'''Francine Paula Pascal''' (''[[née]]'' '''Rubin,''', May 13, 1932 – July 28, 2024) was an American author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. ''[[Sweet Valley High]]'' was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular [[Sweet Valley High (TV series)|television series]].<ref>{{cite news|title= 2 Good 2 Be True|work= Chicago Tribune|date=September 6, 1994|url= http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-09-06/features/9409060076_1_sweet-valley-high-doublemint-twins-valley-girls|access-date=2010-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Bubblegum Tv|work= Newsweek|url= http://www.newsweek.com/1996/06/23/bubblegum-tv.html|access-date=2010-10-17}}</ref> There were also several spin-offs, including ''[[Sweet Valley High#The Unicorn Club|The Unicorn Club]]'' and ''[[Sweet Valley University]].'' Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles have been re-released in recent years.<ref>{{cite news|title= Publishing's Queen of the Teen Romance Finds Success With a Formula|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=April 20, 1986|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1986-04-20/news/vw-836_1_teen-romance|access-date=2010-10-17|first=Elizabeth|last=Mehren}}</ref>
