Module 8: Twilight by Stephanie Myers

Bibliographic Citation: Myers, Stephanie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2005.

Plot Summary:

Bella Swan has just moved to Forks with her father, Charlie.  Forks is a small town so Bella makes friends pretty quick, everyone is interested in the new girl.  However, during lunch, Bella notices the Cullens sitting at a table together, looking very sophisticated.  She was instantly intrigued in them and wanted to learn about them.  Luckily, Bella has Edward, one of the Cullens, in her science class.  Edwards happens to sit next to her, but he seems disgusted by her.  The next few days are uneventful, Bella wants to see Edward but he doesn't show up to school.  When he finally returns, Edward is rather friendly with Bella and they talk.

One morning while in the parking lot, a boy almost ran over Bella.  However, somehow Edward was there in an instant and saved her.  Then Bella notices that Edward left a dent on the van.  This she can't explain, neother how fast Edward was there to save her.  After this, Bella and Edward form a friendship.  Bella also forms a friendship with Jacob Black, and he shares a legend with her about vampires and werewolves.  This is where Bella learns that the Cullens might be vampires.  Eventually Edward admits to Bella that he and his family are vampires, but they don't drink human blood.  He admits to be attracted to her blood and so has doubts wether he can trust himself with her.  

Bella and Edward's relationship develops and they fall in love.  One day while Bella is at a family baseball game with the Cullens, some vampires show up, vampires that drink human blood.  Bella's life is in danger and the Cullens must protect her.  Thankfully, the Cullens each have a special talent, like reading thoughts and seeing into the future.  This is how Edward learns that one of the vampires plans to hunt and kill Bella.  In order to confuse the vampire, they plan to hide Bella and trick the vampire from finding her.  In a turn of events, the vampire manages to trick Bella and she is almost killed.     

My Impressions of the Book:

Now this is what I would call a love story!  When people went crazy over Twilight and all the other movies I would think, really? Vampires?  Now that I have read Twilight I can see why so many people love this book and Edward.  I picked up this 450+ pages book and could not put it down, 3 days later I was done reading it and ready for the next one.  I found the Cullen family to be very intriguing and I wanted Bella to learn more about them so I could learn about them.  This is simply one of thsoe stories that takes you to a different place and deep down there is a little part of you that wants to believe that maybe, just maybe, vampires might exists among us. 

Review(s) About the Book:

Amazon.com

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 9-12. In the tradition of Anne Rice and YA titles such as Annette Curtis Klause's The Silver Kiss (1999) comes this heady romance that intertwines Bella Swan's life with that of Edward, an alluring and tormented vampire. Bella's life changes when she moves to perpetually rain-soaked Forks, Washington. She is instantly drawn to a fellow student, Edward Cullen, beautiful beyond belief and angrily aloof. Bella senses there is more behind Edward's hostility, and in a plot that slowly and frighteningly unfolds, she learns that Edward and his family are vampires--though they do not hunt humans. Yet Edward cannot promise that his powerful attraction to Bella won't put in her in danger, or worse. Recklessly in love, Bella wants only to be with Edward, but when a vicious, blood-lusting predator complicates her world, Bella's peril is brutally revealed. This is a book of the senses: Edward is first attracted by Bella's scent; ironically, Bella is repelled when she sees blood. Their love is palpable, heightened by their touches, and teens will respond viscerally. There are some flaws here--a plot that could have been tightened, an overreliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue--but this dark romance seeps into the soul. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Amazon.com

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–When Bella Swan moves from sunny Phoenix to Forks, Washington, a damp and dreary town known for the most rainfall in the United States, to live with her dad, she isnt expecting to like it. But the level of hostility displayed by her standoffish high school biology lab partner, Edward Cullen, surprises her. After several strange interactions, his preternatural beauty, strength, and speed have her intrigued. Edward is just as fascinated with Bella, and their attraction to one another grows. As Bella discovers more about Edwards nature and his family, she is thrown headlong into a dangerous adventure that has her making a desperate sacrifice to save her one true love. One of the more original vampire constructs around, this recording of Stephenie Meyers debut novel (Megan Tingley Books, 2005) is narrated with great style by Ilyana Kadushin, who makes the infinitely romantic tale of star-crossed lovers resonate with a bittersweet edge. Although Edward and Bellas romance and subsequent danger develops slowly, the pacing is appropriate for teens who want learn all the details in this suspenseful tale. An excellent purchase for both school and public libraries.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Use in Library Setting:

I would add this book to a list of books that have had movies made on them, this title would be included as well as other titles, such as "The Outsiders."  So, if a student needed to write a report on the difference between a book and its movie, they could utilize this list of books.