Sunfire

Man, oh man, do I love Sunfire. Sunfire is a series of "young adult romances." Let me give you a quick synopsis of EVERY SINGLE SUNFIRE BOOK:(Insert girl's name) is a spunky, bright, beautiful young woman. Two men, (insert name) and (insert another name), are in love with her, and she must choose which one she will love forever, even at the tender age of (16 or 17, it's always 16 or 17, and there's usually a birthday). Even though (girl)'s family is (poor, ethnic, or disapproves of girl's desires), (girl) wants to do what's right for them and herself. Fun, friendship, and understanding come from (girl of different socioeconomic status), and (girl) finds a true friend. Unfortunately, disaster strikes in the form of (insert real historical event here), but (girl) comes to the rescue. In the end, (girl) chooses (one of the guys), her true love, who will support her and cherish her forever.
Seriously, they're so formulaic! I love them! I like being able to skip ahead about eight chapters to find the disaster. And since they're young adult romances, there's no "her bosom heaved" or "he pressed into her, and she felt his manliness". Sunfire is much, much tamer than that. The girl usually kisses both suitors, and gets all fluttery when she holds hands, but we never go any further than that.
Yesterday, I read Renee - 1888, Nick and Steven, Italian family, Megan, Steven's sister, blizzard, Renee wants to write for a newspaper and not stay home after she gets married, she chooses Nick, the guy from the same socioeconomic background because he finally agrees that she can work after they're married. I also read Merrie - 1620, Mayflower stowaway, Luke and Zachariah, ran away because her father was going to force her to marry some old guy, Little Fawn, an Indian maiden, hard winter and the first Thanksgiving, she chooses Zach, because Luke wanted her to come back to England and Zach is living in the New World.
I think Sunfire is so appealing to nine- and ten-year-old girls because at that age, teenagers seem grown up, and the girls in the books are getting married... which they wouldn't be doing if they were set in present day. That's my theory on why they're historically set - to make the love and marriage of a 16-year-old plausible.
So why am I reading them? Nostalgia, for one, and I love to read children's books in the summer. Light and easy, that's my motto.

By the way, Sunfire is now out of print - I think they were originally published in 1984 and '85 - so if you ever see one if a used bookstore, will you please buy it for me?

Sunfire - A-