When the biggest compliment your best friend can give you is "nice", you're screwed

Taking Sides
October 1986

Can Elizabeth outsmart Jessica in the hottest feud ever?

A matchmaking duel...

   Jeffrey French has been at Sweet Valley High for only one week, and already he's made quite an impression-especially with the girls. Enid Rollins has a crush on the rugged junior, but just as she's about to claim Jeffrey for her own, Lila Fowler declares that Jeffrey is just the boy for her.

   Elizabeth Wakefield isn't about to let Lila steal Jeffrey from her best friend. And when Jessica, Elizabeth's twin, finds out her sister is helping Enid, she vows to do whatever she can to help Lila. Jessica's not going to stand for Jeffrey ending up with Enid, and she's certainly not going to let herself be outwitted by her own twin!


  Y'know, when I think of Jeffrey French, I think of a couple of things.

1. Blond.


2. Dull as dishwater.


3. Whipped beyond all measure of whipped.


4. Too good for Liz, especially the way she treated him when Todd came back and whenever she needed a backup boytoy.

  Thing is, he wasn't all of these things when he first fell from the Oregon trail, aside from the too good and blond options, that is. New!Jeffrey is more often than not "Jeff" and fairly straight forward. When Liz is giving him attitude, he asks what he did to tick her off. When Liz is trying to hook him up with Enid, he looks at her like she's insane and finally tells her off. When Liz gets all over him for going to the Beach Disco with Lila, Jenny, and Jessica, he points out that if anyone has a right to be upset, it's him since he did sort of ask her out and she said she'd be with Jenny for the evening, and obviously she wasn't, since he was. When Liz... Oh, you get the idea. I'd forgotten that Jeffrey had a spine way back when. Who knew?

  So, the book begins with the best friends making googly eyes at the new guy. Enid and Lila both obviously have a thing for Aaron Dallas' soccer pal, Jeffrey. He's blond, he's hot, and he actually seems like a nice guy. He also doesn't seem like a pushover and did I mention the blond and hot factors? Cuz those are brought up a lot. Enid knows that Lila's got a thing for Jeff, but Lila is oblivious, and even if she wasn't, she wouldn't see Enid as a threat.
  Which is where Liz comes in. Sure that Lila doesn't deserve a boyfriend such as Jeffrey, she begins scheming ways to get Enid and Jeffrey in the same room, preferably talking to one another. She claims this is her first fix-up, and it's obvious that she's not so good at it. Jeff stops by to discuss his photography for The Oracle and Liz? Liz comes up with, "But you should ask Enid, my best friend, cuz she totally knows more about photography than I do. Hee!" She notices the odd looks he keeps giving her anytime she mentions Enid, but doesn't understand that they mean, "Uh, why do you keep bringing up Enid when I'm totally trying to get with you?"
  For it's obvious that neither Lila nor Enid will end up with Jeffrey since he's met both Wakefield twins and seems drawn to Liz. Hell, if you can't figure out that he wants Liz the first time they spend any real time talking together, you're more of an idiot than Liz is. But for the sake of... I dunno, the sake of something, we'll continue.

  The wacky game of keep away goes like this:
  Jessica and Lila invite Jeffrey to a pool party at Lila's. Enid and Liz? Not on the guest list.
  Liz tries to get Jeffrey to ask Enid to show him around the Valley, but he makes it pretty clear he's interested in Liz. She plays it off by saying she should spend time with her cousin, but he should go to the volleyball game, take some pictures, take Enid right there on the floor, y'know, have a good time. Instead, Jeffrey ends up at the Beach Disco with Lila, Jessica, and Jenny.
  Enid has Liz con Jeffrey into auctioning off a date with himself at their latest fund raiser, and Enid keeps Lila and Jessica away by threatening them with manual labor.
  I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but every time Liz is thrown together with Jeffrey, he makes it fairly obvious that he's interested in getting to know her. She can't admit she's falling for someone Enid's interested in, and refuses to listen when Enid admits that while Jeffrey's lovely eye candy, and nice enough, he's obviously not interested in her. Instead, Liz keeps trying to get Jeff and Enid to work until Jeffrey tells her to back the hell off with the Enid thing because, nice as Enid is, she's not what he's looking for.
  Of all people, it's Jessica who gets Elizabeth to fess up about her feelings. Jenny'd realized this awhile ago, though probably not that it was Jeffrey her cousin was interested in. Liz tempts Jeffrey away from Lila, who is wearing a white jumpsuit of all things to a beach party, and the two admit their feelings and countless B and C stories are formed, wherein Lila will try and steal Jeffrey away.

