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!)
I did read the Sweet Valley High books. I thought they were great. But I get the feeling that I was probably the only one who preferred Elizabeth with Jeffrey and not Todd! But there were a few things about the books I never got:
*Why would Steven Wakefield date Cara Walker one of Jessica's selfish, self-centered friends who wasn't a patch on Tricia?
*Why would Mr. Wakefield approve of Jessica dating Bruce Patman - the son of his wife's ex-husband???
* Did anyone else think the pairing of George and Robin was a bit odd? Furthermore they cheated on partners who they had been through a lot with. That didn't make sense.
*Why could the Wakefield family not see that a lot of the time, they were enabling Jessica's bad behaviour?
*The books were set in Southern California but there is a distinct lack of diversity.
*In spin off books, we're led to believe that the twins mother was something of a feminist and a radical in her youth. Yet she didn't seem to have passed on any of these ideals to her daughters - especially Jessica.
When you're a teenager, you read for fun and enjoyment. But it's only when your (much) older that you see things that don't make sense. I enjoyed the Sweet Valley books when I was a teen but I can't see my kids reading them when they become teenagers themselves.
These books were definitely of my time and I enjoyed reading them. My daughter is coming to the age that I was when I first started reading them, and while she loves reading, I can't see her with a SVH book. In some ways I'm glad because I feel that these books present a very superficial world and I wouldn't want her to get drawn into that. Now that I'm older, I really couldn't give two hoots about what I looked like. But As a teen I didn't feel I could live up to the physical perfection of Liz and Jess, and I know that that's something that might be hard for a lot of young girls today. And as I haven't picked up a SVH book in forever, I do wonder if perhaps a lot of it is quite dated by todays standards. 🤔
But I DID find them very enjoyable to read. I loved Elizabeth and not just because we have the same name! She was very wise beyond her years and had a really good heart. Jessica could have learnt a lot from her.
Without meaning to sound facetious, it is a little funny that some of the Brits here think that SVH is representative of American teen life! Well it sure wasn't for me! LOL!
I read a hole bunch of those books growing up. I could never wait for the latest book to come out. Even now I think it's cool when I meet someone who read the books growing up. I'm not sure if there's much of a readership among teenagers now. I know my niece didn't read them. But then as those books are almost forty years old my guess is it wouldn't appeal to many people today.
Oh, and I was Team Jess, Baby!
I did read the books for a while. The Sweet Valley series was a very lighthearted yet entertaining read. I did like the fact that they tried to deal with important issues in a way which a teen/young adult could comprehend. I know a lot of people liked Elizabeth but I was more a fan of Jessica. She was a cheerleader just like I was, and she was definitely more sociable and fun-loving. The only thing I really had in common with Elizabeth was that we both liked museums!
OMG! During the early nineties there wasn't a girl I knew who wasn't Sweet Valley mad! Once a week we would have single period English, and during this time we would all bring in a book and read for half an hour, while the teacher went around the class to check out what we were all ready. I think it's safe to say that more than 50% of the books being read were Sweet Valley High books. I don't know what our teacher thought about that. But I suppose she was just glad that we were reading something. Especially as we now know that reading isn't too high on the list of most teens priorities!
I enjoyed the Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High books. But by the time Sweet Valley University came out, well I was already at university myself and a bit old for all that as I wanted a more mature read! But I did enjoy those Sweet Valley days.
I loved those books! I don't think I read any SVK, I did read some SVT, but of course it was really SVH that I was into. I actually got started with book one and I couldn't get enough after that. It was the same situation with me in that just about all the girls at school were reading them.
I'd always envied American kids because I felt that they had a great deal of freedom and independance than we did. And reading the Sweet Valley books I suppose consolidated that idea for me. Though of course I could be wrong!
Elizabeth was a sweetheart of course but I prefered Jessica. She just had more drive and was more of a go-getter. She never let anything stand in her way but sometimes I felt that Elizabeth could be a bit wet.
I only read about two of the SVU books before giving up. It just didn't ring true for me. Enid's personality transplant, Todd taking up with another girl almost immediately, Elizabeth being a complete and utter misery. I don't think so!
My daughter is only a toddler but when she gets older I very much doubt she'll be reading the SV books as they already seem a bit old hat now. A lot of the teens I know seem to be reading books about vampires and zombies!
Most of the girls at our school were SV mad! Everytime a new book came out people'd go loopy. I did read a few of the books like everyone else and I thought they were OK but I didn't go crazy like everyone else did. I may have bought maybe one or two books of my own but I don't have them anymore.
I think the SV books were good for their time but I can't see them having their place now. For one thing I don't think teenagers read they way they used to. And also the Sweet Valley world was very white, middle-class hetero. If they brought the books out today, they'd have to rejig things around a lot!