What I Collect: 80's and 90's YA book series

​Time to reveal one of my secret guilty pleasures... collecting "vintage" 80's and 90's YA (young adult) fiction paperbacks! I was born in 1982 and have always been a huge book worm. My favorite time of the school year was always when the Scholastic Book Fair came to school. Also - those book order sheets the teachers would do monthly made me SO giddy!

I started reading YA series around 1990, just in time for the glory of Sweet Valley Twins (and High, and Kids), Babysitter's Club, Sleepover Friends, Girl Talk, and the scandalous Sunset Island (which my ELEMENTARY SCHOOL had!!?). I'm thankful to my parents for nurturing my reading habits and always buying me books. My older sister and I collected most of the above series between us in the 1990's. Unfortunately, we got rid of them. All of them. Sad times.

Fast forward to last year. In all my thrift store trips, I usually skipped the book section (minus looking for vintage Golden Guides, another favorite I'll save for another post!). I began browsing through the children's section and decided to start collecting some of my beloved series again. I keep a list on my phone of the titles I already own so I don't accidentally pick up a duplicate. It's not really worth much to resell them, unless you have a HUGE lot of a particular series. This is why I don't want to end up with duplicates. 

Some trips I score several titles - other trips I come up with nothing. One series I avoid is Babysitter's Club and BSC Little Sister. I read them in the 90's but was never a big fan (not dramatic enough for me!). Sometimes it's tempting to start collecting them too, since they are so readily available at thrift stores. Maybe eventually, when I get a bigger bookshelf to house this expanding collection.

In addition to series, I also have a fondness for pretty much any YA fiction, especially titles from the late 70's and 80's with horrible fashions on the cover. Think Wildfire titles, etc. Love them. 

Series I currently am on the hunt for:
Sweet Valley High
Sweet Valley Twins
Sweet Valley Kids
Sweet Valley Senior Year
Sweet Valley University
Unicorn Club
Sweet Valley Junior High
Girl Talk
Camp Sunnyside Friends
The Fabulous 5
Friends 4-Ever
Sleepover Friends
Peanut Butter and Jelly

Series I've completed:
Sunset Island (very very hard to find in thrift stores, so I went the Amazon route to complete my collection).

​Feel free to leave a comment about any of your favorite series from back in the day! I'm always on the lookout for suggestions.

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