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An outpour of heartbroken reactions have emerged on TikTok upon news of author Francine Pascal’s death.
On Sunday, 28 July, the 92-year-old former soap opera scriptwriter and best-selling author of the Sweet Valley High young adult series died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from lymphoma. The news of her death was confirmed by her daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal.
In one video shared to TikTok after the news, a user named Shonda expressed her shock and grief, addressing her fellow Gen X young adult readers as she lamented Pascal’s death: “Our girl is gone.”
“I know she was 92 and she had a good run,” she said. “She died of lymphoma so it’s not like she died of just being 92, she died of cancer. My girl might of had a few more good years left in her, but I’m just kind of sad ‘cause it’s like the older you get the more the people who shaped your transformative years leave you.”
“Francine was one of those people,” she added, noting that Pascal’s Sweet Valley Twins series led her to take an interest in Olympic rhythmic gymnastics.
In the comment section, fellow fans of Pascal’s work shared some of their favorite memories associated with the Sweet Valley High books.
“My old babysitter gave me a huge box of Sweet Valley Twins books and I was obsessed,” one user wrote. “We’ll miss Francine.”
“It is sad. I loved these books too,” another added. “One of the twin’s mystery special books was the first time I realized [I loved] reading.”
“These books were my life,” someone else commented. “I used to beat down the doors of B Dalton bookstore to buy those books.”
Another TikTok video used a clip from Inside Out along with pictures of old Sweet Valley High books to capture the impact Pascal’s books have had on their formative years. In the caption, the user wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to a woman who shaped some of my core memories as a child, provided me an escape through all the [stages] of childhood, allowed me to believe [that] the nerd and the popular girl could be best friends, gave me my first book boyfriend (hello Todd!) and gave me a character (Elizabeth) to look up to.”
“The Sweet Valley series gave me hope in middle school and I was happy [to] reconnect with the Wakefield twins in college and adulthood,” they continued. “These books were a [gateway] to me into the movies, TV shows, and contemporary romance/fiction I love.”
“While I never met [Francine Pascal], I want to thank her for the books she created,” they added. “My heart goes out to her family and fans. Thank you, Francine.”
When Gen X readers were teenagers, the Sweet Valley High books, which followed the lives of identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, who attended the titular high school in the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Sweet Valley, were wildly popular. Nearly devoid of mentions of sex, drugs, and alcohol, the young adult series was notably wholesome. The series focused on the ups and downs of the twins’ lives, with 181 titles and spinoffs chronicling their teenage adventures.
A few years after the series’ 1983 debut, the books dominated the young adult section, and by January 1986, 18 out of the top 20 books on B Dalton’s young adult best-seller list were from the Sweet Valley High series. The series revolutionized young adult literature at the time, and paved the way for young adult publishing. Since its heyday, the Sweet Valley High books combined have sold more than 200 million copies.
The books were later was adapted into a popular TV series starring twin sisters Brittany and Cynthia Daniel. The show aired from 1994 to 1997.
