Don't Answer the Phone

A quick note for families browsing the Children's section: Don't Answer the Phone is a Sweet Valley University thriller for readers 14 and up, not a children's book. SVU hotline operator Alexandra Rollins ignores what sounds like a prank call — and when a friend turns up dead, she's consumed by guilt and determined to catch the killer. It's a fast-paced, readable YA thriller in a franchise that was enormously popular with teen readers in the 1990s. The content — murder, threatening calls, college-setting suspense — is standard for the genre and handled without gratuitousness, but it is squarely for older teens. Parents browsing here for younger children should note the mislabeling and plan accordingly.