LAST CHANCE (Sweet Valley High, No 36)

Rating:
Summary: Touching and uplifting........
Review: I'd have to say that I personally think that the early SVH books were very well written; focusing on other characters rather than just the Wakefields and their close friends.
Anyway onto the plot. Johanna Porter is a high school drop-out who has spent her time working various jobs including waitressing. However, after the death of her mother, she one day comes across her mother's journal in the attic and is devastated to read about her mother's views on her dropping out of school. She there and then vows to re-enrol at school and succeed in order to fulfil her mother's wishes.
Johanna knows that it will be difficult what with all the students gossiping about her return and her long-time crush Peter DeHaven a brilliant science student who is considered to be one of the brainiest guys in school, dating superficial cheerleader Amy Sutton. Johanna finds it increasingly difficult to become accepted by everyone. She finds solace in Elizabeth Wakefield and confides in her that she and Peter are secretly seeing each other but, is hurt when she thinks that Liz has betrayed her after Amy finds out.
Angry and disappointed when Peter scrawls a note stating that they shouldn't see each other anymore, Johanna finds that this is the final straw and drops out of school for good. Elizabeth tells Peter what has happened and he is torn about what to do, on the one hand he deeply cares for Johanna yet, on the other, he is too scared to let these feelings show.
Will Peter be able to persuade Johanna to return or is she destined to feel like a failure forever?

This book dealt with its issues such as insecurity and loneliness incredibly well. I felt that I could really relate to Johanna as she found it difficult to be accepted by her father because, she didn't believe that she was 'special' enough unlike her sister Julie who shared the same interest in music as her father. I was also quite surprised at the ending which wasn't a typical 'girl gets her guy after pining for him a long time'. I personally would have loved to have seen Peter and Johanna get it together but, I think that Johanna needed to deal with her own issues first before getting herself into a relationship. Besides, Peter was a fool for not standing up to Amy and showing his true feelings to Johanna.
All in all, it was a great book and I'd highly recommend it to any SVH fan.