Saddles and sneaks
Twelve year-old Lila Fowler may be too young to appreciate diamonds at this point in her life, but in First Place, book number 8 in the Sweet Valley Twins series, created by Francine Pascal and written by Jamie Suzanne, Lila proves she is absolutely too immature to appreciate the worth and value of a beautiful thoroughbred horse named Thunder. And whilst Sweet Valley's richest and most spoiled character is always unrelentingly snobbish, selfish and elitist to the core, in this story we cannot accuse Lila of being an animal-hater too (although she is as neglectful and dismissive of Thunder as if he was a piece of antique jewellery).

The problem is, of course, that Lila considers Thunder, not as a horse, but as yet another trinket her father has presumably given to keep her quiet and happy. Jessica Wakefield, Lila's best friend, understands this, but interestingly enough it is Elizabeth Wakefield - Jessica's twin and Lila's least enthusiastic groupie - who quashes her usual integrity and clear-sightedness all for the sake of being with Thunder, with whom she falls in love at first sight. As the story unfolds, readers may be surprised that the sympathy felt for Jessica's outrage at her twin's fake friendship with Lila grows stronger even than what is felt for Elizabeth in her sticky situation. After all, Elizabeth knowingly makes some remarkably ill-judged decisions and choices throughout the book, and her lies and deceit cause herself and others a lot of trouble. Jessica, on the hand, is more the victim of circumstance than usual: unable to fully confront Lila or Elizabeth, she also has to endure a kind yet firm lecture from her mother about the importance and the good of sharing friends - knowing full well that neither Lila nor Elizabeth would care much for the feelings of the other if not for Thunder. It's an unenviable position for any twelve year-old, especially one who, by default, is always cast as the "bad" or troublesome twin. Who will win first place? Readers may be surprised at the story's end - but then again maybe not!

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