Review: Three's A Crowd (Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins Vol 7) by Nicole Andelfinger and Claudia Aguirre

Wow! It is difficult to believe that the Sweet Valley Twins graphic novel adaptation is now up to volume seven! (Well, actually, by the time this review goes live, volume eight will have just been released in the USA and Canada.) Three's A Crowd is a faithful adaptation of the original, telling the story of how the Wakefield twins become frustrated when Jessica's friend Mary starts hanging around their house a lot. This would be fine if she was actually there to hang around with Jessica. Or even Elizabeth. Instead, Mary, who has been in the foster care system for years, seems to want to hang around with Mrs Wakefield and spend her time doing chores at the Wakefield house. Stranger still, Mary does not seem enthusiastic about her doting foster parent's plan to adopt her. What is going on? What is the real story about Mary's home situation?

Spoiler, this one does not take the turn readers may expect. 

Although somewhat implausible, young readers will probably find the story of Mary and how she never gave up hope that her mum (who, surprisingly, has an uncanny resemblance to Mrs Wakefield,) would find her again and they would be reunited, to be quite compelling. The whole thing has a very happy ending, though I did feel a bit sorry for Mary's foster parents. There is also a fun subplot about the Unicorn club creating a celebrity cookbook for a fundraiser and proving how inept they are at these things, and a second subplot where Elizabeth learns a valuable lesson about journalism and integrity.

Overall a fun read.

Recommended. 

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