I have never read a Sweet Valley High book but Francine Pascal’s Fearless series, on the other hand, well, I read them all. Why am I all nostalgic today about a female crime fighter? When I came in to the BUST office today, a double edition (books 1 and 25) of the series was sitting within my reach! How did it get here? Who the hell knows?!
While gazing over the cover, story-lines involving Gaia and her kickass martial arts skills all came back to me. I remember her protecting herself against icky fellas on the streets of NYC, all while calm and collective (since she was born without the fear gene). I remember her love interests and the sometimes confusing love triangles (Oh Sam and Heather and Ed), all of which never really mattered to her and took a backseat to her life of protecting the innocent. Also, there was this crazy family history involving her uncle who thought he was her biological father, yada yada yada.
Growing up an awkward teen (like I’m sure many of you did as well), I had a difficult time finding (in Green Bay, WI, mind you) material that didn’t involve high school gossip and the superficial story-lines that often followed. With Fearless, I could read about a girl who had her issues, who didn’t end up with a guy in the end, and who had a pretty cool stint in the often male-overload crime fighting genre. Thank goodness for Fearless!
nicole!
Photo courtesy of Simon and Schuster