  Now, the cover will make you think Jess and Elizabeth are openly scheming against one another, but... not so much. Jessica's got her own worries, what with chubby, nerdy cousin Jenny coming to visit. Jenny latches onto Jessica and won't let go, which ticks Jess off something fierce since Jess is busy trying to get with Eddie Winters. Thing is, Eddie never tells Jenny to get lost and even engages the girl in serious conversation. I honestly can't remember if I figured out the twist the first time I read it or not, but either way, I snickered like mad when the reveal happened. See, for all Jessica's nasty thoughts about Jenny never taking a hint to get lost, it turns out that all this time Jessica should've been taking the hints. Eddie likes Jenny. Chubby, nerdy, fashionably challenged Jenny gets the guy without a massive makeover or anything. The most that's mentioned is that she dresses a little nicer [but then again, it's a dance] and wears contacts instead of her glasses [again, it's a dance], but by then Eddie had fallen anyway.
  Perhaps it's this romantic loss coupled with the never ending parade of people who cannot tell the good twin from the bad, but by the book's end, Jessica has decided she's had enough of being one half of a pair. She's going to do something... drastic! But you have to wait until next time.

Trivia:

• People to mistake Jess for Liz: Lila, Mr. Collins, Eddie.


• People to mistake Liz for Jess: Jeffrey, for all of about two seconds.


• Aaron and Jeffrey went to soccer camp together last summer.


• It's common knowledge that Mr. Fowler hates nature.


• Lila's thinking of getting a new horse.


• Jenny Townsend, is 15, flying in from Dallas, short brown hair, sparkly brown eyes hidden behind huge glasses [though she does have contacts], a bit on the chubby side, a fan of classical music [Mozart over Schubert], Wuthering Heights, romantic stories, and fuschia sweats. She's Alice's niece, but I swear, she shouldn't be. She last visited two years ago.


• Jeffrey French: Blond, well built, green eyes, from a timber farm in Oregon. Loves photography and soccer.


• It's Food Drive Week at SVH. The Oracle and the PTA are sponsoring it.


• There's a volleyball game against Parker High.


• Eddie Winters is a senior, on the swim team, likes mysteries, Wuthering Heights, dancing, and is the object of Jessica's affections. Turns out he prefers Jenny to bitchy Jessica.


• Considering Elizabeth's pondering about Enid's independence, as well as her own, it's obvious Taking Sides does not factor in the events of Malibu Summer. Easier way to figure that out? Lila's single.


• Jenny spills the beans about Enid liking Jeffrey, and Elizabeth trying to hook 'em up. Bad, Jenny! No cookie for you.


• Enid is heading the student committee for Food Drive Week, and is overseeing the canned auction. Yay, E.


• Jeffrey worked on his school paper for the last two years, but branches out and does other photography as well.


• Jeffrey's a no-show at the volleyball game, but does do an awful lot of slow dancing with Lila. Maybe he was checking to see if Liz was hiding in Lila's cleavage...


• While at the BD, Jenny danced three times with Eddie. I hear her feet never even touched the ground for the entire evening.


• Jenny, Eddie, and Jessica sit through three hours of Wuthering Heights at the Plaza Theatre. Jess is the only one who likens the experience to something she'd be forced to do for English class.


• Last year's auction items: Penny gave a back rub, and Ken forked over the football used to make the winning pass in last year's final game of the season against Palisades. The football went for 40 cans, which was the highest bid of the night.


• Lila's lime green Triumph makes it's triumphant return. Namely, it was spotted, and it's always nice to read the phrase "lime green" dontcha think?


• Lila got tickets for a pro soccer game in L.A. the day of the game and whisked Jeffie away.


• The canned food auction takes place 2PM Friday afternoon in the auditorium.


• Winston is your auctioneer, dressed in an old tux with tails, a shabby top hat, and, uh, a red bandanna. Right.


• Enid keeps Lila and Jessica away by offering to let them pack the boxes of donated cans. Each declines but Enid keeps the offer open, saying that if they stop by, she'll have 'em breaking nails in no time.


