Sweet Valley Diaries

There comes a time in every podcast's run when an episode is thwarted by MAJOR TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!!! This is that time for us.  As such, Marissa will not be offended if you skip this one altogether. She WILL, however, be offended if this effort is not nominated for this year's Making Lemons Out of Lemonade Award. Which is fictional. Damn. Real #29: BITTER RIVALS episode coming July 18,...

What's Lynne Henry's deal? This and other pressing questions (not to mention heartfelt confessions of deeply rooted personal insecurities, laments about high school crushes, smack talk about Guy Chesney, etc.) come together to form the sexy, confident body of this week's bonus episode. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

You've been waiting with bated breath for Lynne Henry to FINALLY get her very own book. Marissa is joined by her cousin, Meghan Shattuck of Albuquerque, for this journey into one of the teen-angstiest  volumes of the Sweet Valley High series. It also doubles as a legit romance novel (if you ignore the b-story about a rocking-chair-based cheerleading fundraiser). Further Reading: " The New...

It's Wednesday night and there's nothing better to do than sit in a semicircle at the high school and listen to teen poetry. Molly McKellar returns to help Marissa recreate an authentic "literary evening" at Sweet Valley High and overanalyze a totally fictional poem. WHAT LARKS!   IKEA Catalog covers   Evidence by Mary Oliver Practical Gods by Carl Dennis This episode features musi...

Ken Matthews: The man. The myth. The m....aybe he should be spending more time working on his English homework? Molly McKellar joins Marissa to discuss this movie-star handsome captain of the football team and his many, many, highly relatable troubles in this, the first male-character-centered volume in the Sweet Valley High series. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

What do you get when you put the Baby-Sitters Club girls in a Sweet Valley world? Well if this bonus episode's best guess is correct, you get Janine Kishi and Shannon Kilbourne executing a computer plant heist alongside Kristy and Stacey. And that's in ADDITION to the big parade! Obviously, Jack and Tanner from the BSCC Podcast are back. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Is Mitch Denson a certified snack or an entire dish? What on earth is a “burn of the week?” Who is Regina? Answers to all this and more courtesy to extremely professional podcasters and Baby-Sitters Club experts Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring (hosts of the tremendous Baby-Sitters Club Club Podcast ).   Further Reading: Nicholas Morrow, NFL   Le Morte d’Arthur Sweet Valley Diaries at St. Martin...

Dan Gaspari returns to discuss the band that rocks Sweet Valley High. What do they sound like? What will happen if they date each other? Who are they? How many band names can we remember? Answers to all this and more await!   Further Reading (Or Listening!) Dave Grohl Stop Making Sense (which is really more a concert film than a documentary) Tom Tom Club, Genius of Love . Tina Weymouth and Chris F...

Grandma and Grandpa Wakefield are in town and poor Alice has NOWHERE TO RUN from her attention-hogging, out-of-state in-laws! Oh wait, that's the b-story. This book's title refers to Droids drummer Emily Mayer and her family problems, which Elizabeth will be solving. Thanks, Elizabeth! Guest Dan Gaspari joins Marissa to discuss both a-and b-stories and marvel at the pure evil that is Emily...

Guest Katie LaDue returns to finally reveal the secret Jessica B-Plot that had her scheming to go to a dance with Winston Egbert. What possible explanation could there be for such a happenstance??? Listen and learn the truth. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Steven is in a love triangle with Cara and a ghost. Elizabeth is hoping to replace Todd with a doppelgänger. Jessica is trying to get Winston to take her to The Caravan. In short, all three of the Wakefield siblings are back on their bullshit, and Katie LaDue returns to discuss it all. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Are Steven, Enid, and everyone else in Sweet Valley right about long-distance being a bad idea? Do these rules only apply to 16-year-olds? What is a "hometown honey?" Mary Kate Wiles and Marissa discuss all of these questions, and concretely answer only one of them. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Is it possible to hang a black veil over a podcast episode description? No? Damn.  Mary Kate Wiles comforts Marissa in her time of crisis. Because...TODD!!! TOOODDDDD!!!!   Music in this episode: ELEGIAC SYMPHONY by Dee Yan-Key Fonte Abandonada by Real Vocal String Quartet   Links! Paper & Slate Lizzie Bennett Diaries Shipwrecked Comedy on YouTube Proof that this whole glasses thing is not new...

