Episodes

Picture this: it's December 1989. You're at the Walden Books inside the mall. As you browse the latest soapy middle-grade serials, what to your wondering eyes should appear but an ENTIRE book all about the elusive, elegant, rich, and endlessly scheming Lila Fowler. Your favorite character in the Sweet Valley High series.

Fast forward: it's 22 years later, and two Elder Millennials named Marissa are going to retell the story of this very important novel to you.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, GLADIATORS!

Than...

On this very special narrative-style hiatus bonus episode: A listener’s email leads down an internet research rabbit hole of ridiculous proportions. Caution: there will be dolls. Watch the Bandai Sweet Valley High Dolls ad on

In which two professional filmmakers/screenwriting professors attempt to break story on a film adaptation of Sweet Valley High Book 60: THAT FATAL NIGHT.

It's the (main episode) Season 6 finale and all the stars are out: Terry Adams! Zack Johnson! Skip Harmon! You know, all your favorites. Oh, and the Wakefields and such are there too. But let's quit beating around the bush: this is the book where Ken...

Sweet Valley High may not be historical fiction, but it IS fiction from history. Novelist Libbie Hawker is back to talk rich historical details like in-car CD players and VHS recording. Plus: What's up with Dominique Roy? The metaphorical resonance...

So, Liz and Todd are IN LOVE AGAIN, and all is right with the world...except for the fact that Todd goes to a fancy school an hour away, they're both too infatuated with one another to keep up with their commitments, and it's about to be Snobs vs...

Shey Zanotti is back, and memories of (the very much still alive) Jeffrey French abound. Remember the time he scared away those thugs who wanted to steal Ronnie's car? Remember the time Elizabeth thought he was falling in love with Enid? Or perhaps...

#1 Jeffrey French fan Shey Lyn Zanotti is back, and she's not the only one! Remember Todd Wilkins, Elizabeth's first love, who moved away to Vermont...at some point earlier in junior year? Can you believe that was 35 books ago? Now the Wilkinses are...

Chris and Paris from Terrible Book Club return! Jessica slums it in electronics class and Lila scams her pedagogically lazy dressmaking instructor in the TEACHER CRUSH b-plot. Plus, super-spoilers for Olivia's future! Extra drama indeed!  Listen...

Terrible Book Club’s Paris and Chris dare to join Marissa to tackle this downright nerve-wracking tale of Olivia Davidson and her lust for painting teacher Stuart “Call me Stuart” Bachman. A book that is truly challenging to read in public. * *...

Haley Tubbs returns to talk about the science field trip that wasn't, and whether Jessica is right about guys with "too much of a sense of humor." What fun! All in the the name of LOST AT SEA, of course.

Part island fantasy, part survival guide, part extra credit assignment, LOST AT SEA is the first Sweet Valley High novel to feature a character getting lost at sea, assumed dead. Professional science enthusiast Haley Tubbs joins Marissa to dig into...

Jack and Tanner are back for more THRILLER talk. What all-time-greatest film is this book's plot remixed from? How would the BSC handle this mystery? Would a t-shirt fit over Jack's head? Find out all this and more (sort of) in today's EXTRA DRAMA! Links:

SURPRISE! Did we spook ya? Marissa is joined by fellow 80s/90s juvenile lit series aficionados and podcasters Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring of the Baby-Sitters Club Club. The meddling twins are back, and so is Nicholas Morrow! This one has it...

Marissa and her dad found a dance instruction book for teenagers written by Betty White (but apparently not THAT Betty White? It's hard to say.) Discussion of this piece of ephemera (and Dad's high school basketball career) abound in this week's EXTRA...

Dad's back to talk hoops! Marissa is joined by her father, Don, to discuss Shelley Novak. Who's she? Who, for that matter, is Jim Roberts? Cathy Ulrich? Greg Hilliard? Anybody? No? Sweet Valley High contains multitudes, people. This week, learn about...

Do twins really have super communication powers? Does goofy drama make scary stuff easier to swallow? Have "mentally unstable" villains kept us from tackling our own mental health issues? TWO-BOY WEEKEND is the gift that keeps on giving...us more...

The title of this book makes a promise, and that promise is kept in ways both thrilling and hilarious. Also somewhat harrowing. Teya Patt (FOR ALL MANKIND) joins Marissa for the play-by-play of this masterpiece of juvenile (?!) fiction. CW for...

CW: Mom death Marissa opens up about why, despite her lack of tennis skill, she found herself relating deeply to Kristin Thompson. Other topics of conversation: enjoying your life on your own terms, the overabundance of straight girls at SVHS, Bruce...

The Parade of Randos marches on, but this time around, the plot is not so predictable. Will a soon-to-be tennis pro throw it all away over Bruce Patman? The answer may surprise you! Or, if not the answer, at least the question. Katie LaDue is back and...

Super Thrillers have SO much drama that some of it has to spill out into an Extra Drama bonus ep! Alice Wakefield's frustrating food choices, Darcy Kaymen's voluptuousness, and the good citizenship of Sweet Valleyites in general are all up for debate...

SURPRISE! Just to keep things spicy, we're returning to the Super Thriller series, where the Wakefield twins are still slaving away (literally!) at the News. Murders are on the rise, and all the new kids are from Ohio. Superfriend Nick Riley is...

Marissa and guest reader Dr. Daniel Okobi tackle, but don't really answer, a big-but-vague question: Is John Pfeifer a good guy in this book? Also: Jessica's Philosophy on Men, and what's up with this new tennis girl? * * * There's a new

If you're expecting a book titled WHITE LIES to be a cold, hard look at the exclusionary racial culture of Sweet Valley, California...well, keep waiting. The white lies in question here are all about a sweet sophomore, her ill-advised love affair with...