The relaunch of Sweet Valley High.

You MUST have heard about this.

I read about the relaunch a while back, promptly forgot* about it, and then received review copies of the first two in the mail yesterday.  I read the first chapter of the very first book.  (That was all I could handle at the moment.  I'll go back for more later.)

They may have changed some things -- the Wakefield twins are no longer "a perfect size six", now they're (get ready...) "a perfect size four"** -- but wow, they haven't changed Jessica Wakefield.  She's still a bitch. 

Massie Block would love her.  And that, I guess, is exactly why they're being re-released.

I'd be tempted to read them purely for snark purposes, but that's what we've got The Dairi Burger for.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I'll probably break down anyway.

There's a fantastic round-up of responses (as well as Gwenda's own response) over at Shaken & Stirred.  Don't miss it.

_________________________________________________________

*I, personally, wasn't a SVH girl -- I read a couple of them in middle school, said "Wow, these suck!" and went on a two year fantasy*** and Stephen King kick.

**Yes, yes, sizes have changed.  You know what?  I don't care.  It's gross.

***Not that read my share of the craptastic over my middle school years -- I went through all of the Xanth books.  Four times.  Each.  At least.  Also, I read four billion Doctor Who novelizations, but I still maintain that those all achieve a very high level of literary excellence.

Comments

Wow, I loved those Xanth books. (I think you meant puntastic, not craptastic, btw.)Oh, the memories. Ivy...Flying butter...Okay, that's all I remember. But I loved them! (SVH? Not so much.)

[Kate F.]

Ew. Yeah, in 4th grade or so I read a Babysitter's Club book to see what the fuss was and felt so disgusted. Never tried SVH.

And yes, in 6th or 7th grade I went on a Xanth binge until my 10th or 12th book when suddenly I was like, "These books are all exactly the same," and found myself less amused by the puns and went cold turkey.

[Leila]

Well, I read a whole lot of them for a couple of years there -- I certainly loved 'em then! Not so much now.

I wasn't a huge BSC person, either, though I thought the recent graphic novel adaptation was pretty awesome. Maybe they should do THAT with SVH.