The Stars are Shinning on Sweet Dreams & Caprice & First Love From Silhouette- Jennifer Connelly & Courtney Cox & Lori Loughlin!

Finding books I don’t have is always a treat , I practically pounce on them like a miner discovering gold! It’s an even bigger treat when there’s a nice surprise on the cover! Is it just me or is that Courtney Cox on the cover of Sweet Dreams? It is! - looking like she did back when she was pulled on stage for a dance with Bruce Springsteen - staged of course but who cares! And who’s that on the cover of Caprice - could it be? Yes it is - Jennifer Connelly!
As for the others I’m not too sure about I just thought they’d be fun to include. One looks like a dead ringer for Kate Jackson , and though I know the dates are really off one of the cashiers at Value Village pointed out that the girl on Kiss Me Creep , Sweet Dreams looked exactly like Thora Birch. The guy on Kiss Me Creep actually looks a lot like John Philbin from the New Kids 1985 - the movie with Lori Loughlin. The other Sweet Dreams cover looks like someone I can’t put my finger on an actress from the 80's wait - Meredith Salenger - that’s it! From Journey of Natty Gann and Dream a Little Dream , and get a load of the guy on First Love From Silhouette he’s got kindof a Flock of Seagulls thing going with his hair.

** Just found a new one! First Love From Silhouette #54 - Picture Perfect by Carrie Enfield. That's Lori Loughlin looking ravashing as always! She was without a doubt, one of ( if not ) the best looking brunette of the 80's. She had the most magnificient sparkly eyes and the sun-shinniest smile. I love how she is bathed in a warm buttered toast glow on this cover. It's kind of interesting that I should find Lori Loughlin after just maybe perhaps recognizing her co-star of the New Kids on Kiss Me Creep. If you haven't seen The New Kids check it out - it's not much of a horror , more of a psychotic teenager played with lizardy villainry by a bleached blonde James Spader , ( he was the ultimate 80's slimeball! ) harassing two new kids that have moved into his quiet Florida town. Orphaned they have come to live with their aunt and uncle at their rundown Santa's workshop carnival. Lori Loughlin makes the movie better than it is with her spunky , level headed charm - she turns Spader down flat which sparks the out and out war he wags against them, and her brother hunky newcomer Shannon Presby isn't bad either. Doesn't Lori Loughlin have the best hair? It hasn't changed much , she knew what looked good on her and stuck with it , but I love that loop of bangs that arches over her forehead like a feathered visor brim.

Just to show you celebrities aren’t snobs ( or maybe they just don’t have the rights to their pictures ) check out this cover of Helene ( not a Series book but I thought it was cool ) that’s Brooke Shields on the cover - looking about thirteen which is strange because the book is not about a Lolita relationship well not that much of one! The girl in the story is seventeen. If you know of anymore celebrities on covers let me know , maybe I missed a few.

Hope you like the pics sorry the Caprice cover is in such rough shape!

I've finally figured out how to duh! handle the comment-replies and moved my answer to it's proper location. That reminds me - feel free to ask questions about series books or pop culture , maybe there is a shadowy book whose title is on the tip of your tongue but you can't recall it - if you've got a few clues maybe I can help out! No promises , but I always give it a shot and if I come up blank someone out there might have the answer.

10/30/08 - Blast off - 1st Blog for Cliquey Pizza

Hi , there! Peachalulu here wanting to share my love of the 80's
, especially teen book series with anyone who gets nostalgic over a
Sweet Valley High cover or a pair of vintage jellies. Why Cliquey Pizza?
Well for me , 80's series fiction did not exactly strive for Newberry awards , in fact they were little more than brain junk food and what was more popular in the 80's than pizza! As for Cliquey , the 80's were a very cliquey generation , you weren't just in or out - even the out's had labels ( not very nice ones mind you but if you were a dork you could console yourself that you weren't just a dork but a computer nerd , Atari freak , or an apple polisher - a whole resume of geekdom.)

I've been collecting series books for several years ever since I came across a book in a flea market and did a double take - was there a spin-off of Sweet Valley High that had somehow escaped me?! Nope , just a bit of mistaken identity - for a moment I thought the fake triplet Jennifer ( from Sweet Valley Twins #6 ) had been transformed into a real character. The series was the Dream Girls and the cover artist James Matheuse also did the covers for Sweet Valley High giving the characters an eerie similarity between the two series. The villain of Dream Girls conniving Arlene McVie is almost the spitting image of flirty , Jessica Wakefield while the good girl of the series Linda Ellis looks like a Jean West , Susan Stewart morph. Wondering exactly how many series had come out in the 80's , I started combing through used book stores , thrift stores , fleamarkets anywhere I could find the paperbacks for cheap. I couldn't believe how many were out there - over a hundred! Eventually it turned into a scavenger hunt - I'm still looking for the last book to fill in my Fabulous Five series - #29 - Melanie Edwards , Super Kisser and the harder to hunt down Roommates. Occationally I resort to Ebay and Abe books but unless it's a bulk lot I don't bother , I hate paying for shipping! Fortunately I still had my old books packed away so I didn't have to start , completely , from scratch. All in all , I have hundreds and hundreds of books, a dozen or so complete series and most series are nearly complete but still have hundreds left to find.

Reading these books is like a blast from the past , my own Delorian trip back to the 80's - when cell phones were a fantasy , the internet nonexistent and acid washed ( everything ) made laundry blunders look cool! My plan is to discuss the books and how pop culture might have and , or did , influence them.