Sweet Valley High Confidential

Growing up as a teen in the 80s, Sweet Valley High was my ultimate favourite book series. I was hungry for stories about teens whether they were realistic or aspirational so it was like a dream come true when the launch of the series was announced 1983. The saga of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and their glam friends gave me many hours of entertainment. Sweet Valley High ran for twenty years in which the twins hardly aged.and there were even spin-off series about the twins when they were in High School and also when they were at college. I was not alone with my love affair with the Wakefield twins judging by the sales of the books and since the pending arrival of Sweet Valley Confidential was announced hundreds of fellow bloggers have come out to declare their love. The premise of the series is that Elizabeth was the kind and caring twin who is in a steady relationship with basketball high school star, Todd Wilkins. Elizabeth was a gifted writer and her side kick was the geeky Enid Rollins. Jessica on the other was selfish, manipulative and kind of shallow. She was head cheerleader and her interests consist of flirting, socialising and gossiping. Her inner circle comprised of the snooty Lila Fowler and catty Cara Walker. Despite their huge different personalities both twins did love each other dearly and were very close to their family unit of Alice and Ned who is Mama and Papa Wakefield and older brother Steven. Life in Sweet Valley has been very quiet since 2003 so I was really surprised to hear that Francine Pascal had written another title about the twins in their 20s. The release of the book last month is the US sent Twitter into meltdown and Francine was all over the net giving interview after interview. I decided that I needed to get my hands on a copy to see what my favourite blonde and blue/green eyed twins are up to.

Sweet Valley Confidential starts off in New York with Elizabeth coming back to her empty apartment after a long day at work. The phone rings and it is a voicemail from Jessica begging her to speak to her. Elizabeth ignores it. It becomes apparent that something is very wrong and all is not well with the twins. It turns out that Todd has left Elizabeth for Jessica - yes Jessica - betraying her sister in the most awful way. Elizabeth fled to NYC to escape the humiliation and lick her wounds. Jessica and Todd are living together in Sweet Valley and planning their wedding while Elizabeth plans her revenge. Also Elizabeth is no longer best friends with Enid Rollins in fact her bestie is Bruce Patman who she actually could not stand in school. As Elizabeth carves out a name for herself in NYC she finds it hard to let go of the pain and anger that she is harbouring against her twin and ex boyfriend so she hatches up a plan to make them pay. So I guess you all want to know one thing - was this book as good as I expected it be? Hell yes! Time may have moved on for us and Elizabeth and Jessica but Francine Pascal"s ability to tell a good story has not, Sweet Valley Confidential had me gripped from beginning to the end.

I love the way they have taken the book into the 21st century with splattering of pop culture with mentions of Blackberrys, Britney Spears and Facebook. Ok some of it was a tad clumsy but the effect was great. Moreover we get to see more character development with Elizabeth and Jessica; while the original series was very black and white with Elizabeth being the good twin  and Jessica being the bad one, this new book shows the good and bad traits in both. We witness Elizabeth being bad and devious and also learn that Jessica has a heart and can be very selfless. I have read a few blog reviews and a lot of people have been dissing the book because of its massive inaccuracies in the characters names and events. I will admit that I did not even notice these things but I guess it shows how long ago it was since I read the book, either that or I am getting really old. I really did enjoy this book and I can describe it as meeting an old school friend and catching up on the good old days despite the fact that both of your lives have moved on. Now I cannot wait to see the movie. Roll on 2012 and the Diablo Cody effect.

Check out a couple of wicked videos about the Sweet Valley High phenomenon. The first one is the trailer for the new book and the second one is about the cultural impact of the series.

Sweet Valley Confidential is available to buy on amazon.

Sweet Valley High

I have been a bookworm since like forever but when I hit my teens I found that there were no fun books aimed at my age group. There were some wonderful pieces of work by Brits Honor Arundel, Enid Blyton and Jaqueline Wilson, but they were serious books. Then in 1983 a new book series was launched about twin sisters who lived in California; it was called Sweet Valley High and was developed by Francine Pascal. They focused on 16 year old Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield who were identical in every way except in their persona. Elizabeth was sensible, hard working and nice while Jessica anything but. She was manipulative, self centred, shallow and would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. However, as lousy as she was Jessica made Sweet Valley High compelling and exciting to read. Over 150 titles were published as well as spin off series. During 1983 and 1987 I think I bought every title every month. Oh how I would wait in anticipation for a new book to drop and in many ways it was like waiting for your favourite magazine to come out. In 1995 I was delighted when the show hit the TV screens in the UK, Brittany and Cynthia Daniels were perfect in the roles of the Wakefield twins. Interestingly enough the show was very much like Clueless in it's style and feel and possessed the campiness that is contained in Ugly Betty.

Earlier this week it was announced that, Sweet Valley High is about to be made into a film and the script will be written by none other than Diablo Cody. This is exciting news and has been reported on blogsphere a lot. I think Diablo's kick ass dialogue combined with edgy dark humour will be just what the series needs to take bring it into the 21st century. They have got off to a cracking start already with the major characters having twitter accounts. It feels kind of weird that a book series that I was so obsessed about when I was a teen is hitting the public foray but at the same time it is very exciting and I am curious to see what the Juno creater will bring to the table. While I was doing some googling I came across Sweet Valley Diaries which is a nostalgic look at SVH.

Here is a clip from the TV series. Have a look and tell me if it is not a dead ringer for Clueless.



Image from AP.

The Gossip Girl books

Book to film or TV adaptations are always interesting, more so because it often boils down to what is left out rather than what is kept in. Hollywood bosses being the wusses that they are have made a habit out of turning successful books into films. From The Godfather to Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings; all have made it onto the big screen to critical acclaim You know what? Some film adaptations have actually turned out to be very good, in fact some have been better than the books themselves. The Devil Wears Prada is one of a few. Click on this link to find out what the top 15 book to film adaptations are.

In the case of Gossip Girl, the series - which aired on ITV 2 last Thursday - is so far removed from the book that I am wondering why creator, Josh Schwartz (who brought us The OC) did not just start from scratch. In both book and TV series the story takes place in New York and follows the extravagant lives of the sophisticated teens who attend the prestigious Constance Billard school. The key characters are Blair Waldorf, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey's and his younger sister Jenny with the charismatic Serena van der Woodsen taking centre stage. Serena and Blair are best buddies or they used to be before Serena slept with Nate, Blair's on/off boyfriend and then did a runner to boarding school. With Serena's abscondment Blair carves a niche for herself as the school top dog and she is not prepared to relinquish it upon Ms van der Woodsen's return. However there is a twist in the story which comes in the shape of a mystery blogger who keeps the students updated with the misdemeanors of Serena and co.

When I got hold of the book I was expecting it be like the 80s teen chick lit, Sweet Valley High with some colourful and engaging characters. Unfortunately none of the characters in the book do anything for me; Blair is sour and spiteful, Nate a non entity, Dan sort of vapid and even Serena herself comes across as flaky and forgettable. I am not sure if it is Cecily von Ziegesar's writing that puts me off but something is just not right with this book. The show on the other hand is funny, entertaining and engrossing. You really care what happens to all the characters including Chuck who is a bit of a twat.

Gossip Girl airs on ITV 2 on Thursdays at 10.00pm