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I was not blonde.
Best-selling authorFrancine Pascal, who passed away yesterday at age 92, was the creator of the Sweet Valley series.
I didnt have petite, doll-like features.
Pastels didnt dominate my wardrobe, and I most certainly did not have boys constantly angling for my attention.
It went quickly because it was such a fertile idea.
Bantam Books loved it.
They ordered all 12.
Even the tiny dimple in Elizabeths left cheek was duplicated in her younger sistersyounger by four minutes.
Both girls were five feet six on the button and generously blessed with spectacular, all-American good looks.
The lavalieres had been presents from their parents on their sixteenth birthday.
The only way you could tell them apart was by the tiny beauty mark on Elizabeths right shoulder.
There was, as mentioned, melodrama.
There were boys to obsess and fight over.Can Elizabeth survive the heartache of losing Todd?
Will Jessica break Bills heart too?
(Nancy Drewis also his handiwork.)
In YA circles, Pascal is legend material.
After creating herSweet Valleybible, Pascal handed off actual writing duties so she had time to broaden her reach.
Anyone else remember theSweet Valley Highboard game where you had to vie for the prom dress and the date?
What about the90s-era TV showwith its own golden-haired twin Wakefield sisters?
Pascal also carved a path for YA writers to follow.
Would we have had Ann M. MartinsBaby-Sitters Clubor Cecily Brooke von ZiegesarsGossip Girlwithout her?
I didnt see myself inSweet Valley, but that was okay.
That kind of escapist appeal was, like, totally awesome.
