Creator of “Sweet Valley High” was 92

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Francine Pascal, the author of the successful young adult book series “Sweet Valley High,” has died. She was 92 years old.

Pascal died in New York on Sunday, the New York Times reports. The cause of death was lymphoma, Pascal’s daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal told the newspaper.

Sweet Valley High premiered in 1983 after a friend remarked to Pascal that there was no teen version of the ’80s soap opera Dallas. Pascal was reportedly immediately inspired to create the series about blonde California twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. The books spawned hundreds of sequels and spin-offs, detailing the twins at various ages, from middle school to college. There were also some crazier books, in which the twins were involved in murders and even supernatural events.

Only the first 12 books were written by Pascal, although she wrote most of the outlines for the other books. A television adaptation of the books ran for four seasons, starring twins Brittany and Cynthia Daniel. Diablo Cody is believed to have written a feature film adaptation of the books for Universal in 2009, although the film never came to fruition.

Not only did “Sweet Valley High” sell over 200 million copies, but it was undoubtedly an inspiration for the modern teen drama genre as we know it. After the initial success of the novels, series such as “Degrassi” and “Beverly Hills, 90210” premiered in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the years that followed, “Clueless,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “The OC” followed.

In 2011, a new series of novels for adults, Sweet Valley Confidential, was published, which resurfaces the Wakefield twins in their 30s. The original book series ended in 2003.

Pascal was born in New York in 1932. She studied journalism at New York University and then worked for various publications, including True Confessions and Cosmopolitan. Her first young adult novel, “Hangin’ Out With Cici,” was published in 1977 and was quickly adapted into a television special. She also wrote other novels and wrote for the soap opera “The Young Marrieds” alongside her husband, John Pascal, who died in 1981.

Pascal leaves behind two of her three daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.