Runaway Hamster (Sweet Valley Kids #2)

The Basics

Title: Runaway Hamster
Series: Sweet Valley Kids
Published: November 1989

The Plot

Every weekend, one of the students in Mrs. Becker’s second grade class is chosen to take home the class pet, a hamster named Tinkerbell. Most of the kids are super excited by the prospect, but Jessica dreads her name being pulled from the box, as she’s more than a little scared of the tiny rodent. In the end, it’s Elizabeth who is chosen to take Tinkerbell but, as she’ll have the hamster for all of the winter break, Jessica is expected to be equally responsible for looking after it.

In a different kind of book series, this might have led to Jessica’s family helping her to work through her fears. This is Sweet Valley, though, so everyone is completely indifferent to her genuine distress. And then, when Tinkerbell escapes from her cage because the door doesn’t shut properly, Jessica is treated as though she is at fault, when really people should be blaming the shoddy cage.

Tinkerbell is nowhere to be found, so the Wakefields return to school with a replacement. The new hamster is named Thumbelina, proving that groups of small children should never be allowed naming rights to anything important. But then, just as everyone has given up on ever seeing Tinkerbell again, Ned Wakefield notices a chewed hole in his box of crackers. In an extremely helpful coincidence, Steven has been working on a mousetrap for the weirdest science class ever—a mousetrap that conveniently manages to recapture Tinkerbell, who Jessica is suddenly not afraid of any more. Which is a good thing, really, because it’s not as though anyone was going to notice her phobia or help her through it.

Two books in and I’m already feeling frustrated due to Jessica-related injustice. These may be aimed at little kids, but they definitely have that in common with the other series.

Major Characters

• Tinkerbell
• Elizabeth Wakefield
• Jessica Wakefield

Minor Characters

• Mrs. Becker
• Alice Wakefield
• Ned Wakefield
• Steven Wakefield

Bit Parts

• Crystal Burton
• Ricky Capaldo
• Charlie Cashman
• Winston Egbert
• Sandra Ferris
• Lila Fowler
• Andy Franklin
• Tom McKay
• Melanie Mills
• Caroline Pearce
• Ellen Riteman
• Jim Sturbridge
• Amy Sutton
• Thumbelina
• Lois Waller
• Todd Wilkins

The Places

• Pine Tree: A favourite place for Jess and Liz, located in their back yard.

The Themes

• Responsibility, pets, owning up to your mistakes