Francine Pascal (née Rubin, born May 13, 1938) is an American author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular television series.^[2][3] There were also several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles have been re-released in recent years.^[4]

Biography

Francine Rubin was born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Queens, New York, United States. Her father was an auctioneer.^[5] She began her writing career writing scripts for the soap opera The Young Marrieds alongside her husband, John Pascal. The couple also wrote a Broadway musical, George M!, with her brother Michael Stewart. Her first novel, Hangin' Out With Cici, was later turned into an ABC Afterschool Special, My Mother Was Never a Kid. A friend then convinced her to turn her idea of a soap opera aimed at teenagers into a book series, which became the successful Sweet Valley High series, which she oversaw a team of ghostwriters to deliver. She later developed other work, including the Fearless series, Save Johanna! and The Ruling Class. Her husband died from cancer in 1981, which inspired her novel If Wishes Were Horses, where the protagonist moves to France following the death of her husband.^[6]