TIL Francine Pascal was not a committee
July 30, 2024 8:48 PM Subscribe
Francine Pascal, Creator of ‘Sweet Valley High’ Book Series, Dies at 92. The series and its many spinoffs have sold more than 200 million copies and revolutionized the world of young adult publishing.
This American Life episode #186 (Prom) contains a nice interview with Ms. Pascal. Transcript at the link.
This American Life episode #186 (Prom) contains a nice interview with Ms. Pascal. Transcript at the link.
Ms. Pascal wrote the first 12 books in the series, then worked with a team of writers to keep a steady, rapid publication pace, often a book a month.
She may not have been a committee but she was certainly not a single person either.
posted by egypturnash at 9:03 PM on July 30 [11 favorites]
She may not have been a committee but she was certainly not a single person either.
posted by egypturnash at 9:03 PM on July 30 [11 favorites]
Two of the three other ghostwriter links in the earlier post are now deadlinks, so here they are in archive. The Hidden Book. The Hairpin.
posted by paduasoy at 9:17 PM on July 30 [1 favorite]
posted by paduasoy at 9:17 PM on July 30 [1 favorite]
The “Sweet Valley High” twins were monsters. I still love them. (2018)
Writer and journalist Bim Adewunmi writes about her experience of growing up in Nigeria devouring the Sweet Valley High series.
Sweet Valley High creator Francine Pascal tells all (2019)
To celebrate over 35 years of her beloved YA series "Sweet Valley High," the best-selling author reflects on her remarkable career and teases what lies ahead.
I remember reading these like they were candy when I was a preteen in the 1980s. I also remember feeling like I could never really be beautiful because I would never be white, blonde, and blue-eyed like the Wakefield twins, who were held up as the pinnacle of beauty. I’m sure reading them in 2024 would make me cringe, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to read the adult sequel.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:05 PM on July 30 [10 favorites]
Writer and journalist Bim Adewunmi writes about her experience of growing up in Nigeria devouring the Sweet Valley High series.
Sweet Valley High creator Francine Pascal tells all (2019)
To celebrate over 35 years of her beloved YA series "Sweet Valley High," the best-selling author reflects on her remarkable career and teases what lies ahead.
I remember reading these like they were candy when I was a preteen in the 1980s. I also remember feeling like I could never really be beautiful because I would never be white, blonde, and blue-eyed like the Wakefield twins, who were held up as the pinnacle of beauty. I’m sure reading them in 2024 would make me cringe, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to read the adult sequel.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:05 PM on July 30 [10 favorites]
I just learned that today, too!
posted by centrifugal at 11:30 PM on July 30
posted by centrifugal at 11:30 PM on July 30
My older cousins gave me and my sister boxes of books they outgrew that included a few Sweet Valley High. The one that stuck with me was The Carnival Ghost. So instead of getting hooked on romance, I got hooked on horror.
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:53 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:53 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
.. (double for the twins)
I started with Sweet Valley Twins, which were a bit tamer (and shorter) than Sweet Valley High, but Pascale wrote easy books that got me and my generation voraciously reading. Was it fluff? Absolutely. Was it entertaining? Sure thing. But my heart really lies (lay?) with the Babysitters Club series.
posted by hydra77 at 5:58 AM on July 31 [5 favorites]
I started with Sweet Valley Twins, which were a bit tamer (and shorter) than Sweet Valley High, but Pascale wrote easy books that got me and my generation voraciously reading. Was it fluff? Absolutely. Was it entertaining? Sure thing. But my heart really lies (lay?) with the Babysitters Club series.
posted by hydra77 at 5:58 AM on July 31 [5 favorites]
hurdy gurdy girl's first link is tremendously good and I encourage everyone to read it.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:43 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 6:43 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that "perfect size six" line that appeared in every single one of those books when I was a kid floats through my mind from time to time, and always makes me sad for tween me -- I was bigger than a size six already, and those books taught me that I would never be beautiful.
posted by maryellenreads at 8:09 AM on July 31 [6 favorites]
posted by maryellenreads at 8:09 AM on July 31 [6 favorites]
I was bigger than a size six already, and those books taught me that I would never be beautiful.
I hope you never read the book explicitly about the fat girl (I bet she was a size 12 or something equally horrific), because, Jesus.
posted by praemunire at 8:45 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
I hope you never read the book explicitly about the fat girl (I bet she was a size 12 or something equally horrific), because, Jesus.
posted by praemunire at 8:45 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
I had a friend in elementary (it went up to 8th grade) who had the means to buy them. And she graciously lent them to a few of us. We'd pass along the latest one to the next person in line.
.
posted by luckynerd at 10:48 AM on July 31
.
posted by luckynerd at 10:48 AM on July 31
.
Yeah, I really liked this kind of series book as a kid, but SVH wasn’t my favorite. I read a bunch of them, to be sure, but Lila was the most interesting person or thing that would happen, and I lost interest quickly. Still, without them, a whole lot of other books might not have been published or careers started, and this is valuable in its own right.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:30 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I really liked this kind of series book as a kid, but SVH wasn’t my favorite. I read a bunch of them, to be sure, but Lila was the most interesting person or thing that would happen, and I lost interest quickly. Still, without them, a whole lot of other books might not have been published or careers started, and this is valuable in its own right.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:30 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
.
These books were everywhere when I was a kid. I liked the ones I read and still remember a bit of a plot line, which is saying something.
posted by bunderful at 4:27 PM on August 1
These books were everywhere when I was a kid. I liked the ones I read and still remember a bit of a plot line, which is saying something.
posted by bunderful at 4:27 PM on August 1
Oh, I definitely did read the one about the "fat" girl. It was awful.
posted by maryellenreads at 4:50 PM on August 1
posted by maryellenreads at 4:50 PM on August 1
« Older She is 27 years old and hasn't lost in 14 years | This is good news, right? Newer »
I think we probably talked about the article by the ghost writer when that came out - Amy Boesky. On preview, we did, with some other links to ghost writer accounts.
posted by paduasoy at 9:02 PM on July 30