• There are 25 items up for auction this year including tickets to see The Number One in Reis Stadium next Friday [Roger Patman won with a bid of 15 cans], a Droids tape, a homemade dinner made by Mr. Collins, Mr. Jaworski's red pencil, and a picture of Bruce in a bathing suit. Oh, and Jeffrey's date, which Enid wins for 75 cans.


• Speaking of Jeffrey, the bidding starts at 10 cans, courtesy of Stacie Cabot, a sophomore. Caroline bumps it up to 15, then Stacie goes to 20, and Caroline hits 25. Enid skips the remaining numbers and heads straight to 75, dumbfounding Winston in the process.


• Even after Enid's dull date with Jeffrey, Liz keeps pushing the two together, making all three of them miserable.


• Jessica runs into Enid and Jeffrey while at Casey's on their date. Immediately Jessica goes into super scheming mode. I know, you didn't know she had any other options, did you?


• Enid, Elizabeth, and Jenny had to take the bus to the PTA beach party after Jessica and Lila schemed to keep Enid/Jeffrey apart.


• Lila calls Jeffrey "Jeffie." The sound you hear is me gagging.


• Mr. Walters is the chairman of the food drive.


• The Droids have a new song: I Feel It For You. I gag more.


• Jeffrey's car is described as a repainted sports car with a convertible top.


• Totally unrelated to all plot, but obviously SVT and Amy moving back to SV were meant to coincide as Taking Sides has an ad for the all new SVT series, and it's only up to book two.
  

Quotable:
  "Jeffrey French," Jessica said dreamily. "What a wonderful name. He's got to be really romantic with a name like French." - What is it with Jessica and names? p6


  "Enid Rollins, I can't believe you! I've never heard you say anything so ridiculous. Can you imagine any guy in his right mind preferring Lila Fowler to you? You're sweet, sincere, clever, witty-everything a nice guy like Jeffrey would naturally care about! And Lila! Well, you know Lila," she concluded.
  "You've got a point there," Enid admitted. "Lila isn't the world's easiest person to get along with. But you've got to admit the package sure looks good." - E/E. Liz, when lying to your best friend about potential dating prospects, you always tell her she's pretty, or cute, even if it's completely not true. Or, at the very least, you say she's got great hair/eyes/lips/feet. Whatever. Not doing so earns you a demerit. It also shows that you think Enid is ugly, which is uncool. She's just got really bad hair. It's the 80's. You all have bad hair. p 17

  "I'm on a diet," Jenny announced cheerfully. "I"ve made up my mind, just looking at you two. I want to be thin, too!"
  "You look fine just the way you are, Jen," Elizabeth said immediately.
  Jessica stared at her. Elizabeth, she thought, was losing either her eyesight or her judgment. - p22


  "You know," Jenny said conversationally, "according to the book I'm reading right now, there are three ways to tell when someone's in love."
  "Really?" Elizabeth said absently. "What are those?"
-snip-
  "What's the third thing?"
  "Loss of appetite," Jenny said sagely, opening a box of dough nuts and helping herself to two. "Want one?" she asked, thrusting the box at Elizabeth.
  "No, thanks," Elizabeth said, picking up her file and standing. She was thinking so hard about Jeffrey and Enid that she'd barely registered what her cousin had said. Nor did she have any idea why Jenny doubled over with laughter when she said, "I'm not hungry this morning." p 77

  The thing that bothered Jessica most was that Elizabeth had dared to scheme behind her back. That was so unlike her twin and Jessica didn't want it becoming a regular practice! No, this uncharacteristic plotting would have to be stopped immediately. One Elizabeth realized she couldn't outfox Jessica, everything would be back to normal. - So I'm guessing Jessie hasn't been paying attention for the past 30 or so books, cuz Liz is frequently scheming against her twin. p104

  "I thought you said love made people lose their appetites," Elizabeth said suddenly, remembering the conversation she and her cousin had had at breakfast earlier that week.
  "Oh, Eddie and I aren't in love," Jenny said disdainfully, taking a big bite of a hot dog. "Are you kidding? We're just really good friends. Love is so stupid." - How many really good friends immediately make plans to travel halfway across the country to visit each other after knowing one another for less than two weeks? p 122/123



