From the Email Archives.

Earlier today my friend Marcella emailed me a list that I had sent her years ago, and scarily enough a lot of it still applies, particularly items one, two, three and eight (even though it wasn’t very fuel-efficient and probably contributed significantly to global warming).

Subject: Where’s the love?

Things I miss:

1. The Secret World of Alex Mack
2. Winston, when he was a puppy particularly
3. Deli Häus
4. Noise Addict
5. Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip
6. Jonathan Brandis
7. Sweet Valley High/Sweet Valley University
8. my Four-Runner
9. summers off
10. boys boys boys boys boys

So sad.

The thing I find the most interesting on the list, though, is the fact that I mentioned Sweet Valley University, since I only have read one book in that series.  Sweet Valley High, on the other hand — well, let’s just say I’m familiar with Californian twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, as well as several of the books’ plotlines.  Standout favorites include the one in which Elizabeth wakes up from a coma with a new personality; the one in which Enid gets paralyzed; the one in which Jessica gets involved with rich boy Bruce Patman; the one in which Elizabeth is kidnapped…

I also have to confess that I read several of the “Super Editions” — I absolutely loved Spring Fever, in which Jessica and Elizabeth visit relatives in Kansas, get ostracized by the local kids and fall in love with a set of identical twins, until it is discovered that all is not what it seems.  Ultimately everything works out in the end — turns out the town’s teens are jealous of the twins’ California style, the carnies (did I mention there are carnies?) are accepted by the community, and Jessica gets to finally wear a gingham dress à la Dorothy Gale.

Sigh.  Does it get more dramatic than that?