Best-selling author of cult book series dead at 92

he author of the hit teen series Sweet Valley High has died aged 92, as a result of lymphoma. Francine Pascal was the creator of the Sweet Valley books, a series of young adult books that followed identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield through their journey from kids to young adults.

If you grew up reading any of the series, you will remember how iconic the books were: they even resulted in a TV spin-off series at some point too. The books began in 1983 and concluded over 20 years later, after the publication of 181 books.

The impact of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High

The Wakefield twins' lives were filled to the brim with teen drama, romance, and scandals and various spin-offs were created, from Sweet Valley Kids, to Sweet Valley University, with later books also including dark twists like murder mysteries and elements of the supernatural. The Sweet Valley series has seen more than 200 million books sold.

In 2011, Sweet Valley Confidential was published, which was written entirely by Francine Pascal and set 10 years following the previous conclusion to the twins' lives. At the time, Francine stated, "I can tell you that what you thought was going to happen to those people doesn't happen. Different things happen. Ten years, from 16 to adulthood, has made very different people. And I'm having kind of a good time writing it, doing what I want to do with these people."

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A TV series also based off the books ran from 1994-1997, featuring Brittany and Cynthia Daniel as Jessica and Elizabeth, with a total of 88 episodes. In 2021 it was rumoured that a reboot titled Sweet Valley was in the works but as of 2024 the series has not entered production.

Brittany Daniel took to Instagram earlier today to thank Francine Pascal for her kindness and inspiration.

On X (formerly Twitter) fans took to the platform to remember Francine and the impact of the Sweet Valley series.

"I read Sweet Valley High as a kid and the pull these books had on me was wild," one person wrote. "They were hugely important to me growing up and lowkey influential. I’m so sad about Francine Pascal."

"Sweet Valley High was one of the book series that fostered a love of mess that sticks with me to this day," another person tweeted.

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"I’m forever grateful for Sweet Valley High. The naughty older sister of the Baby-Sitters Club," another person said. "Reading every single one of these books, over and over again, 10 or 12 times between age 8 and 13 was easily the best reading experience of my entire life," someone else tweeted.

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