Quotes from Francine Pascal

I know you think that when you're 35, 45, 55, you'll be different. But I'm going to let you in on a bit of a secret. You're going to look different, and your life is going to be different, but in your head you'll always be that 16-year-old girl.

When I first thought of the idea for 'Sweet Valley High,' I loved the idea of high school as microcosm of the real world. And what I really liked was how it moved things on from 'Sleeping Beauty'-esque romance novels where the girl had to wait for the hero. This would be girl-driven, very different, I decided - and indeed it is.

The same way that some people can play the piano, I can do plots! They just come!

I like to play poker. I have a nice poker group that's been going on for years.

Ella is much younger. Maybe thirty. I don't know. And you certainly can't tell from the way she dresses. Middle of winter she finds a way to show her belly button. And she's got four hundred of these little elastic bands that can only pass for a skirt if you never move your legs. Top that with this unbelievable iridescent red hair and you've got one hot seventeen-year-old. At least that's what she thinks.

It probably all boils down to three magic words: I don't care. And nobody can make me.

Ed felt faint. Milk shake, as it turned out, was much less handy in your veins then, say, oxygen.

That was one plus about profound self-loathing. Nobody could hate you worse than you hated yourself.

Actually for a while Jessica had contemplated making a grand entrance wearing only the dress, thinking wickedly about how the sight of her cold, shivering body would prompt Nicholas to rush up and put his arms around her to warm her up. But evenings at this time of year were usually chilly, and she saw no reason to risk pneumonia just for a sympathy hug. She'd have to settle for throwing her coat off dramatically as she was being ushered into the Morrow mansion.

Everybody at Sweet Valley High, even Elizabeth, seemed to forget that there was ever a fat and ugly Robin. But Robin would never forget.

She imagined herself whirling breathlessly beneath the flashing lights of some impossibly chic Manhattan disco. Suddenly, a hand touches her arm. She turns. 'Pardon me,' Mick Jagger says, 'I believe this next dance is mine.

David had said something about her 'distinctive features'. Was he going to make her look ethnic? Jade worried. She was trying so hard to look just like everyone else!

Your friend Lila is calling from her car phone,' Ned said, half amused and half annoyed. 'Apparently something earth-shattering has come up, and unless she can talk to you this very second, she claims she will die.

Bob grinned. 'Wear that white swimsuit you bought last week, OK?' he said. 'I want all the other guys to wish you were their girlfriend.' Sara felt vaguely uncomfortable, but she ignored the sensation. Bob just wanted her to look her best, she figured. There was nothing wrong with that.

His tightly fitting jeans were unmistakably French.

Elizabeth had amnesia and her defenses were down. Bruce had tried to take advantage of her – what guy wouldn't? Unfortunately, she got her memory back just in time, ran right out of his house, and wrecked his plans for the evening.

I just can't wait to get out of Sweet Valley,' Jessica explained. 'I feel like I've been dancing with the same ten cute guys my whole life.

In a lot of ways that poor little potato' – Evan pointed directly at Jade's French fries – 'symbolizes the reckless consumerism that plagues America.

Ella's supersonic voice followed her all the way to Bleecker Street and then dissolved amid the noisy profusion of shops, cafes, and restaurants and the crush of people that made the West Village of Manhattan unique in the world. In a single block you could buy fertility statues from Tanzania, rare Amazonian orchids, a pawned brass tuba, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, or the best, most expensive cup of coffee you ever tasted. It was the doughnuts, incidentally, that attracted Gaia.

Roger Collins wasn't the most popular teacher at school only because he was interesting in class. In fact, most of the girls would have loved a little after-class attention from this teacher.

When people try to take their own lives, they often don't want to be brought back. When you catch them in time, as is this case, they have a second chance. But they have to want that chance. You see Mrs. Whitman, I have no idea why your daughter did this to herself, but she seems to have no will to live.

How inappropriate,' Lila said coldly. 'Who'd ever dream of showing up at a dance in a wheelchair? What does she think she's going to do all night?

Honestly,' she said when they were out of Bruce's earshot, 'he's as bad in the kitchen as you are. What do you people do on the servant's night off, anyway?' Lila looked Jessica straight in the eye. 'Cold lobster and caviar,' she said earnestly.

Jessica felt like a heroine in a tragic, dramatic love story. She lifted her chin and turned away. It was all over.