"Don't you think she's nice?" Elizabeth asked.
"Sure she's nice! What does that have to do with anything?"
Elizabeth was confused. "You just haven't gotten to know her yet," she told him, trying another tack. "If you give her a chance-"
"Look," Jeffrey snapped, "I'm a big boy, Liz. I'm almost seventeen. I don't need any help choosing who I go out with."
Elizabeth felt the color drain from her face. "I was only trying to help," she said defensively. "Enid really cares about you, Jeffrey. It seems like the very least you could do is-"
"Stop it!" Jeffrey yelled, covering his ears with his hands. His eyes were fiery with anger now. "Listen to me," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a little shake that was almost rough. "I think Enid Rollins is a nice girl, but that's it. Period. And if you don't mind, I think I can take care of my romantic life on my own!" - Jeffrey's spine makes a spectacular appearance, however I'm not sure that violence, even mild, against the object of your affection is a good way to go about things. Then again, there was Todd, and we all know how Todd solved his problems until college. p 116/117




  Fluffy and I expect more from my promised Jessica/Liz showdowns. Sigh. I always harbored a little flame for Enid/Jeffrey, but mostly re-reading this one, all I could think was, "whoa. Once upon a time Jeffrey was his own man. And then Liz broke him. Good job, good twin."
  Also, for some reason, I have decided that while everyone thinks Mr. Collins is lusting after Liz, I figured it was really Penny. Purely from the scene where they leave Liz to bungle things with Jeffrey, but manage to leave at exactly the same time for completely different "errands."
  So sue me, I bore easily.
  Though for all we're told about Liz being so nice, so kind, so thoughtful of others, she ignores Jenny for 99.9% of the trip. And gets away with it.
  If you've never read Taking Sides, you didn't miss much. It's only memorable/remarkable/note worthy for a couple of things. Jeffrey and Liz get together, we're supposed to believe Lila has an actual allowance, and that someone saw past Jessica and picked the nerdy cousin instead. Granted, I'm fairly certain Jenny shouldn't exist at all, but hey. It happened.
  Superficially speaking, I think I like the foreign covers better. Maybe I've seen the normal covers too much, or maybe they just kind of look painfully awkward. Dunno. I suspect it's that I'm fickle and shiny things amuse me. But why, oh why, were there a million pictures of the Daniel twins in those ugly bathrobes?



Oh, and hey to the newbies. :)

When the biggest compliment your best friend can give you is "nice", you're screwed

Taking Sides
October 1986

Can Elizabeth outsmart Jessica in the hottest feud ever?

A matchmaking duel...

   Jeffrey French has been at Sweet Valley High for only one week, and already he's made quite an impression-especially with the girls. Enid Rollins has a crush on the rugged junior, but just as she's about to claim Jeffrey for her own, Lila Fowler declares that Jeffrey is just the boy for her.

   Elizabeth Wakefield isn't about to let Lila steal Jeffrey from her best friend. And when Jessica, Elizabeth's twin, finds out her sister is helping Enid, she vows to do whatever she can to help Lila. Jessica's not going to stand for Jeffrey ending up with Enid, and she's certainly not going to let herself be outwitted by her own twin!


  Y'know, when I think of Jeffrey French, I think of a couple of things.

1. Blond.


2. Dull as dishwater.


3. Whipped beyond all measure of whipped.


4. Too good for Liz, especially the way she treated him when Todd came back and whenever she needed a backup boytoy.

  Thing is, he wasn't all of these things when he first fell from the Oregon trail, aside from the too good and blond options, that is. New!Jeffrey is more often than not "Jeff" and fairly straight forward. When Liz is giving him attitude, he asks what he did to tick her off. When Liz is trying to hook him up with Enid, he looks at her like she's insane and finally tells her off. When Liz gets all over him for going to the Beach Disco with Lila, Jenny, and Jessica, he points out that if anyone has a right to be upset, it's him since he did sort of ask her out and she said she'd be with Jenny for the evening, and obviously she wasn't, since he was. When Liz... Oh, you get the idea. I'd forgotten that Jeffrey had a spine way back when. Who knew?

