Get Real

Can there really be room on the shelves for yet another series starring the omnipresent twins who already appear in Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley University? Offering readers more than just a special introductory price, this inaugural volume certainly makes a good case for the Sweet Valley Jr. High series. The plot's realistic situations and on-target dialogue make the updated Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield seem genuinely credible late-'90s teens (except for their physical perfection, which hasn't changed a smidge in 15 years). The first-person narrative switches back and forth between the sisters, with an occasional chapter offering the voice of Anna or Salvador, fellow eighth-graders Elizabeth meets after the town's redistricting lands the Wakefields, alone of all their friends, at the junior high rather than the middle school. Elizabeth, the sweet-natured twin, has a much smoother transition to the new school setting than flighty Jessica, who misses the popularity she enjoyed at their former school. Though the action here is minimal--Elizabeth inadvertently threatens the close rapport between her two new pals and Jessica senses that her best friend, Lila, has replaced her--the girls' likable voices and lifelike predicaments will win over a new generation of middle-grade readers. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) FYI: The publisher is cross-promoting the series with the band 'N SYNC through a sweepstakes detailed inside the book. The second episode, One 2 Many, is due in February and comes with a free audiocassette.