Francine Pascal (née Rubin, May 13, 1932-July 28, 2024) was an American author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular television series.There were also several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. She created The Caitlin Trilogies a set of 9 books in total that were published from June 1985 to April 1988. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles have been re-released in recent years.