On Saturdays when I was a kid, I got up and watched cartoons all morning, and then my dad took me and my sister to the library to get books for the week and then to McDonald's, where we got the newest toy in our Happy Meals. It was a glorious day.
When I was around 9, I picked out the book Last Chance, which happened to be Sweet Valley High #36.
This changed my life.
(This picture is of my absolute favorites of my Sweet Valley books)
Sweet Valley became my favorite make-believe place, and every week I picked out different books (I read them completely out of order) and immersed myself in the world of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and their bevy of friends. I adored absolutely every last little thing about the world of Sweet Valley.When I was in middle school, showing promise as a reader who could devour books well beyond my grade level, every year during the parent-teacher conference my parents would be told by well-meaning English teachers that I was wasting my time reading this drivel. I was capable, they would say, of reading classics, so why on earth would I be interested in these pastel covered nonsense books?
Well, I still read my Sweet Valley books-every night before I go to bed, the last book I read (and yes, I read 3 different books before I go to bed every night)- but the final book is always one of my Sweet Valley books. I have never outgrown my love of Jessica's machinations or my desire to be Elizabeth Wakefield (is Elizabeth the reason that I worked on the student newspaper in high school?- yes, indeed).
Francine Pascal passed away toward the end of last year, and I read many remembrances of her and my beloved Sweet Valley. None of them hit me just right because for most everyone, there is a certain bit of snark, a certain bit of Sweet Valley being the trashy cousin of more beloved series like The Baby-Sitters Club.
So I wanted to add my own little bit- they were what made me a reader, which in turn made me an English major, which in turn made me who I am as a human being in the world. I could never thank Francine Pascal enough for a life filled with all the books.
