Francine Pascal, who enchanted a generation of readers with her Sweet Valley High series of young adult novels, has died at 92, the New York Times reports.

Pascal, a New York native, was educated at New York University and worked as a journalist and soap opera writer before making her literary debut with the novel Hangin’ Out With Cici in 1977. Six years later, she published the first four books in her now iconic series of books, which introduced readers to Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, two identical twins who attend Sweet Valley High School in southern California.

The series became a publishing phenomenon encompassing 181 books, many of them ghostwritten but all attributed to Pascal. It spawned several spinoff series, including Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, and the Unicorn Club. The original series also was adapted into a television show that aired from 1994 to 1997.

Pascal’s other works included the novels My First Love and Other Disasters, The Ruling Class, Little Crew of Butchers, and the Fearless series of young adult novels.

Her admirers paid tribute to her on social media. On the platform X, journalist and author Maris Kreizman wrote, “Thank you to Francine Pascal for opening my tiny little head to a world where twin sisters can be as different as night and day but still be incredibly hot in the same way. Every trip to Walden Books was so exciting, with the hope that a new book in the series would be out.”

And author Julia Dahl posted, “I read every single one of the Sweet Valley books as a girl growing up in California in the 1980s. Thank you for helping to create this lifelong reader, Francine Pascal.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.