acting weird and Todd is being secretive about something. Jess can’t keep the secret any longer and tells Lila and Ellen she’s going to be famous, everyone shows up at Todd’s, and Liz gets suspicious and winds up there too where everything comes to light and Jess learns her lesson by also still getting to be in the movie. Oh and they ask for parental permission after they film 🤔
My rating - 5/10 - the first - but not last - twin switch / Jess scheme 👯♀️.
My rating - 5/10 - the first - but not last - twin switch / Jess scheme 👯♀️.
February 5, 2017
This was always one of my favourites in the SV Kids series - I first read it as part of a serial in the magazine Girl Talk and later found the book it was based on in my local library!
Reading this book soon led to me wishing I was a twin who could swap places and play tricks on friends and family! It's funny how Jessica doesn't seem to have changed from age 7 to however old they are in SVH!
Reading this book soon led to me wishing I was a twin who could swap places and play tricks on friends and family! It's funny how Jessica doesn't seem to have changed from age 7 to however old they are in SVH!
July 26, 2012
I don't even remember what the TV commercial was advertising. But I liked this story.
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
August 13, 2016
This was one of the first Sweet Valley books I ever read. Since I wanted to be just like Elizabeth and Jessica, especially Jessica, this was one of my favorites and fueled my interest in fame.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews