The Basics
Title: Jessica the Baby-Sitter
Series: Sweet Valley Kids #14
Published: January 1991
The Plot
The Wakefields’ next-door neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. DeVito, have just had their first baby. Her name is Jennifer—Jenny for short—and she has blue eyes and blonde hair, just like Jessica and Elizabeth. The twins go to the DeVito house to meet her and are so enamoured of her that they start dreaming of a new baby sibling of their own.
At first, they simply plan to try to talk Alice into producing this new baby for them but, after a conversation in class about pregnancy symptoms, Jessica and Elizabeth start to wonder whether their mother might already be pregnant. After all, she has been tired lately and she ate two pickles in one sitting.
Still baby mad, the girls go next door to “help” Mrs. DeVito with Jenny. For those worried by the title of the book, the only baby-sitting these two seven-year-olds do is sit beside the baby and run to tell Mrs. DeVito once it starts crying. A lot more crying and a nappy change later, and the twins are beginning to wonder whether babies are so wonderful after all.
Jessica and Elizabeth start to question whether they want a new sibling at all. They realise that they would have less time with their mother if a baby came along, which makes them sad, because everyone knows that the Wakefield twins are meant to be the centre of attention all the time. But Alice has baby wallpaper samples, so she must be pregnant!
Actually, she’s not. The wallpaper is for a project she’s doing for her interior design course and that’s why she’s tired as well. The twins are relieved. Babies are more trouble than they’re worth.
The Verdict
This feels very age-appropriate for the audience for this series, but it also feels extremely generic. Change the names and it could be any two kids wishing for a baby sister. I prefer the books where the twins are more obviously their Sweet Valley selves.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Bit Parts
- Mr. DeVito (mention only)
- Lila Fowler
- Andy Franklin
- Mark Morris
- Mrs. Otis
- Ellen Riteman
- Eva Simpson
- Amy Sutton
The Places
- Sweet Valley Mall: contains a baby boutique
The Themes
- Jumping to conclusions, babies, family
Sweet Valley Spy 