The subtitle of Gabrielle Moss's super-fun Paperback Crush is The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction. When I say this is truly a walk down memory lane for those of us who grew up in this era, I am not exaggerating.For us bookworms, there was nothing better than getting our hands on the latest Sweet Valley High or The Baby-Sitters Club (Moss laments the use of a hyphen in that title.). Many of us longed to be in Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield's world, and we may have even started our own short-lived babysitting business to be like Kristy, Claudia, etc.. Yes, Moss does discuss the popularity of these books, but she also reminisces about lesser-known reads. Some of these books were way ahead of their time, and others are absolutely cringeworthy with sexism, racism, etc. if you read them today.
Paperback Crush is just plain fun, and I enjoyed reading every page. Moss intersperses her short synopses of the books/series with her own thoughts, and it was truly great to see the covers again that I had long forgotten about (Maudie and Me and the Dirty Book anyone?).
MY RATING - 4
