Review: Teacher's Pet (Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins:The Graphic Novel) by Nicole Andelfinger & Claudia Aguirre

The second graphic novel in the reimagined Sweet Valley Twins series takes its focus from goody-goody twin Elizabeth to the devilish and fundamentally flawed Jessica. This time around, we see a vulnerable side to the younger Wakefield twin. After all, it's not so easy having such a perfect sister. Especially when this is the one occasion when Jessica deserves the spotlight. The twins are taking ballet lessons. Jessica loves ballet and works harder than anyone else in the class. Coupled with a natural flair for ballet, she should be living the dream, right? Nope. It is her sister Elizabeth who gets all of the praise and recognition from their teacher, who barely even notices Jessica no matter how hard she works.

The premise is interesting enough, though like all Sweet Valley tales this one is flawed--it particular the retconned ending. (In the original, the teacher paid Jessica little attention because she mistakenly believed that she was not serious about ballet. This one pans out a little differently and it is over within a couple of frames.) The storytelling is flimsy at best, though it will probably be enjoyed by the target audience. And like all Sweet Valley books, there is a lead in to the next instalment in the series, Choosing Sides. (Meaning that the series will be skipping a title, though, apparently, The Haunted House is set to be released as book four in the USA this month.) 

Anyway, this is a bit of fun and nostalgia for diehard Sweet Valley fans, though for me nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the days of using my pocket money to buy the latest instalment from my local bookshop.

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