Literary crushes are inevitable when you read Young Adult literature. Michael Moscovitz, Jace Wayland, Four/Tobias, Tucker Avery… the list goes on and on. But somehow you never quite forget your first literary crush.
Mine came in the form of a special guest character in a Magna (not sure why it’s called this honestly) Sweet Valley Twins book, called The Magic Christmas.
The story is this: Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield receive these Harlequin dolls for Christmas from their grandparents, who explain they once belonged to their great-great aunt and great-great grandmother (who were, of course, twins). On both of the dolls there are pendants with riddles, the answer to them being “pairs.” Both girls figure this out at the same time and tada! the dolls come to life and begin walking through the house, eventually disappearing into a golden light. The girls follow, although separately, after the dolls and enter into a magical world.
Lemme just stop right here. First off… if you’re even remotely familiar with SVH or SVT, you know it’s supposed to be contemporary. Clearly this is not.
Anyway… their dolls end up being the missing Prince Adair and Prince Dorin of The Hidden Kingdom, both who have personalities similar to Jessica’s and Elizabeth’s, respectively. So of course snarky Adair is paired with goody-goody Elizabeth and fast-paced Jessica is paired with serious Dorin. Thus begins younger me’s first literary crush.
I never really liked Jessica… even as a kid reading Sweet Valley Kids I couldn’t stand her. She was just such a brat. I was so much more of an Elizabeth – smart, slightly nerdy, book-wormish… she and I were kindred spirits.
Dorin, from what I can remember, was pretty amazing – brave and serious, that quietly powerful kind of guy. But it was Adair I was more drawn to. He was a thorn in Elizabeth’s side and I remember loving their snarky banter, but he was also caring and really looked out for her, a real hero. To my young teenage self he was a major dreamboat.
I couldn’t remember both of the twin princes names, so I Googled them and came across this stunningly hilarious recap of the entire book. Check it out if you’re so inclined.
The Grown-Up YA 
You make me want to go back and read a Sweet Valley book just for nostalgia sake. I was more of a BSC kid, but I did read my fair share of SV. This one just sounds bizarre!
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I know, right?! I wish I knew where my copy of this book is because I want to reread it. I LOVED BSC when I was growing up; I had a hard time deciding to discuss one of my favorites from that series or this book… maybe next Thursday! Thanks for the follow as well!
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I loved Sweet Valley!!
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I never read Sweet Valley and now I feel like I was missing out!
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I never read SV but this book sounds wonderfully strange! Awesome review.
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All my friends loved Jessica, but I was always an Elizabeth!
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SWEET VALLEY!! God, I loved them. I read them, I would say, almost exclusively for several years. Alas, I seem to have missed this gem! I haven’t read a SVH or SVT book in a long time, and I wonder how they hold up (I’m guessing not so great, but you never know). Thank goodness they’re redoing this series! Can you imagine Jessica with an iPhone? It’s going to be cray cray, and I can’t wait!!
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Ha, this WAS a gem! I don’t even remember where I got it from; probably a find at the grocery store or something. I don’t know any younger teens who read SVT or even SVH, but then again, I don’t really know what the kids read these days anyway! Also, the Wakefields in today’s culture? Cray cray is right!
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