Twilight

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0316038377

Plot Summary

                       Bella Swan makes the decision to move in with her father in Washington when her mother must travel with her stepfather. The small high school community in this constantly rainy town takes an immediate interest in the new girl and Bella, who is naturally shy, is pursued by both boys and potential friends. The only boy who intrigues her, Edward Cullen, seems to find her repellent after sitting next to her in class, and she feels rebuffed. But when a car nearly hits her in the school parking lot and Edward is able to reach her with lightning speed and stop the car with his bare hands, Bella becomes obsessed with finding out what his secret is. Jacob, the son of a family friend, tells her the local urban legends about vampires and werewolves and Bella concludes that Edward is a vampire. When she confronts him with this knowledge, Edward cannot deny it and confesses that he has been staying away from her because the scent of her blood is too appetizing for him, making it dangerous for them to be together. This does not deter Bella at all, who finds herself falling in love with the mysterious and beautiful Edward. Bella must navigate his strange world and the dangers inherent to it, and more and more she realizes the sleepy town of Forks is not what it appears to be at all.

Critical Analysis

                          Literary merit of this book has been hotly contested, as it is both widely loved and widely hated. But the bottom line is, it is compulsively readable, whether you buy into the world Stephanie Meyers has created, or whether you think Bella is a weak and empty character.  Regardless of any of this, Twilight is an absorbing story and the reader is quickly sucked into the drama, rivalry, and romance. It is true that Bella pales in comparison to the strength of the other characters. She is written to be this way: passive, shy, and unsure. These characteristics mate well with Edward’s ferocious strength and protective nature. A more empowered girl would have had difficulty accepting Edward’s limitations and moved on. In this way, Meyers has created a dynamic between the two characters that works well and reads realistically. Edward is a terrific character, struggling with and besting his own nature. This struggle is reawakened in his attraction to Bella’s blood and he must control himself when he is around her. All of his vampiric limitations fortify and electrify the story of their romance – the element of barely controlled urges, of stop and start, of attraction so deep it is literally a hunger. The reader yearns with Bella and Edward. The surrounding story is also very compelling. The werewolves are equally fascinating. The age-old conflict between werewolves and vampires gives Jacob’s rivalry with Edward for Bella’s affection a deeper level of complexity. This story is densely layered with family issues between Bella and her father, romantic impulse and impossible love, conflict and violence between two mythical creatures, and a thrilling race against time at the ending that seems impossible to resolve. The reader will definitely be compelled to continue reading the series.

Reader’s Annotation

                                   Bella is new in town and intrigued by a boy who seems to find her repellent. But when he saves her life in a way that she knows is not possible, she delves into his secret and finds herself caught in a world she never knew existed.

About the Author

                             Stephanie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young with a degree in English. Before her career began just a few years ago, she was a stay-at-home mom who dreamed up a trio of characters and a storyline that she hashed out while her kids were sleeping. She submitted this novel, Twilight, which was picked out of a slush pile for publication and overnight became a sensation. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and three sons.

                            The success of Twilight was meteoric. Within weeks of being published, it had achieved the number five slot on the New York Times bestseller list. Meyers has won such honors as being named one of the ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults, Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year, and a Teen People "Hot List" pick. The subsequent books in the series received many accolades as well, and the phenomenon only grew as the movies were released.

Genre

         Paranormal/Horror - monsters

Challenge Issues

                          Possible challenge issues in this book include vampires, werewolves, sexual situations, and sacrilegious beliefs. In the event of a challenge, I would consult the challenge defense file prepared for this book. The challenge defense file would include: positive reviews from credible sources for the purpose of proving merit to the challenger; negative reviews in order to inform me on what might be challenged; a written explanation of my own rationale for including the book in the collection as well as a summary of the plot; the American Library Association Bill of Rights; a review of my branch’s selection policy; and, as a last resort, an explanation of the reconsideration policy for my library and an official reconsideration form.

Curriculum Ties

                           English and Writing: use of urban legend/ myth.

Booktalk

              A girl walks unwittingly into a town fraught with tension between two ancient mythical (or so she thought) races – and to top it off, she finds herself embroiled in the conflict and falling in love with one of them. Suddenly she becomes prey and there is a race against time to save her life. This book will absorb your attention so completely that before you know it, you've finished it.

Reading Level and Interest Age

                                                  Grades 9-12.

Why I Included This Book

                                           The most noteworthy characteristic of the Twilight saga is its popularity – and more specifically, how many girls who “aren’t readers” are responding to these books. The high demand for this book, and the way it has contributed to the shockwave of popularity in vampire and other monster books, makes it a no-brainer for a young adult collection.

References
Meyer, S. (n.d.). Bio. Retrieved from http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bio.html