Francine Pascal is an American author born on May 13, 1938, in New York, best known for creating the enormously popular Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley Twins young adult book series. Her Sweet Valley franchise, which began in 1983, spawned dozens of spin-off series, a television adaptation, and made her one of the most widely read authors in the young adult fiction genre. She also created the Fearless thriller series and wrote adult fiction, cementing a decades-long career as a prolific storyteller for teen audiences.