Review: The Haunted House by Nicole Andelfinger, Knack Whittle & Francine Pascal

Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back in their fourth Sweet Valley Twins graphic novel. This time around the twins are divided when a mysterious new girl arrives at Sweet Valley Middle School. Nora Mercandy is quiet, slightly depressed and has a goth look about her. If that alone doesn't make her enough of a target in Sweet Valley, the world's capital of pointless and excessive schoolyard bullying, the fact that she is living in the old Mercandy house which is supposedly haunted and everyone thinks her grandparents are creepy certainly is. 

This one was an interesting addition to the series. As is often the case in Sweet Valley, centres around Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, highlighting the differences between the twins. While Elizabeth takes the time to get to know Nora, and finds her to be a sweet kid who is grieving for her mother and has little support from her ailing grandparents, Jessica is more focused on outward appearances and the opinions of her snooty friends--though for the first time we see Jessica trying to stand up to the other girls in the snooty unicorn club--and eventually succeeding--when she thinks that the bullying has gone too far. I appreciate the way that Nicole Andelfinger and Knack Whittle have done their best to update the story, to give it a more contemporary feel and to give certain characters their comeuppance. 

Recommended.

PS The novel ends with a sneak peek at the fifth book in the series Sneaking Out, which is already available in the United States and other parts of the world. The graphic novel series will consist of at least six books, as book six, The New Girl is already well into development. 

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