Marissa and Russ Nickel consider the morality of staging an elaborate lie to trick a friend into becoming less of a total sad sack.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Marissa brings back newly-minted Bill Chase/Dee Dee Gordon expert Russ Nickel, and the results may surprise you: realistic and relatable depiction of romantic problems? Healthy lessons for young readers? This isn't the Sweet Valley High I fell in love with...  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Marissa and songstress Jocelyn Scofield discuss the story of Jocelyn's ode to all the former Rick Andovers out there, her song "Bad Boy in High School." Spoiler alert: they're probably NOT the best years of your life. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Season 3 Premiere! Marissa and songstress Jocelyn Scofield investigate Jessica Wakefield’s first emo phase, poor parenting in Sweet Valley, and that one time Elizabeth served Ricky Capaldo some deeply scalding tea. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Happy V Day...Sweet V Day, that is! Marissa made up that holiday, but there's no reason that should keep you from celebrating. Celebrate by listening to this announcement! This episode features music from PurplePlanet.com and an excerpt from RACING HEARTS, Sweet Valley High #9, by Kate William. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Fan favorite Marissa’s Dad is back for this SUPER EDITION bonus episode…and he’s not the only person who’s back! What fresh hell will Suzanne Devlin impose on Sweet Valley this Christmastide? Find out, if it’s the last thing you do this year! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Sweet Valley Diaries is a year old! Happy Anniversary, podcast!   What a first year. For listening, for telling friends, for rating and reviewing, and to those who participated and helped and advised and supported: THANK YOU. Because of you, there is more to come. Now have a ton of fun with this…CLIP SHOW! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Popular fiction podcast (and soon to be YA series!) The Bright Sessions might just be the opposite of Sweet Valley High. Creator Lauren Shippen and Marissa speculate on what would happen if the two universes collided (hint: DRAMA!). This is the Season Two Finale! Make sure to subscribe so that you automatically get the latest episodes when Season Three starts, and any special bonuses in the meanti...

What’s worse: your boyfriend cheating on you; your boyfriend crashing the plane he’s flying you in; everyone agreeing that your cheating boyfriend should stay with you because you’ll never walk again without his love; you convincing yourself you can’t walk without his love; or your best friend tricking you into walking by hanging the life of your hot teacher’s child in the balance? Marissa debates...

Mark Sullivan sits down at the microphone and before Marissa can even hit record, Pandora’s Podcasting Box cracks open. For a few minutes, this Sweet Valley High podcast becomes a movie podcast, a history podcast, a theater podcast, a politics-of-representation podcast. You guys, Sweet Valley is as deep as you wanna make it. FYI, Allen Walters IS the under-appreciated Oracle photographer.     Furt...

Frenemies Lila and Jessica think they're duking it out over a secret scion, romantically masquerading as a construction worker. Marissa and her guest, actor Mark Sullivan, walk you through it all, from the poolside objectification to the final knife fight. Yep, you read that right. Knife fight. Some music in this episode courtesy of Purple Planet. Links, references, explanations: LA Theatre Wo...

Bruce is a changed man. Jessica is certifiable. Caitlin is Francine’s Mary Sue. Only one question remains: Who are the Vanderhorns??? CJ Hoke is back again to delve in to these and other DRAMATICALLY PRESSING ISSUES!!! *** Notes:   All joking aside, the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder read like an dead-on character description of Jessica Wakefield. What is a Mary Sue ? (an interestin...