Perfect Size Six

I was a huge fan of the Sweet Valley High series. Between my sister and I we had all the books. Being a twin, I liked reading about other twins. Each book had a physical description of the girls within the first few pages that described the girls a perfect size 6 wearing gold laveliers. No more.

Like all things from my childhood this series is being repackaged and sold to a whole new generation. With variations of course. The big one that most people picked up on (and were outraged by) was the vanity sizing. A size 6 twenty years ago is more like a size 2 these days, but at least the publishers didn't go that far. Elizabeth and Jessica are supposed to embody what every girl wants to be-- thin, blond and popular. It didn't matter to me that I was never going to be that and the mention of their size in every book, while it stung, never kept me from devouring them. Standards change over time-- it is what it is.

In my humble opinion if they want to make the description more relevant the girls need to be wearing Tiffany charm bracelets, not gold laveliers. I'll be on the look out for these when they hit the bookstores. I'm curious what other changes they will make. You can click on the picture to enlarge it the see what else Random House is doing to make the stories more today.