Alive and kicking Book

[Safe the intimacy of a girls-only sleepover, Elizabeth reveals she was molested as a child by a family friend (now conveniently dead). I'm positive this was not planned from the beginning because Elizabeth's conservatism and prudishness were played for laughs in the first several books, and I don't think the author would have made so much fun of her with the backstory in mind. Back then, Elizabeth's personality didn't need any explanation, and I still insist that it doesn't. Also, a few times earlier in this book, Alice claims to have long believed that Elizabeth seems to have secret depths and that she's always felt she doesn't really know her fully, yet this feeling has never come up in any of the previous books. I think in every other book, Alice felt pretty sure she knew everything she needed to know about Elizabeth.

I also feel like this character choice perpetuates this common misconception that uptight attitudes about sex MUST be a result of childhood sexual abuse. Anyway it is my understanding that someone who's reacting to childhood molestation is more likely to grow up sexually precocious, not anti-sex. It's not that I don't think someone with the conservative yay-virginity attitude CAN'T have been molested, I'm just saying it would have made more sense coming from Pamela.

Overall, this storyline comes off as a cheap way to bring in more Important Issues at the expense of character cohesiveness. (hide spoiler)]