(by Senior Editor Jen)

Diablo Cody to present Bruce Patman versus Todd Wilkins! Team Enid versus Team Lila. 1BRUCE1 license plates and matching gold lavalier necklaces.

Who will they cast? And, which fashion designer do you want to see do the costumes? Do you want it to be set present day or in the THE KARATE KID and 16 CANDLES era?


I am secretly hoping for a 1980's look back, especially since the media is reporting that Cody read the series growing up in Illinois, almost as far from Southern California as I was.


SWEET VALLEY HIGH was everything I thought high school would be, as a suburban Boston nine-year-old (that I didn't learn from a John Hughes film). In my elementary school days, I would snap up anything with Francine Pascal's name on the cover, thinking she'd authored it.

I didn't quite understand the "created by" tag quite yet.

Hanging Out With Cici, check. The Caitlin series, check check. I stopped reading them in about 1987 with Regina Morrow's tragic overdose the very first time she tried cocaine in SVH #40 ON THE EDGE.



Francine turned me off of motorcycles, too, after Elizabeth's helmetless ride in SVH #6 DANGEROUS LOVE and it's cliffhanger featuring Elizabeth's late night escape from Bruce Patman's arms in DEAR SISTER.

I think this is about the time when in regards to motorcycles I began thinking: "Head versus pavement, pavement always wins." After school specials and those Public Service Announcement styled episodes of sitcoms never had quite the same effect on me as the tragedies that happened in books, for instance my irrational fear of rattlesnakes (so common in Boston) after reading Betsy Byars' The TV Kid.




As for SVH Dear Sister seems to be the book I remember most clearly--and the most brilliant Shelf Discovery-styled piece of SWEET VALLEY writing in my opinion goes to Sarah Wendell, of Smart Bitches Trashy Books on the subject of that very book.

If you haven't read this post before, drop everything and read it immediately. If you have read it before, read it again: CLICK HERE.






Now, we want to hear from you. What do you think about Diablo Cody's new deal to adapt? What SWEET VALLEY story could you never get out of your head? Who would you cast in the film? And which classic SWEET VALLEY character is your favorite and why?

And, meanwhile, will they please cast Chris Colfer? After GLEE last night, I want to see him in everything I can.