  So, the book begins with the best friends making googly eyes at the new guy. Enid and Lila both obviously have a thing for Aaron Dallas' soccer pal, Jeffrey. He's blond, he's hot, and he actually seems like a nice guy. He also doesn't seem like a pushover and did I mention the blond and hot factors? Cuz those are brought up a lot. Enid knows that Lila's got a thing for Jeff, but Lila is oblivious, and even if she wasn't, she wouldn't see Enid as a threat.
  Which is where Liz comes in. Sure that Lila doesn't deserve a boyfriend such as Jeffrey, she begins scheming ways to get Enid and Jeffrey in the same room, preferably talking to one another. She claims this is her first fix-up, and it's obvious that she's not so good at it. Jeff stops by to discuss his photography for The Oracle and Liz? Liz comes up with, "But you should ask Enid, my best friend, cuz she totally knows more about photography than I do. Hee!" She notices the odd looks he keeps giving her anytime she mentions Enid, but doesn't understand that they mean, "Uh, why do you keep bringing up Enid when I'm totally trying to get with you?"
  For it's obvious that neither Lila nor Enid will end up with Jeffrey since he's met both Wakefield twins and seems drawn to Liz. Hell, if you can't figure out that he wants Liz the first time they spend any real time talking together, you're more of an idiot than Liz is. But for the sake of... I dunno, the sake of something, we'll continue.

  The wacky game of keep away goes like this:
  Jessica and Lila invite Jeffrey to a pool party at Lila's. Enid and Liz? Not on the guest list.
  Liz tries to get Jeffrey to ask Enid to show him around the Valley, but he makes it pretty clear he's interested in Liz. She plays it off by saying she should spend time with her cousin, but he should go to the volleyball game, take some pictures, take Enid right there on the floor, y'know, have a good time. Instead, Jeffrey ends up at the Beach Disco with Lila, Jessica, and Jenny.
  Enid has Liz con Jeffrey into auctioning off a date with himself at their latest fund raiser, and Enid keeps Lila and Jessica away by threatening them with manual labor.
  I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but every time Liz is thrown together with Jeffrey, he makes it fairly obvious that he's interested in getting to know her. She can't admit she's falling for someone Enid's interested in, and refuses to listen when Enid admits that while Jeffrey's lovely eye candy, and nice enough, he's obviously not interested in her. Instead, Liz keeps trying to get Jeff and Enid to work until Jeffrey tells her to back the hell off with the Enid thing because, nice as Enid is, she's not what he's looking for.
  Of all people, it's Jessica who gets Elizabeth to fess up about her feelings. Jenny'd realized this awhile ago, though probably not that it was Jeffrey her cousin was interested in. Liz tempts Jeffrey away from Lila, who is wearing a white jumpsuit of all things to a beach party, and the two admit their feelings and countless B and C stories are formed, wherein Lila will try and steal Jeffrey away.

  Now, the cover will make you think Jess and Elizabeth are openly scheming against one another, but... not so much. Jessica's got her own worries, what with chubby, nerdy cousin Jenny coming to visit. Jenny latches onto Jessica and won't let go, which ticks Jess off something fierce since Jess is busy trying to get with Eddie Winters. Thing is, Eddie never tells Jenny to get lost and even engages the girl in serious conversation. I honestly can't remember if I figured out the twist the first time I read it or not, but either way, I snickered like mad when the reveal happened. See, for all Jessica's nasty thoughts about Jenny never taking a hint to get lost, it turns out that all this time Jessica should've been taking the hints. Eddie likes Jenny. Chubby, nerdy, fashionably challenged Jenny gets the guy without a massive makeover or anything. The most that's mentioned is that she dresses a little nicer [but then again, it's a dance] and wears contacts instead of her glasses [again, it's a dance], but by then Eddie had fallen anyway.
  Perhaps it's this romantic loss coupled with the never ending parade of people who cannot tell the good twin from the bad, but by the book's end, Jessica has decided she's had enough of being one half of a pair. She's going to do something... drastic! But you have to wait until next time.

Trivia:

• People to mistake Jess for Liz: Lila, Mr. Collins, Eddie.


• People to mistake Liz for Jess: Jeffrey, for all of about two seconds.


• Aaron and Jeffrey went to soccer camp together last summer.


• It's common knowledge that Mr. Fowler hates nature.


• Lila's thinking of getting a new horse.


• Jenny Townsend, is 15, flying in from Dallas, short brown hair, sparkly brown eyes hidden behind huge glasses [though she does have contacts], a bit on the chubby side, a fan of classical music [Mozart over Schubert], Wuthering Heights, romantic stories, and fuschia sweats. She's Alice's niece, but I swear, she shouldn't be. She last visited two years ago.


• Jeffrey French: Blond, well built, green eyes, from a timber farm in Oregon. Loves photography and soccer.


