Josefina. 1824.
Meet Isabel and Nicki Hoffman!
Isabel and Nicki Hoffman are nine-year-old fraternal twins growing up in Seattle, Washington. So while they share a May 22 birthday—of course they’re Gemini, the sign of the Twins!—that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Mom (Robin Hoffman)
A computer programmer working to prevent Y2K computer crashes, Robin is smart and hardworking, and somehow finds time to bake amazing cookies for Coffeegarden.
Dad (Dave Hoffman)
A former member of the grunge band Sludge Confetti, he now runs Coffeegarden. Nicki’s love of music gets him playing guitar again, and he helps Isabel with her room redecoration ideas.
Kat
A new friend who shares Isabel’s love of fashion and fun. She mixes vintage pieces from her grandmother’s store with modern trends, inspiring Isabel to experiment with new styles.
Olivia
An excellent tennis player who becomes Isabel’s friend and teaches her how to play. She comes to the twins’ New Year’s Eve party and forms a bond with Kat.
Virginia
The owner of V’s Vintage, Kat’s grandma is stockpiling supplies in case everything crashes in the millennium. V is great with dogs and encourages the girls to express themselves through style collages.
Ari
A skateboarder who becomes Nicki’s first real friend aside from Isabel. Ari teaches Nicki skating techniques, shows her how to make zines, and invites her to join their Millennium Celebration skate show.
Adam
Ari’s older brother and part of the skateboarding community that welcomes Nicki. Adam encourages her to keep practicing her tricks, even when she feels like giving up.
Crunch
A fellow skateboarder who believes most people don’t understand skateboarding, which is why their group plans to perform at the Millennium Celebration and show what it truly means.
Gregory and Shredward
Brothers in the skate group that Nicki joins. Shredward gives Nicki the nickname “Tricky Nicki,” which catches on among her new friends.
Jessica
A fifth-grader who befriends Nicki. Jessica uses a wheelchair and performs impressive tricks like wheelies and spins. She joins the skate show at the twins’ millennium party.
Author Jennifer Roy
Jennifer Roy is six minutes older than her twin sister, and one inch shorter. Like Nicki, she loves music, including grunge and No Doubt, and when she was nine, she had a skateboard that she rode all over her neighborhood.
In addition to the Trading Faces series she wrote with Julia, Jennifer is the author of the multiple award- winning historical books Yellow Star and Jars of Hope.
Author Julia DeVillers
Julia DeVillers is six minutes younger than her twin sister, and one inch taller—just like Isabel. She also loves throwing parties and playing tennis. She has even hung out with a Spice Girl (Mel B.).
She and her twin, Jennifer Roy, wrote the bestselling Trading Faces series, about identical twins who trade places. Another one of Julia’s books was turned into the Disney Channel movie Read It and Weep.
Illustrator Maike Plenzke
Maike Plenzke is an illustrator from Berlin, Germany. She illustrates books, magazines, and more from a studio filled with plants. When she’s not creating art, she loves to walk in the sun or watch movies from her couch with her husband and dog.
The phrase “girl power” became popular in the 1990s. For Isabel, girl power is about expressing herself through dance and standing up for herself.
The Hoffman family is interfaith and celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas, with Nicki opening presents first because she’s technically the older twin.
As a surprise for Nicki, Isabel redecorates their room to reflect their unique styles. Their parents add a yin-yang rug, symbolizing how two different halves can still belong together.
Nicki and her friends hang out at a place they call the skate spot, which is a section of the park that is good for street skating. It is not a formal skate park.
One of Nicki’s “Conquer a Fear” tasks is to land an ollie—the key trick skateboarders must master before moving on to harder ones—and she pulls it off!
The girls use their twintuition, or their ability to guess what the other is thinking, to lift each other up.
In the 1990s, video rental stores were very popular. These stores provided VHS and DVDs before the era of streaming.
As New Year’s Eve approached, many were increasingly worried about what would happen if the computers crashed. In the end, life went on without a glitch.
In 1999, the Millennium Celebration was to be held at the Space Needle. It is a 605-foot-tall structure with an observation deck. In 1999, it did not have the glass walls or floors it has today.
Zines, or homemade magazines, experienced an increase in popularity in the 1990s. They were often photocopied and distributed to friends, creating a sense of community.
The phrase “talk to the hand” was a popular saying. It essentially meant “I’m not listening to you.”
December 31, 1999, was one of the most celebrated New Year’s Eves in history, marking not just a new year, but the start of a brand-new millennium.
