MANILA, Philippines – Francine Pascal, the creator of the Sweet Valley High young adult book series, died on Sunday, July 28. She was 92.
Her daughter, Laurie Wenk-Pascal, told The New York Times that the best-selling author succumbed to lymphoma at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, New York.
The Sweet Valley High series was first published in 1983. It follows twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who live in the fictional suburbs of Sweet Valley in California. The series has a total of 181 books.
Sweet Valley High was turned into a television series in 1994, featuring the high school lives of the Wakefield twins and their friends. The TV series, which ran until 1998, starred real-life twins Brittany and Cynthia Daniel, Michael Perl, Ryan Bittle, Jeremy Garrett, Bridget Flanery, and Andrea Savage, among others.
The iconic young adult books also got several spin-offs depicting the Wakefield twins at different points in their lives, such as Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, The Unicorn Club, Sweet Valley Junior High, Sweet Valley High: Senior Year, Sweet Valley University, and Elizabeth.
Before her death, Pascal had worked with Nicole Andelfinger and Claudia Aguirre to publish the graphic novel version of Sweet Valley Twins. There are currently five novels in the series.
Pascal’s first novel was Hangin’ Out With Cici, which was published in 1977. In 2020, she also authored Little Crew of Butchers.
– Rappler.com