Flair in the City

What in the world is going on?

Admit it. We've all been there: living in our own Sweet Valley High world, dating California's hottest boy, Todd Wilkins, having our own twin sister--with the liberty of choosing between the smart one in Elizabeth or the popular one in Jessica. We've all been sucked into the world of stereotypes 10-20 years ago.

Admit it. Almost all girls I know had their own rendition--whether an ill-fated book series or a pigment of a little girl's imagination, our own little rip-offs were well, pathetic, but most probably somewhere in our past lives.

And what do you know? The Wakefield twins are back in the 20th century!

Then and Now

Francine Pascal with Random House has rereleased the original Sweet Valley High series. This time around, with blogs and websites instead of a newspaper, with e-mails and cellphones to boot! Oh, whatever happened to the 80s love?


No more make-believe brand, Lisette's. Hello, Juicy Couture and Roxy! Free (or not free) advertising, much?


Apparently, even their clothes are being revamped. Leggings and sparkling purple jeans no more. They're replaced with, well, more generic descriptions--probably to stand the test of time?


And they're thinner! From a "perfect size 6", the twins are down to a "perfect size 4". Does this mean being a size 6 is no longer acceptable? (Good! More smaller sizes from US brands. Don't kill me. Hahaha.) But really, if this series were to be rewritten again in, say, 2030, what size do girls have to be? A negative 4?

But whatever the changes, fact is, Sweet Valley High, the world of clichés is coming for a new generation of teenagers. Don't get me wrong--I lurved that series, but what gives?

All that babble aside, here's the thing: in my little series, written with my then best friend, Christie (I wonder where that girl is now. Hahaha.), our twins were Rodeo Drive shoppers, one smart, one popular, in a school of all the bests... and the rip-offs continue. :)

Click on the image above to read parts of book one.