Keepin' it Real

Sweet Valley Jr. High #16

by Francine Pascal (Creator), Jamie Suzanne

Anna breaks out of her close circle of friends.

Anna has needed this all along. To get away from everybody and  try something completely different. Meet new people. After all, change is good, right? And the drama club is so cool.

Genres: Childrens, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2000

About the author

Francine 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.

Reviews

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna finds that her interests have diverged somewhat from that of her friends. What they used to love together she still enjoys, but now she also wants to explore Drama club - and get to know other people. How she deals with this change and how her friends deal with her makes for an interesting story from a point of view we don't always see.

I notice that Liz and Jessica are somewhat scarce in this book, which is fine. I like that Sweet Valley can allow some of the other kids to have a moment in the spotlight once in a while.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so annoyed that the only books in this series that I can get from ILL are the ones featuring Anna and Salvador. I just find Anna boring and Salvador irritating, and I would love to read about some of the other new characters instead.

[Winna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun!

Salvador becomes a jealous jerk when Anna has new friends. Liz is stuck in the middle.

Kristin is fighting with her mother over self image and weight.

Not much about Jess.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the cover just not the story.

[Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really great book.