The Katherine Applegate/Michael Grant Books of Sweet Valley Twins

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You’re going to have to bear with me on this, because I’m still a bit gushy. Michael Grant followed me on Twitter, and I thought that was a big deal. Then he tweeted at me. (@SweetValley_ if you want to follow me, by the way.)

And this was news to me. I knew that Katherine Applegate was a ghostie, but I never knew that Michael Grant was involved, so this generated a lot of squee from me.  I had been a fan of Katherine Applegate since the Making Out years, then found Michael Grant’s Gone series independently. Wing and I nearly exploded with joy when we realized they were married. I think many of our squees were about how much talent was contained within their house!

I have been telling Raven and Wing that SV gets so much better once we hit a point. And that point pretty much encompasses the books that Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate wrote.

Then Katherine Applegate gave us this little gem.

I had to ask about the Super/Special/Chiller editions and Michael kindly gave more information.

I’m amazed that these lovely people took the time to answer my questions about some old books. I’m also delighted that Michael actually started this conversation.  This has just been a lovely conversation, with some great snippets of information that we’ve wondered about for quite awhile.

And – feel free to skip this part – here’s one of the reasons why it’s so lovely. I grew up reading these two without even knowing about it. I then fell in love with the writing they published under their own names. I was quite a lonely teen, and reading the Making Out series in particular, knowing that Nina was so odd but loved gave me a bit of hope.

tl;dr, Katherine Applegate’s writing impacted my life, and later the same was true of her husband. And for 20 minutes this evening, I existed to them too.

Edit: It gets better. Michael Grant answered some questions about the Sweet Valley Twins ghostwriting experience.

I am Dove. I am: Team Jessica (Sweet Valley); Team Bad Guy (Point Horror);  Team Geiger (Making Out); Team Nina/Lucas (Making Out); and I am the voice of a claymation cow named Daisy, and I was in an advert for Fairy Liquid in the 80s.

7 thoughts on “The Katherine Applegate/Michael Grant Books of Sweet Valley Twins”

  1. I am unfamiliar with Michael Grant, so I will look his work up. I was a big fan of the Animorphs series – I respect realistic, dark storytelling. It was a standalone genre until the Hunger Games series.

    Reply

    1. I would definitely recommend the Gone series – you can usually pick up the first one as an ebook for about £1.99 to get you hooked, then the rest are full price (and worth it).

      It’s awfully dark. It starts with every adult vanishing in a single moment and it quickly gets worse from there. Imagine a town cut off from everyone over the age of majority. It’s like Lord of the Flies. It’s my favourite YA series.

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      1. I’ve requested Gone from a swap site. I’ve got Wikipedia up, helping track series, and one of Katherine Applegate’s pen names caught my eye… She also wrote Girl Talk! Did either of you read that series?? That would be a fun one to review. Those were dated as soon as they were published lol.

        Reply

          1. Thanks, I’ll check that out.
            They were published ’90-’92 and so so specific. My mom didn’t remember the name, but recognized the covers immediately lol. Randy was what Stacy should have been (sorry Wing.)

            Reply

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