'Sex And The City' - the school years

Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell is writing a pair of novels, that take readers back to character Carrie Bradshaw’s formative years in high school.

'The Carrie Diaries' will give “an inside look at Carrie’s friendships, romances and how she realised her dream of becoming a writer,” publisher HarperCollins announced today.

The first book will come out in 2010.

Bushnell said: “Carrie in high school did not follow the crowd – she led it. It was there that she began observing and commenting on the social scene.”

Bushnell’s adventures of Carrie and her Manhattan pals were adapted into the hit series starring Sarah Jessica Parker and a feature film that came out this year.