Any Sweet Valley Fans Out There?
Did any of you spend your teen years obsessing about the Wakefield twins? Because I did! I was a massive fan of the Sweet Valley series - Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High, Sweet Valley University - I loved them all!
The first book I read was Power Play and I was addicted from that moment on. I was thrilled when my library got the latest Sweet Valley book in, and was always borrowing them from my friends. Oh, and at school we used to discuss the characters as though they were real people. We were obsessed all right! Over the years, I've built up a small collection of books which I still have at home. Sweet Valley High was definitely a big part of my teen years.
Although I now know it's not necessarily true for every American teenager, but I'd read Sweet Valley High books and think "what a wonderful life these American school kids have!" Weekends at the mall, hanging out at the beach, partying with the popular kids, having your own wheels at sixteen... I felt as though I was born in the wrong country!
Let us know your thoughts about the series? Were you a fan of the books? Which series did you prefer? And the all-important one - were you Team Liz or Team Jess? (I was Team Liz!)
Some good points raised, Judy. I think with Jessica, she was just your average spoilt, bratty teen. I don't think her parents thought there was anything seriously wrong with her behaviour and probably thought she'd just grow out of it. But I'd be horrified if my own daughter behaved like Jessica.
As for the feminist aspect, well who's to say that the Wakefield girls weren't feminists? Mrs. Wakefield raised them to follow their own paths without either parent imposing their ways on the twins. Just because Jessica's life revolved around boys and make-up didn't necessarily not make her a feminist!