My professor in Political Law Review, Atty. Jacinto Jimenez, was dishing out lines from Macbeth earlier and ranting about kids not knowing Shakespeare's works nowadays.
I got kinda smug since I knew the lines he was reciting:
"Double, Double
Toil and trouble
Fire burn
And cauldron bubble."
Although, honestly speaking, I didn't learn it by reading Macbeth (but, yes, I do have a copy of Macbeth. And a Midsummer Night's Dream. And Julius Caesar. And Romeo and Juliet - of course. And... ahh. Just refer to my book shelves.). I learned the same by reading... dan-da-ra-ran! Sweet Valley Kids! I'm not so sure though if that was in Book 12 "Trick or Treat" or in another issue but, still, I learned a lot from the Wakefield Twins.
Contrary to what most people think, Sweet Valley books aren't at all useless (Refer to the Macbeth learning). In fact, I discovered the poem "Remember" by Christina Georgina Rossetti through Elizabeth Wakefield's diary (to those who don't know her, she's one-half of the Wakefield twins of Sweet Valley, the other half being Jessica). Now, I can't be too sure if that was Volume 1 or 2 of her diary.
The poem goes:
"Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more, day by day,
You tell me of our future that you planned;
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve;
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad."
The poem was recited by her then-boyfriend Todd Wilkins in the auditorium. He dedicated the poem to her since he would be leaving for Vermont a short time thereafter. And I remember having cried buckets of tears as I read the poem over and over and over again. Yeah, yeah. But c'mon! I think I was in sixth grade at that time! The twins' diaries were actually part of the Sweet Valley High books, by the way.
Ah. Let's go back to Sweet Valley Kids. Aside from lines from the great pillars of literature, the series teach young bookworms a lot about other matters, too.
Book 13, aptly titled "Starring Winston Egbert" gave me a quick lesson about the Indians and the history of Thanksgiving. In that book, the second-grade kids took part in the play commemorating the start of Thanksgiving in America. Jessica (my favorite twin) saved the day.
Tonsils may be taken out, as per Book 20, "The Twins Go to the Hospital". Once the operation is over, the patient loses his or her voice and it's a good reason to play Pictionary in the hospital room and eat ice cream.
Jessica's Snobby Club (I don't remember the book number), I think, was the first culprit to turn me against the idea of sororities and fraternities and "elite" groups. There, Jessica and her "snobby" friends formed the "Orchid Club", which was composed of those girls who had elaborate orchid pins/brooches or whatever you call them. None-owners of those pins may not join. Plus, the members may not run, play with other people, or do other things which entail association with non-members and prejudice the condition of the delicate orchid pins. Yes, the beginning of a sorority of sorts.
Another Jessica-centered book was "Jessica and the Spelling Bee". Jessica is not known as the smart twin - that's Elizabeth. But Jess was the one who managed to represent her school to the Spelling Bee. As she tried her damnedest to extricate herself from the said contest due to fright and insecurity, which was largely brought about by the jeers of her classmates about her having cheated her way to the Bee, Jess researched on hearing impairment. Then and there, Jess and I (hehe) learned about the stirrup - a small bone located in the middle ear (yes, yes. The same word refers to the loop which hangs from either side of a horse's saddle. This bone in the ear is shaped like the horse saddle's stirrups, hence the name.).
Spell it: Stirrup. S-T-I-R-R-U-P. Stirrup.
Sweet Valley. S-W-E-E-T V-A-L-L-E-Y.
That's it for now, children of the 80's and 90's. More about the Wakefield twins and their series next time.
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1 comment:
I'm a product of the Sweet Valley Series too, read my first sweet valley twins at third grade. I don't remember much the stories--- I rememered how difficult it was to borrow books from classmates --- ergo, the hang ups with books andlots and lots of books. By the way, its typical that your favorite twin would be jessica, most of the time I hated her for mistreating Elizabeth, but come to think of it--- I might have initially liked Elizabeth, but if I were to read those books again, I might find her too boring. It shoulad have ween made a triplet. I'd then root for the half-way kid.
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