When it comes to "girly" 80s through 2000s children's books, a lot of people know of series like The Babysitters Club, The Saddle Club, American Girl, Cam Jansen, Judy Moody, Dear America, The Royal Diaries, The Clique, Junie B. Jones, and Sweet Valley. Many have been revived as graphic novels as well.
But what about Girl Talk, The Party Line, Sleepover Friends, Girls of Canby Hall, Bad New Friends, The Gymnasts, Paperback Crush, or Friends 4 Ever?
They must have been read by many kids in their heyday, but they're so old and niche that not even libraries carry them anymore. They're "disposable" paperback books.
This isn't a new phenomenon at all. I've read books analyzing cheap, "disposable" literature from the 1800s. Everything from penny dreadfuls, dime novels, pulp fiction, and various genres of western adventure books.
It is sad, though. It's a bit of an existential issue. I' sure many of these series were written by ghostwriters and just made to sell books, but that doesn't mean they weren't enjoyed by others and thought wasn't put into them. But now they're faded memories at best, probably thrown away in the garbage or in secondhand stores.
by Gallantpride
4 Comments
I remember the Gymnasts!
I feel so sad that my nieces can’t get many older YA books from the libraries. I’m glad I’ve kept hold of mine—I loved reading books from the ‘80s in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. I hope my nieces will eventually get into them; they like the graphic novels of books so much that they won’t read my old Sweet Valley or BSC club paperback books. I think they lose a lot in reading mostly graphic novels, especially in terms of prose.
There were some titles in your list that I never read and I bet they were fun!
I loved The Sleepover Friends! I couldn’t wait until I was a teenager and got to have weekly sleepovers with my friends where we’d have zany adventures.
Did you ever read “Baker’s Dozen”? I checked those out from my library a ton too.
I hear what you’re saying. I saved a bunch of my books from childhood because I always knew I wanted kids, but there were several books I borrowed that I wish I had.
I’m not sure what your thesis is here. We simply can’t keep everything ever written from the 1800s up through current day in circulation. And just because something was enjoyed once and isn’t popular anymore doesn’t mean it’s disposable.