• It's Food Drive Week at SVH. The Oracle and the PTA are sponsoring it.


• There's a volleyball game against Parker High.


• Eddie Winters is a senior, on the swim team, likes mysteries, Wuthering Heights, dancing, and is the object of Jessica's affections. Turns out he prefers Jenny to bitchy Jessica.


• Considering Elizabeth's pondering about Enid's independence, as well as her own, it's obvious Taking Sides does not factor in the events of Malibu Summer. Easier way to figure that out? Lila's single.


• Jenny spills the beans about Enid liking Jeffrey, and Elizabeth trying to hook 'em up. Bad, Jenny! No cookie for you.


• Enid is heading the student committee for Food Drive Week, and is overseeing the canned auction. Yay, E.


• Jeffrey worked on his school paper for the last two years, but branches out and does other photography as well.


• Jeffrey's a no-show at the volleyball game, but does do an awful lot of slow dancing with Lila. Maybe he was checking to see if Liz was hiding in Lila's cleavage...


• While at the BD, Jenny danced three times with Eddie. I hear her feet never even touched the ground for the entire evening.


• Jenny, Eddie, and Jessica sit through three hours of Wuthering Heights at the Plaza Theatre. Jess is the only one who likens the experience to something she'd be forced to do for English class.


• Last year's auction items: Penny gave a back rub, and Ken forked over the football used to make the winning pass in last year's final game of the season against Palisades. The football went for 40 cans, which was the highest bid of the night.


• Lila's lime green Triumph makes it's triumphant return. Namely, it was spotted, and it's always nice to read the phrase "lime green" dontcha think?


• Lila got tickets for a pro soccer game in L.A. the day of the game and whisked Jeffie away.


• The canned food auction takes place 2PM Friday afternoon in the auditorium.


• Winston is your auctioneer, dressed in an old tux with tails, a shabby top hat, and, uh, a red bandanna. Right.


• Enid keeps Lila and Jessica away by offering to let them pack the boxes of donated cans. Each declines but Enid keeps the offer open, saying that if they stop by, she'll have 'em breaking nails in no time.


• There are 25 items up for auction this year including tickets to see The Number One in Reis Stadium next Friday [Roger Patman won with a bid of 15 cans], a Droids tape, a homemade dinner made by Mr. Collins, Mr. Jaworski's red pencil, and a picture of Bruce in a bathing suit. Oh, and Jeffrey's date, which Enid wins for 75 cans.


• Speaking of Jeffrey, the bidding starts at 10 cans, courtesy of Stacie Cabot, a sophomore. Caroline bumps it up to 15, then Stacie goes to 20, and Caroline hits 25. Enid skips the remaining numbers and heads straight to 75, dumbfounding Winston in the process.


• Even after Enid's dull date with Jeffrey, Liz keeps pushing the two together, making all three of them miserable.


• Jessica runs into Enid and Jeffrey while at Casey's on their date. Immediately Jessica goes into super scheming mode. I know, you didn't know she had any other options, did you?


• Enid, Elizabeth, and Jenny had to take the bus to the PTA beach party after Jessica and Lila schemed to keep Enid/Jeffrey apart.


• Lila calls Jeffrey "Jeffie." The sound you hear is me gagging.


• Mr. Walters is the chairman of the food drive.


• The Droids have a new song: I Feel It For You. I gag more.


• Jeffrey's car is described as a repainted sports car with a convertible top.


• Totally unrelated to all plot, but obviously SVT and Amy moving back to SV were meant to coincide as Taking Sides has an ad for the all new SVT series, and it's only up to book two.
  

Quotable:
  "Jeffrey French," Jessica said dreamily. "What a wonderful name. He's got to be really romantic with a name like French." - What is it with Jessica and names? p6


  "Enid Rollins, I can't believe you! I've never heard you say anything so ridiculous. Can you imagine any guy in his right mind preferring Lila Fowler to you? You're sweet, sincere, clever, witty-everything a nice guy like Jeffrey would naturally care about! And Lila! Well, you know Lila," she concluded.
  "You've got a point there," Enid admitted. "Lila isn't the world's easiest person to get along with. But you've got to admit the package sure looks good." - E/E. Liz, when lying to your best friend about potential dating prospects, you always tell her she's pretty, or cute, even if it's completely not true. Or, at the very least, you say she's got great hair/eyes/lips/feet. Whatever. Not doing so earns you a demerit. It also shows that you think Enid is ugly, which is uncool. She's just got really bad hair. It's the 80's. You all have bad hair. p 17

