Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of ‘80s and '90s Teen Fiction

Every twenty-or thirty-something women knows these books. The pink covers, the flimsy paper, the zillion volumes in the series that kept you reading for your entire adolescence.Spurred by the commerical success of Sweet Valley High and the Babysitters Club, these paperbacks were cheap, short, and utterly beloved.

Paperback Crush revists this golden age with affection and just a little snark. Readers will discover (and fondly remember) girl-centric series on everything from correspondence (Pen Pals and Dear Diary) to sports (Cheerleaders and The Gymnasts) to a newspaper at an all-girls Orthodox Jewish middle school (The B.Y Times) to a literal teen angel (Teen Angels: Heaven Can Wait). Some were bllatant rip-offs of successful series (Sleepover Friends), some were sick-lit tear-jerkers (Abby, My Love) and some were plain perplexing (Uncle Vampire?)?

But all of them represent that time gone by of girl power and sustained silent reading.