Stephenie Meyer's Twilight

Not Just Your Daughter's Fiction

J.E. Thurnau
J.E. Thurnau, Yahoo! Contributor Network
May 1, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
As a high school English teacher I am subject to the whims of teenage readers. I'm always hearing about one book or another, usually what we'd title "fluff" which we usually turn our heads up at and then ignore, pulling out the more sophisticated works of Shakespeare or Steinbeck. Recently I noticed a book circulating around the student body. Every student that read it was excited and raved about its contents as if there were no other book in the world worth reading. So, I became curious. I picked up a copy. I perused it. I bought it. I finished its 500 page girth in one day. This was the day I, too, became a part of the Twilight cult following.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer is a delightful tale of a teenage outcast, sent to live with her father in the rainy Washington town of Forks, where seeing the sun is rare and everybody knows your business. It seems like a typical beginning of the typical teenage tale, and in many ways it is. The beauty of the story lies in the relationships that the main character, Bella, soon forms. She is immediately attracted to the beautiful school outcasts, the adopted children of the Cullens. Each of the five siblings seems too perfect to be true. And soon we find out they are. Bella has an immediate connection with the youngest of the family, Edward, who she eventually discovers to be a "vegetarian" vampire, trying to make his way through the world where everywhere and everyone is a temptation. Her tale continues on as they are thrown together and we are left gasping at the ups and downs of their relationship. Can they be friends? Can they be lovers? Can a girl and vampire truly be together?

The story itself is imaginative, yet follows typical young adult style, with the teenage outcast and the love interest. There is nothing new there. Throw in some vampires and we have more of an intriguing twist. The true creative beauty, however, is the way that Meyer constructs the characters and their relationship. As readers, we are immediately absorbed in their lives, loves, and thoughts and left breathless with anticipation to know what happens next. This is something that really appeals to a lot of young adult readers as well.

Meyer has a wonderful grasp of dialogue, which truly makes the book an incredible read with witty discussions full of sharpness and longing. She also has a great handle on characterization, allowing the reader to feel what Bella is feeling as she battles her teenage insecurities and the difficulties of first love. Edward and his vampire family become volatile characters, not just the stock fictional fiends, as she twists the vampire legend to fit her story and gives them human foibles and personalities.

Twilight is a delightful book that I would recommend to any young girl trying to get into reading, or who just loves a good book. As our high school English department now knows, it is also a great book for adults, wishing to relive their teenage past, or just wishing to get lost in a good love story. Give it a shot, you won't regret it.

Published by J.E. Thurnau

I am a middle school teacher. I teach 9th grade Sheltered Language Arts (ESL) and 9th grade Gifted and Talented Language Arts. I have a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University and I have a B.S. in...  View profile

Stephenie Meyer wrote the book based on a dream she had.

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  • Keri Withington4/11/2010

    I am a tutor and am now teaching Twilight. I found some great resources at this site http://twilightnovelnovice.com/scholastic-apple/twilight-lesson-unit-plans/

  • Disgruntled10/1/2009

    I enjoyed the Twilight series as the next girl, but to call the books amazing, or to suggest Stephanie Meyer is anything more than a repressed woman trying to live out her fantasies is a complete joke. The writing is on par with a fourteen-year-old's diary, and the relationships between characters have as much depth as a piece of sheet metal. It's as though the two leads were simply thrown together, and we don't even glimps at real chemistry until there is the tiniest spark shown with a potential rival, but even that is quickly snuffed out.

    The real appeal of these novels is that young girls are able to identify with the non-discript lead, and are thrilled to read about her catching the most attractive guys.

    That, and vampires.

    I'm genuinely embrassed that teachers are using these books as class material. While I applaud the use of these novels to encourage the younger generations to pick up reading, they should in know way be promoted as anything more than a good way to

  • Nancy Lichtenstein2/23/2008

    I got this around Christmastime and just got to pick it up now; I started it this morning, can't put it down, and already have the two sequels on reserve at the library. Your review was dead-on; although this book has a lot of familiar elements in it, the author makes the characters so real that I can't wait to find out what happened to them. I think some of the best writing today is in the YA category.

  • A. McMillen10/5/2007

    I am another high school teacher who was drawn into the twilight "cult"! My students warned me not to start it until I had proper spare time to devote, but I thought I would be able to exercise some self control. However, the addiction got me, and I had all three books finished in two weeks. We ended up discussing it in Philsophy Club... Would you live forever if you could... what would you give up for that chance? Sparked some interesting debate.

  • Marsha10/2/2007

    I am teaching 'Twilight' to my post secondary LD students. Any ideas where I can get lesson materials guides etc?

  • Lavender Glow8/11/2007

    I have to agree fully with you. Stephenie Meyer is an excellent writer. My daughter bought Twilight and raved so much about it that I have read it and now her grandmother has also!

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