A Childhood Series Favorite Revisited

When I think of the books I loved as a kid several series come to mind: The Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew's Case Files, & Sweet Valley High. I enjoyed reading about the lives of twins Jessica & Elizabeth Wakefield. Jessica was the more popular one, while Elizabeth was the one I related to. Elizabeth led a quieter life, loved writing & reading books. I always lived vicariously through characters in whatever book I was reading, and I especially loved visiting these sisters and the world they lived in.

With the release of Sweet Valley Confidential, I began thinking: Can you revisit a series from your youth and enjoy it as much as you did then? Can a writer pick up a series written for a younger audience and make it interesting to an older one?

Sweet Valley Confidential picks up 10 years after Jessica & Elizabeth have graduated high school. These once close knit sisters are no longer speaking and live on opposite sides of the country. What tore them apart is part of the book's storyline. I am curious, but leery. When I began reading customer reviews I started to question whether I should even bother. Every review of this book was negative, save one. Customers forewarned it being awful and a waste of your time and money. I'm hoping that isn't the case for me, but we'll see.

I don't know how well an author can pick up a series that was originally geared for younger kids. I read the series around 4th and 5th grade. To my knowledge, and I could be wrong, the author stopped writing the series several years ago. I don't know if there is even an audience for these characters anymore. It will be interesting to see if the author can recapture the magic the original series had. For no other reason that sentimentality, I am going to give Sweet Valley Confidential a try.