Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High Books Ran for 20 Years — What Was the Author's Net Worth?

Starting in the early '80s, a book series known as Sweet Valley High began chronicling the lives of fictional blond-haired twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who navigated life, school, and friends in their fictional LA suburb. Jessica was the one who often caused mischief, while her more sensible sister Elizabeth usually came to fix her messes.

The series was created by author Francine Pascal, a gifted writer who started out in journalism and screenwriting before eventually launching an enormously entertaining YA series.

The Sweet Valley High books were so beloved, in fact, that they were adapted into a popular television series that ran from 1994 to 1997 and starred twin actresses Brittany and Cynthia Daniel, and featured a catchy theme song that stayed in many millennials' heads for decades to come.

Sadly, news broke in late July 2024 that Francine had passed away at age 92. Considering her long and impressive career, some have wondered if the author's net worth matched up to her incredible talents.

Francine studied journalism at NYU and kicked off her career with magazine writing before trying her hand at screenwriting. Francine and her husband John were hired as writers on a soap opera called The Young Marrieds. "It was something neither of us cared about; we needed the money," Francine reflected to Entertainment Weekly in 2019.

Francine and John even co-wrote a Broadway musical called George M! that ran for a year. It was after this that Francine tried her hand at books, leading to 1977's Hangin' Out With Cici and 1980's The Hand-Me-Down Kid.

Francine decided afterward that she wanted to create a soap opera aimed at high school kids, but after she faced a bunch of rejection ("They said it was too girly," she told EW), a friend planted the idea in her head to write a book series aimed at teens. And considering Francine had a book proposal due to her publisher, this got the ball rolling.

Though Francine was heavily involved in the first book in the series, she told EW that she actually hired a team of ghostwriters who used the "character bible" she created, and wrote stories based on Francine's outlines.

Why? Francine hadn't been that interested in writing the books. "My [previous] writing for young adults was humorous, and I didn't think there was going to be humor in [these books]," she told the mag.

The Sweet Valley High book series continued releasing new titles for 20 years until wrapping up in 2003. Along the way, numerous spinoffs satiated hungry readers. The books were so popular that you might even say other future big series like The Baby-Sitters Club found some inspo in them.

And even after the original Sweet Valley High series ended, two more novels came out in 2011 and 2012. respectively, following the adult versions of the characters. And Francine continued to put out more books, including the Fearless series.

With this kind of success, Francine had to have made a pretty penny, right? Well, in 2013, Forbes estimated that Francine had raked in around $15 million from Sweet Valley High. Not too shabby!

Francine died at age 92 on July 28, 2024, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Francine's daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal told the New York Times that her mother passed away from lymphoma.

RIP, Francine.