As a busy mom of two preteens (10 and 12), I entered the
Twilight zone later than most. A young co-worker of mine suggested that my daughter might want to read the popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer when she reached middle school age. However, it was my 6th grade son who requested the series for a gift ~ all his friends were reading it, and apparently it's a big hit in his middle school. When the series of four books arrived from his Aunt, I didn't take much notice at first. However, as I noticed my son staying up 'til midnight (after we had gone to bed) engrossed in reading Twilight, I began to wonder what exactly was drawing him so close to this vampire/high-school girl romance. Then, at a school event, a friend of mine mentioned that in one of the Twilight series books the main characters go "all the way" in fairly graphic detail. That was the last straw for me ~ I decided to let my son finish reading Twilight, but I would read the entire series first before he got hooked on the next book in the series.
This review covers Twilight from a parent's perspective. I may have to *spoil* a few minor details in order to explain why it may or may not be appropriate for your preteen reader. Naturally, all parents have their own levels of comfort regarding their children's book choices. Some parents may not wish to censor their children's reading list ~ and that's OK. With my child just barely out of elementary school, I'm hesitant to give him free rein in choosing absolutely anything under the sun to read. I wouldn't want him reading novels with sexual scenes, drug use or glorified violence. So, I read Twilight with his best interests in mind, and here are some of my thoughts.
The Plot ~ Twilight is told from a young lady's perspective. Bella Swan is a Junior in High School. Her parents are divorced and she decides to move away from her warm, sunny Arizona home to live with her Dad in the rainy, clouded, and depressingly small town of Forks, Washington. Bella adapts to her new surroundings fairly quickly, making a group of friends in her spread out classes. What I like about Bella is that she's bright and conscientious with her schoolwork. She's literate in Shakespeare and has no trouble identifying the stages of mitosis in her Science lab. Edward, her hyper-attractive Science lab partner, however, has some odd quirks which set him apart. Why do Edward Cullen's eyes change from amber color to a deep, dark shade of black? Why is he so stand-offish to Bella at first, turning his back on her instead of greeting her? As time progresses, Bella finds herself navigating the usual High School maze of dances, day trips and cafeteria lunches. Several cute boys have scoped her out, but she can't keep her eyes off Edward and his beautiful but mysterious siblings (all adopted). When Bella is nearly killed by a careening truck in the parking lot, Edward swoops in from nowhere to save her. Now, Bella becomes even more suspicious of Edward's supernatural powers, and eventually the two develop a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Along the way, Bella learns that Edward is a vampire, albeit a "good" one who hunts only animals for their blood. She discovers that Edward, frozen in time at age 17, is approximately a century older than herself, having been bitten in order to be rescued from dying in an epidemic. The story progresses at a decent pace, with Bella and Edward discovering new things about each other. Edward makes it clear to Bella that he's uncomfortable with their blooming romance ~ there's the undercurrent of danger in their midst ~ can Edward be trusted near Bella when he's so attracted to her? Even her scent is a huge turn-on for Edward, and he strives to control his bloodthirsty impulses around her.
The Good ~Overall, the romantic story line is fairly innocuous. There is some kissing, hand holding and playful banter between the two protagonists, but it doesn't go much further than that. I do question why my 12 year old son would even be interested in a romantic plot line, but I guess I have to grin and bear the fact that someday soon the opposite sex will really matter to him. The Vampire element is catchy ~ I think the author tried to bolster the credibility of the story by grounding it in a pseudo-historical context. It's obvious that the story is a fantasy, and some events (especially the dramatic conclusion) are obviously not of this world, but the context is still a small, sleepy town where teens drive trucks and Volkswagens and shop for prom dresses. Even though I'm not the target Twilight audience (at least, I don't think so) I found the story moved along at a decent pace and I didn't have any trouble following the twists and turns. I definitely found myself wanting to get to the next chapter; I was not disappointed in the last few chapters ~ the action gets ratcheted up and many unforeseen events occur which twist the plot from romance to thriller.
The Not So Good ~ As a parent, there were some things I felt uncomfortable with, and decided to bring them up with my son. For example, at one point Bella takes cold medicine on purpose to help her sleep (she admits she's using it improperly). I mentioned to my son that this was an incorrect use of medicine and that kids should never take pills to help them sleep, or for any other reason, unless it's prescribed by their doctor. Edward literally drives like a bat out of Heck (no irony there) which scares Bella, who shows a rare streak of common sense in wanting to drive on their outings together. There is also a considerable amount of lying and sneaking around in the book, which centers around Bella trying to hide her relationship with Edward from her Dad. At one point, Bella even hides Edward in her bedroom, which also made me uncomfortable from a parent point of view. Towards the end, events happen which cause Bella to be lured by immortality ~ she wonders whether or not she might prefer to be a Vampire in order to remain "forever young" with Edward. While I don't worry that my kids will eventually seek out a vampire for a lover, Bella seems a little too malleable and lacking in common sense for my taste. She doesn't seem to grasp the danger which lurks all around her, and even Edward is perplexed that she's so naive.
Final Assessment ~I have to admit, after getting to the end of the book (I also stayed up past midnight to finish), I wasn't surprised that my son found it so gripping. For him, it was a first romantic novel, and luckily it didn't progress too far into the sexual realm (for my comfort). The ending was truly heart-stopping (in more ways than one) and I found myself rooting for Bella to prevail. For me to care about the characters means that the author, Stephenie Meyer, put a lot of effort into developing the characters, setting and plot themes in the book. From that perspective, it's better than a lot of literature I have slogged through lately. Twilight is definitely not a Newbery award winning type of novel, but it's a decent first romance and thriller for middle to high school aged kids. My only caveat is that you should read it first so you can be aware of the parts where the characters are bad role models and engage in behaviors you don't approve of, or are not age appropriate.
As for the next books in the Twilight series, I will still read these before I let my son go through them ~ I hear that what is fairly innocuous puppy love in Twilight becomes much more full-fledged later on, and I am not ready to expose my son to that just yet!
Related Reading:
New Moon - Stephenie Meyer, the sequel to Twilight.
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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Reading level: Young Adult
(9th grade and up)
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (September 6, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0316015849
ISBN-13: 978-0316015844
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