Review: The New Girl (Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins Vol 6) by Nicole Andelfinger and Knack Whittle

Those wonderful and wacky Wakefield Twins Elizabeth and Jessica are back. And this time they have back up ...

Picking up where Sneaking Out left off, the sixth Sweet Valley Twins graphic novel adaptation opens with Elizabeth and Jessica encountering Brooke Dennis once again. A new arrival in Sweet Valley, Brooke has moved to the neighbourhood with her dad, a successful screenwriter. Brooke most certainly does not want to be in Sweet Valley and the kids of Sweet Valley most certainly do not want her. Brooke is spoiled, wears preppy clothes and is rude and dismissive of everyone. Then she ruins one of Jessica's projects. The kids of Sweet Valley decide that she has gone too far this time, and decide it is time to get some revenge. Unfortunately, because this is Sweet Valley, the world's capital of bullying and implausible plot twists, this revenge takes shape in the form of a third Wakefield "triplet", Elizabeth and Jessica's supposed identical sister. Each twin takes turns in posing as "Jennifer" who slowly befriends Brooke. The plan is for Jennifer to lure Brooke into being humiliated in front of the whole school at assembly, but things begin to go awry when as "Jennifer" Elizabeth begins to discover that Brooke is a vulnerable, lonely kid who is scared that people are only nice to her because her dad is a famous scriptwriter. Add to the fact that her mum left because she was pregnant to another man and does not seem to want anything to do with Brooke and it is understandable why she might have trouble making friends. But with just minutes to go before the assembly can Elizabeth stop Brooke from being humiliated? And what happens when she fails and the ruse about Jennifer is revealed? 

What will happen to Brooke when her trust in a friend is shattered once again?

This was an entertaining graphic novel. Probably one of the best things about it is that, for once, all of the kids of Sweet Valley see the actual harm their bullying has caused, and work together to fix it and make things right again. There are some pleasing and necessary updates to the original, adding some stronger morals. It also helps I think that Brooke is one of my favourite characters from the series. Kids should be able to relate to the story and there is an excellent message in there about not knowing what is going on in another persons life.

A solid instalment in a series of graphic novels that is going from strength to strength.

Recommended. 

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