  "I'm on a diet," Jenny announced cheerfully. "I"ve made up my mind, just looking at you two. I want to be thin, too!"
  "You look fine just the way you are, Jen," Elizabeth said immediately.
  Jessica stared at her. Elizabeth, she thought, was losing either her eyesight or her judgment. - p22


  "You know," Jenny said conversationally, "according to the book I'm reading right now, there are three ways to tell when someone's in love."
  "Really?" Elizabeth said absently. "What are those?"
-snip-
  "What's the third thing?"
  "Loss of appetite," Jenny said sagely, opening a box of dough nuts and helping herself to two. "Want one?" she asked, thrusting the box at Elizabeth.
  "No, thanks," Elizabeth said, picking up her file and standing. She was thinking so hard about Jeffrey and Enid that she'd barely registered what her cousin had said. Nor did she have any idea why Jenny doubled over with laughter when she said, "I'm not hungry this morning." p 77

  The thing that bothered Jessica most was that Elizabeth had dared to scheme behind her back. That was so unlike her twin and Jessica didn't want it becoming a regular practice! No, this uncharacteristic plotting would have to be stopped immediately. One Elizabeth realized she couldn't outfox Jessica, everything would be back to normal. - So I'm guessing Jessie hasn't been paying attention for the past 30 or so books, cuz Liz is frequently scheming against her twin. p104

  "I thought you said love made people lose their appetites," Elizabeth said suddenly, remembering the conversation she and her cousin had had at breakfast earlier that week.
  "Oh, Eddie and I aren't in love," Jenny said disdainfully, taking a big bite of a hot dog. "Are you kidding? We're just really good friends. Love is so stupid." - How many really good friends immediately make plans to travel halfway across the country to visit each other after knowing one another for less than two weeks? p 122/123



"Don't you think she's nice?" Elizabeth asked.
"Sure she's nice! What does that have to do with anything?"
Elizabeth was confused. "You just haven't gotten to know her yet," she told him, trying another tack. "If you give her a chance-"
"Look," Jeffrey snapped, "I'm a big boy, Liz. I'm almost seventeen. I don't need any help choosing who I go out with."
Elizabeth felt the color drain from her face. "I was only trying to help," she said defensively. "Enid really cares about you, Jeffrey. It seems like the very least you could do is-"
"Stop it!" Jeffrey yelled, covering his ears with his hands. His eyes were fiery with anger now. "Listen to me," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a little shake that was almost rough. "I think Enid Rollins is a nice girl, but that's it. Period. And if you don't mind, I think I can take care of my romantic life on my own!" - Jeffrey's spine makes a spectacular appearance, however I'm not sure that violence, even mild, against the object of your affection is a good way to go about things. Then again, there was Todd, and we all know how Todd solved his problems until college. p 116/117




  Fluffy and I expect more from my promised Jessica/Liz showdowns. Sigh. I always harbored a little flame for Enid/Jeffrey, but mostly re-reading this one, all I could think was, "whoa. Once upon a time Jeffrey was his own man. And then Liz broke him. Good job, good twin."
  Also, for some reason, I have decided that while everyone thinks Mr. Collins is lusting after Liz, I figured it was really Penny. Purely from the scene where they leave Liz to bungle things with Jeffrey, but manage to leave at exactly the same time for completely different "errands."
  So sue me, I bore easily.
  Though for all we're told about Liz being so nice, so kind, so thoughtful of others, she ignores Jenny for 99.9% of the trip. And gets away with it.
  If you've never read Taking Sides, you didn't miss much. It's only memorable/remarkable/note worthy for a couple of things. Jeffrey and Liz get together, we're supposed to believe Lila has an actual allowance, and that someone saw past Jessica and picked the nerdy cousin instead. Granted, I'm fairly certain Jenny shouldn't exist at all, but hey. It happened.
  Superficially speaking, I think I like the foreign covers better. Maybe I've seen the normal covers too much, or maybe they just kind of look painfully awkward. Dunno. I suspect it's that I'm fickle and shiny things amuse me. But why, oh why, were there a million pictures of the Daniel twins in those ugly bathrobes?



Oh, and hey to the newbies. :)