Sweet Valley High #67: The Parent Plot

Time elapsed in this book: 2 weeks

Length of their junior year: 4 years, 7 months, 2 weeks

Jessica’s love interest: None

Entertainment rating: 5/10

We’ve reached the final book in the “will the Wakefield parents get divorced?” trilogy and boy am I glad it’s over. There’s some fun Jessica scheming in here, but this has dragged on for too long and this book contains the dumbest criminals running the dumbest political scandal.

Mr. Wakefield is still running for mayor after Maria Santelli’s dad was forced to drop out. Maria’s been down, so Liz invites her to help out with her dad’s campaign. Maria agrees and joins her in the campaign office after school. They run into Terry Knapp there, who seems to be about their age or maybe a little older; his uncle is one of Mr. Wakefield’s advisors. When Mr. Knapp shows up, he tells Maria that she clearly knows how to lose but maybe now she’ll learn how to win. What a douchebag. I can’t believe Mr. Wakefield thinks he needs this guy.

Jess tells Liz to face facts: their parents are over. She tries to think up dates for her mom but all she can come up with are Jeremy Frank, a local TV star who Jess once liked but now has a fiancee, and Mr. Fowler, who’s rich… but Jess doesn’t want Lila for a stepsister. She decides to keep thinking about it and suggests that her mom buy a bikini for the beach in the meantime. Mrs. Wakefield says her bikini days are behind her.

Liz tells her mom about her dad’s campaign and says he’s got great ideas and is thinking about sleeping on the streets for a night to better understand homelessness. Does this imply there’s homelessness in Sweet Valley?!? SAY IT AIN’T SO!! Mrs. Wakefield says that sounds like a publicity stunt. Liz then calls her dad and pretends to have a bad connection so he’ll call back, then disappears so her mom picks up the phone. The conversation does not go well.

At school, Jess gets a D on an English paper. Jess tells Mr. Collins how her home life is rough right now. He’s sympathetic and Jess suddenly realizes he’s divorced! Jess arranges for Mr. Collins to meet with Mrs. Wakefield on Friday evening to discuss her schoolwork.

At the campaign office, Jess eyes Amanda Mason, a law school graduate working on the campaign, as a possible date for her dad. She tells Amanda what great work she’s doing and how much her dad notices and appreciates it. Amanda takes it in stride and then leaves to meet her fiancé. Jess deflates.

Liz convinces her mom to come to the mall, hoping they’ll catch the end of Mr. Wakefield’s speech there and then all get dinner together. Due to a technical delay, the speech is just starting when they arrives. Mrs. Wakefield is not impressed and leaves.

At the campaign office, Mr. Knapp tells Mr. Wakefield he should talk about economic development instead of conservation in his next speech. Liz thinks he’s condescending and tries to convince her dad not to listen to him, but he says he owes his campaign to Mr. Knapp.

On Friday, Jess goes with her mom to meet with Mr. Collins. Jess excuses herself to retrieve a book from her locker, then hovers by the door to listen. Mr. Collins says Mrs. Wakefield could probably use a friend and invites her out to dinner the following night at Chez Sam to get her mind off things. Jess is thrilled!! Her plan is working!

When Jess gets home, Liz tells her that their dad is taking them out to dinner the next night at Chez Sam. Jess is horrified. She tries to convince him to go somewhere else, but her efforts are in vain. They go to Chez Sam–and of course run into Mrs. Wakefield and Mr. Collins! The adults are cordial and end up putting their tables together and having a table for five.

Maria left her history book at the campaign office, so she and Winston drop by there after hours to pick it up. Apparently the building has zero security because the office is open but appears to be empty. The phone rings, and Maria instinctively picks it up but someone’s already picked up another extension. She overhears Mr. Knapp talking to Sy Robertson, a local real estate developer who’d helped out on her father’s campaign. Mr. Knapp says they took Mr. Santelli out of the picture and isn’t pushing Mr. Wakefield too hard but that after he wins, he’ll be sure to approve their oceanfront development project.

Maria can’t believe what she heard. She knew her dad was framed, but this confirms it! She races home and calls Liz, who wants to tell her dad. Maria says they need to get proof first.

On Sunday, Maria, Winston, Liz, and Terry Knapp meet at a coffee shop near the campaign office. Terry says his uncle has recently been bragging that he needs to get the city council in his pocket and approve his project so he can become rich. He’s basically a cartoon villain. They decide to break into Mr. Knapp’s office after-hours (which they expect to have more security than the campaign office) and search for proof. Maria says Winston should stay out of it so he won’t get in trouble.

Jess eyes one of Mr. Wakefield’s political aides, Ramon Valdes, as a possible date for her mom. She tries talking to him and he tells her all about his cats, which Jess finds boring so she excuses herself and crosses his name off as a potential suitor.

The next night, Liz, Maria, and Terry head over to Mr. Knapp’s office. Liz goes in and distracts the guard while Maria and Terry sneak up to Mr. Knapp’s office. Just then Liz sees Mr. Knapp arrive!! She races to the office to warn them! All three hide in a closet. Mr. Knapp picks up the phone in his office and tells someone that everything’s going well and that he won’t need to make any anonymous deposits like he did with Mr. Santelli. After Mr. Knapp leaves, they find the stub of a check for $10k into Mr. Santelli’s account. It’s proof Mr. Knapp was behind the anonymous deposit! They make a copy and then leave. This is one of the stupidest conspiracies I’ve read about. SO glad the baddies kept all the evidence and talked about it openly… the fact that the Sweet Valley PD couldn’t figure out who was behind the anonymous deposit is just embarrassing.

Liz takes the evidence to her dad. Mr. Wakefield is shocked and doesn’t know who to trust. Liz suggests her mom, so they talk through possible next steps with her and how to bring this to the police. I understand their reluctance to involve the Sweet Valley PD, since they haven’t previously shown any competence at handling crime…

At a campaign event the next day, Mr. Wakefield gives a speech and says Mr. Santelli was a decent candidate who paid the price for not playing the game and that the same person is trying to manipulate Mr. Wakefield now. In the crowd, Mr. Knapp looks angry and starts walking away, but cops step in and arrest him! Up at the podium, Mr. Wakefield says he’s dropping out of the race! Mr. Knapp confesses all, trying to throw blame onto Sy Robertson, and Mr. Santelli’s name is cleared! With so much public support, he’s back in the race! This wrapped up way too quickly, but also, I’m happy it’s over.

On election night (no clue how far in the future we’ve now jumped, so I’m not including this in my “time elapsed” calculation), Mr. Santelli wins with 57% of the vote! And Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield are back together!

Up next: Dana doesn’t believe in love. Can Liz change her mind?!