There's the classics: Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Harriet the Spy, Little House etc. But my guiltiest pleasure is 80's ya series. Oh my God, I LOVED a series that I could collect and set up on my bookshelf, trying to fill in the numbers I was missing. Here's a sampling:
The Baby-Sitters Club
Oh sweet BSC, you were a time of innocence before I jumped into Steven King and V.C. Andrews. I absolutely still love this series about a group of baby-sitters and their adventures. There was nothing too dramatic about the BSC. Sometimes they would fight, like if Mary Anne got a makeover, or Stacey decided she was mature for the club, or if Claudia would eat the last twinky (kidding). But that's kind of why they remain a favorite. The relationships the girls had with each other was so realistic and well, for lack of a better word, normal. Completely relate-able. And worth it just for the epic outfit descriptions.
(Boy Crazy Stacey and Mallory and the Trouble with Twins were my two favorites: hello, the beach and makeovers?)
Sweet Valley High
SVH was awesome for the opposite reason. Total unbelievable drama! (as seen in the above image, yum frozen pancakes.) This series was set in the fictional town of Sweet Valley, with a cast of white bred, beautiful teens headed by the perfect size 6 Wakefield twins. It's a soap opera and I loved it. Famously ghostwritten by a bazillion writers, it made Francine Pascal rich, and robbed me of my allowance on many occasions. Basically Sweet Valley High and The Baby-Sitters Club made teen publishing what it is today.
Freshman Dorm
Sorry for the small images. But if you can lean in real close to your screen, you'll see my favorite part of the Freshman Dorm series: collage covers! I always loved how it was a bunch of photos, with weird 90's junk sitting on top of it (erasers that spelled out hot, nail polish, weird key chains, mini pizzas). Freshman Dorm encouraged my dreams of college while I was still in middle school. Surprisingly realistic, well at least in the beginning, the teens of Freshman Dorm *gasp* actually go to classes, and work on their homework in between falling in love, becoming anorexic, getting addicted to drugs, almost getting married etc. I avidly re-read this series now, in hopes that it will pump me up, a contrast to how boring college actually is.
Cheerleaders
This tiny photo was extremely difficult to locate, which is making me realize this series might have been harder to find in the 80's than I thought. I still own way too many of these books. I just loved this series because I wanted to be a cheerleader when I was a little girl, but really...the plots are either totally ridiculous or completely boring. You don't really feel anything for *any* of the characters because they're mostly so shallow and self centered, and not in a fun Jessica Wakefield or Lila Fowler kind of way either. Oh well, I still loved it as a kid. Famous ya authors got their start on this series, including Caroline B. Cooney and Christopher Pike!
Sunset Island
Sunset Island....oh how I still love thee. This series follow three girls who become au-pairs on a beautiful island during two (very long) summers. Cherie Bennett is the master of describing outfits, most of them horrendous (think day glo), and child care is mostly put on the back burner, with the focus on the girls love lives with various hot dudes on the island. My favorite part is the local band, Flirting with Danger (!!!). Seriously, that name is so ridiculous, you have to love it.
Sleepover Friends
These were, and still, are kind of baby-ish, but c'mon, it's called The Sleepover Friends! Cute! Really, it's like The Baby-sitters Club lite. Pretty wholesome, nothing too intense happens. The only real reason to read these books are for the intense junk food sessions they go on. Serious food porn. Pizza, fudge, Dr. Pepper, bbq chips, cookies, leftover chinese food...if it's in the fridge, these girls will eat it.
Other series I loved (and some I still collect) include: Canby Hall, The Fabulous Five, Pen Pals, Sunfire, Satin Slippers, Couples, Sweet Dreams, Merivale Mall, Seniors, Roommates, Girl Talk, geesh.
Now I've just gotta keep my fingers crossed that the new Sweet Valley and BSC books that are planned, aren't totally terrible.
