As far as Abby is concerned, there are only two good things about Valentine's Day. It falls in the middle of winter, so her allergies usually aren't acting up. And chocolate is often involved. But she really doesn't like the "mushy stuff," and she's definitely not looking for a date for the SMS Valentine's Day Dance. Unfortunately, someone's not getting the message. Will Abby have to be totally heartless or will the Valentine's Day dance be a big mess-up?
Main Plot
Subplot
Scout will be leaving to receive her training to be a guide dog. The entire family is sad to see her leave, but Andrew has a particularly difficult time.
This book is set after the events of Karen's Movie Star which means Boo-Boo has died and Lisa, Andrew, and Seth have returned from Chicago.
On page 63, Watson's heart attack is brought up.
On page 116 Louie's death is brought up.
Inconsistencies
On page 18 Abby narrates that Mary Anne has skin that tans, meanwhile, as other books have previously established she burns.
It's unclear how Ross got Abby and Anna mixed up when Anna has shorter hair then Abby’s.
Abby and Anna tease their mom about not being a great cook when she went to school to be a chef.
Abby says that Sam and Charlie are fourteen and sixteen in chapter 2. They are fifteen and seventeen.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter
Dear Reader,
In Abby’s Un-Valentine, Abby makes it clear that she doesn’t like Valentine’s Day and doesn’t like feeling pressured to celebrate it in a certain way. At the end of the book, Abby spends a very nice Valentine’s Day in an unconventional manner — at the movies with Kristy.
Although I love holidays and love celebrating them traditionally, some of the nicest holidays I’ve spent have been celebrated in an unexpected or nontraditional manner. For several years now, I’ve spent Thanksgiving with friends in Canada, where Thanksgiving is celebrated earlier in the fall. But my friends prepare a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner, and we always have lots of fun. Then there was last year, when everyone in my family had their own plans for Christmas. But we discovered that my father needed heart surgery in December, so we all changed our plans, and my sister and I ended up spending Christmas with our parents, just like when we were kids. It turned out to be a lovely holiday, and in fact the last Christmas we would spend at the house before my parents decided to sell it.
Holidays are times for celebrating and observing, but you don’t have to celebrate traditionally in order to make a holiday special.
Trivia
This is the last book in the main series that has a school dance.