Twilight by Stephenie Meyer [book]

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer [book]

New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2006
498 p. ; 21 cm
ISBN: 9780316015844

Plot Summary:
Bella Swan is a seventeen year old girl in high school that moves from her mother's house in Arizona to her father's house in Forks, Washington. Bella is on the quiet side and makes friends at school with small male interests coming her way, but Bella is drawn to a mysterious boy at school. He doesn't mingle with the other kids, he's pale and at first he seems to hate her. However, in a freak accident at school Bella is almost killed and Edward saves her with superhuman strength. This incident is what leads Bella to ask more questions, and Edward to finally divulge that he is a vampire who is insanely drawn to her... and her blood.
Through Edward you meet the Cullen family and find that they don't drink human blood; they hunt animals in the forests near by. Bella also has a friend in the novel, and his name is Jacob, who later goes through changes of his own. Edward and Bella's love progresses through the novel and one day when the Cullens are out playing a game with Bella 2 other vampires appear smelling Bella. One of the vampires decides he wants to pursue her and begins to stalk her, making her feel that no one is safe around her. The book culminates with Bella going to her mother's because the vampire has said he has her and her almost being killed by him- luckily Edward shows up on time to save her life.

Critical Evaluation:
The book is easy to read, and many have said that the writing was poor but I find the book to be entertaining and a good read. There are underlying themes of sexuality because Bella is a seventeen year old girl, but they are never acted upon. I think that the characters could have been developed more and the main point of the novel that concerns me is the fact that Bella becomes near to dependent upon Edward for her happiness in life; I do not think that that is a good message to send young girls. Overall I like the plot and the flow of the book, and you can definitely see how the language and dialogue would attract a young adult following.

Reader's Annotation:
Bella is a seventeen year old girl that moves away from her old life and into a new one that contains Edward- a boy who is handsome, but with issues that she could have never dreamed of

Websites to look Into:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/index.html
http://thetwilightsaga.com/

The Author:
A fun fact about Meyer is that because of the Twilight franchise she has been on the Forbes list of 100 of the most powerful celebrities for two years (2009, 2010).

Awards:
Publisher's Weekly's: Best Children's Books of 2005
School Library Journal's: Best Books of 2005

Similar Books:
"New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer
"Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer
"Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer

Booktalking Ideas:
Showing the movie and discussing the likenesses and differences
Comparing the book to other vampire novels

Genre:
Horror/ Fantasy

Interest Age:
13+

Challenge Issues:
Sexuality & Violence
This book deals with Bella wanting Edward and thinking about these physical emotions, but I would combat it with the fact that they do not have sex in the novel, or for that matter until they get married in the series. The violence comes from the fact that there are vampires and many battle scenes that result in people being hurt- but I would combat this with the idea that they are fantasy novels and the vampires main source of food in the novel is animals.

Why this Book?
Twilight is a franchise and has become one of the most popular books of our generation. I felt the need to include it because I would also feel the need to include Harry Potter for that very reason.