The Basics
Title: Surprise! Surprise!
Series: Sweet Valley Kids
Published: October 1989
The Plot
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are about to turn seven. Like all small children, they believe that everyone else should be as excited about this as they are and, luckily, this is Sweet Valley, so everyone actually is. Lila teases Jess about having bought her the best present ever, while the boys in the class suggest all kinds of ‘boy’ presents that utterly horrify her. Elizabeth quite likes Ken’s idea of a catcher’s mitt, though.
Jess realises that she hasn’t bought Elizabeth a present (because apparently even at six years old, Jess is still Jess), so arranges for her mother to take her into town by herself, although the twins usually do absolutely everything together. When Elizabeth finds out, she’s hurt and wants to know what the big secret is.
Their birthday comes around and the entire class arrives, all bearing gifts. Lila’s amazing present is a doll house and Todd gets Jess a ballerina necklace and Liz a notebook. (There are already hints of Liz/Todd, which is a little weird when they’re so tiny. But in his very first introduction he pretends to punch Elizabeth, so at least he is Todd levels of Anger Management Issues from the beginning.) The twins then exchange their own presents, which are complete flops, because they both bought what they would want to receive: a blue velvet hair bow from Jessica to Elizabeth and a wind-up car from Liz to Jess. All ends well, however, because they just swap presents and get what they wanted all along.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Bit Parts
- Mrs. Becker
- Charlie Cashman
- Winston Egbert
- Andy Franklin
- Ms. Garber
- Jerry McAllister
- Ken Matthews
- Caroline Pearce
- Julie Porter
- Ellen Riteman
- Amy Sutton
- Tinkerbell
- Ned Wakefield
- Steven Wakefield
- Lois Waller
- Todd Wilkins
The Fashion
- Jess & Elizabeth’s school outfit: a yellow sweatsuit
- Jess & Elizabeth’s birthday party outfit: a red dress with long sleeves, covered in small pink and green flowers
The Pairings
- Elizabeth/Todd – implied
The Themes
- Birthdays
- Best friends
- Secrets
The Extra-curricular Activities
- Modern Dance Class
- Teacher: Ms. Garber
- Members: Jessica, Elizabeth, Lila and Lois
Sweet Valley Spy 