This week, we’re back from vacation and ready to tackle the complex subject of interracial relationships. Cheerleader Sandy Bacon is dating Manuel Lopez (our first named Mexican-American character), but Sandy’s afraid to tell her parents, who are well-known racists. It’s a text that is at some points highly nuanced and (as Robert would say) well-observed, and at other points makes us convulse with rage. 

Join us as we discuss this complicated story, freak out over a shockingly pornographic moment, and succumb to more than a few exhaustion-induced giggle fits, in “Solving Racism One ‘Whatever’ at a Time” (Sweet Valley High #42, Caught in the Middle). Whatever!