Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
this is the first time I *think* liz refers to devon whitelaw. She mentions that her 'boyfriend skipped town' after the earthquake, which technically could be todd (as he fights with her in "Last Wish" and says he's going away). however, as todd returns and wants to get back together with liz at the beginning of the first one (though liz conveniently forgets this when she wants todd back), it makes more sense that it'd be devon but as devon left her for dead "skips town" seems like an understatement.