History Literature / JessicaDarling

* NumberedSequels: Each booh in both the main series and the prequel series incorporates its number in the title.

** Manda would probably not be happy to know that Jess and Hope have referred to her, between the two of them, first as "the Kissing Slut," then as "Lend-A-Hand-A Manda," and most recently as "The Headmaster," as her sexual repertoire has grown increasingly advanced.

--->This wasn't [[EmbarrassingNickname Pepe le Pew]]. It was Pepe le Puberty.

* TheirFirstTime: Jessica and [[spoiler: Marcus]] has this at the end of the second book. We don't get any details, but Jessica says it was about as good as could be expected.

* VerbalTic: [[ValleyGirl Sara]] can't go two sentences without using the terms "omigod!" or "quote-unquote." Or both.

** Bethany tends to change her way of speaking to whatever she thinks is cool at the moment, like adopting a faux-French accent while visiting France.
** Mac goes "tch" a lot, typically when he feels that Jessica has said something unusually stupid.

* RetCon: In ''Sloppy Firsts'' Jessica claims that the events of the book marks the first time Marcus has ever said more than two words to her. The prequel series shows them not only interacting quite a lot, but actually developing much the same dynamic (him being bizarre and obnoxious, her being alternately annoyed and fascinated) as they have in ''Sloppy Firsts'' back when they were in junior high.

* ImmediateSequel: In contrast with the main series, where months or years go by between installments, the prequel novels follow each other seamlessly as well as just generally having a much compressed time frame (all three of them take place during the first semester of Jessica's first year in junior high). [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at one point when Jessica says that it feels like the events of the last book was ''ages'' ago and her grandmother tells her that that's because time seems to go by very slowly when you're twelve years old.

* OnceASeason: Each of the first three books ends with Jessica and Hope meeting up.

* EmbarrassingNickname: Jessica's father likes to call her "Notso" as a non-too-subtle comment on her prickly disposition - as in, "Jessica Not-So-Darling." Jessica, [[IResembleThatRemark possibly proving his point]], is not amused. She also hates being called "Jessie," preferring either "Jess" or "Jessica."

* TheNicknamer: Jessica is fond of coming up with sarcastic nicknames for people, though she rarely calls people by them to their faces but sticks to using them in her journal.

* TheObiWannabe: Bethany in the prequel series would like to think that she's a CoolBigSis dispensing sage advice for how to succeed in junior high. The problem is, the item on her "[=IT=] Lists" are not only of questionable value, but are also written as [[IceCreamKoan cutesy one-liners]] that could ''really'' use some explanation for what they're supposed to mean. Jessica actually [[GenreSavvy figures that out]] by the end of the first book, but she still decides to continue going along with the lists, because at least they make her life interesting.

[=McCafferty=] has also written three prequel novels, dealing with Jessica's earlier teenage years:

* AccidentalAthlete: Sort of - Jess becomes and Accidental ''School Mascot'' by messing up her cheerleader tryouts. It turns out that [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender she's got a rare knack for looking hilarious while falling on her face.]] Later played more straight as she gets recruited to the track team when the coach sees how much speed she can pick up while [[ItMakesSenseInContext fleeing from a lovesick goose wearing a fifty-pound seagull costume.]]

The story is told partly through journal entries, partly through letters Jessica writes to her best friend Hope, who moved to the other side of the country just before the start of the first book. As such it is prone to instances of UnreliableNarrator, but also to a lot of Jessica's [[FirstPersonSnarker hilariously scathing]] takes on other people's, and her own, follies and dysfunctions.

* {{Adorkable}}: Jess claims to prefer guys who are "geeky-cute." Her actual dating track record [[UnreliableNarrator casts some]] [[SlapSlapKiss doubt on]] [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys that, though.]]

* OldShame: [[spoiler: Hy]] ends up feeling this way about her book about Jessica and her friends, and is grateful when the movie version ends up in DevelopmentHell.

** Marcus was known as Krispy Kreme in high school, though he doesn't seem to have let it get to him. (and it was at least half a [[AManIsNotAVirgin compliment of sorts]]) [[note]]It refers to him getting plenty of [[UnusualEuphemism donuts]] while at the same time being constantly [[TheStoner baked.]][[/note]]

* JerkJock: Scotty turns into one in the second book. At one point, he claims that he doesn't actually want to be one, but [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys it's the only way to get laid,]] and [[AManIsNotAVirgin getting laid is the one thing a guy must do.]] Jessica is less than sympathetic.

* HesAllGrownUp: Len manages to lose his zits between junior and senior year. To Jessica's surprise, it turns out that there was a complete hottie hiding beneath them. The effect is somewhat ruined by [[{{Nerd}} his personality]] remaining the same, though.

* HighSchool: The setting for the first two novels, which as usual for the trope treat the high school drama as SeriousBusiness. That part is subverted in the third, though, much of which is devoted to Jessica being astonished at how little it all turned out to mean once she got out into the real world.

* GoodBadGirl: Manda ''thinks'' she is this and that her promiscuity is a sign of her refusal to bow to patriarchal sexual norms, but Jessica is definitely not convinced. Later played more straight with one of Jessica's college friends, but on the whole, Jessica doesn't think much of [[AllWomenAreLustful girls]] ''or'' [[ImAManICantHelpIt guys]] who she sees as oversexed.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted, Jessica's period gets mentioned on occasion, though mostly for its absence - apparently she's prone to not getting it when she's going through a stressful time, which she finds upsetting in the first book and even more so when it happens again in the third - because she's sexually active at the time, and at first she's [[PregnancyScare terrified that she's pregnant.]]

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Averted. When Jessica briefly worries that she's pregnant in book three, she knows all along that she'll have to get an abortion if she is. In theory that's because she's on a medication that causes fetal deformities, but she admits to herself that it wouldn't matter if she weren't - at age nineteen, she's just not anywhere near ready.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted, Jessica's period gets mentioned on occasion, though mostly for its absence - apparently she's prone to not getting it when she's going through a stressful time, which she finds upsetting in the first book and even more so when it happens again in the third - because she's sexually active at the time, and at first she's terrified that she's pregnant.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted, Jessica's period gets mentioned on occasion, though mostly for its absence - apparently she's prone to not getting it when she's going through a stressful time, which she finds upsetting in the first book [[spoiler: and even more so when it happens again in the third - because she's sexually active at the time, and at first she's terrified that she's pregnant.]]