(no subject)

[oselle]

Is anyone familiar with Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series? I was thinking about getting them for my friend's 12-year-old daughter. They're published by Little Brown for Young Readers, but are they appropriate for a kid this age?

Comments

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

Each book tends to end with an action sequence that's fairly violent(vampire biting a human, some vamp/werewolf fights, terrible threats, vamp/vamp fights), but not puriently so. Also, there are expressions of sexual desire, without any sex, though there are some rare kisses. Bella and Edward are 17, and they definitely *want* each other, but this is expressed in the mildest possible manner. They eventually agree to wait until marriage to have sex.

My main problems with the book are its feminist issues.

Bella wants to become a vampire so she can be with Edward, but that means dying and abandoning her whole life, including family and friends. Bella sometimes seems suicidal. She has no care for her own life, in spite of the fact that all the vamps of her acquaintance, including Edward, have to constantly resist the urge to kill and eat her.

Bella barely seems to exist except as the person who loves Edward. She has no self-esteem (she thinks she's plain and uninteresting although every boy she meets likes her), no talents, and no interests outside of Edward. He insists that she go to college and she balks. Her specialness consists of her blood, which is unusually delicious to vampires and the fact that Edward can't read her mind.

Bella's also kind fo a punching bag. She's brutalized in at least two books in the series. She is put in danger so often that the other characters comment on it. The vamps sometimes do things against Bella's will to protect her.

So, on that basis, I don't know if this book is good for a 12 yo *girl.*

[liptonrm.livejournal.com]

I only know what I've heard around lj. Vampiers, soulmates, ott teenage angst, and quite possibly ridiculous levels of ridiculousity.

I do kinda get the feeling they might be a bit much for a 12 year-old. But seeing as I have little use for vampires beyond mocking, my opinions may not matter much in this case. ;-)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Her mom says she reads lots of "chick lit" and she's a pretty precocious kid. At the same time, her family is super-progressive so they might not appreciate this sort of thing, but they're progressive enough not to censor what their kids read. A 12-year-old might not even pick up on these issues, just like I doubt that kids pick up on some of the weird sex/class/race issues that seem peppered throughout JK Rowling's work. I'll probably ask her mother. Wouldn't be surprised if she already has them!

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the reviews say "12 and up" and some of the steamy stuff might be pushing it for a 12-year-old so...bleeeeeh. It's a weird age to try and buy for.

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

I think a girl would love these books. I read all three of then over the ourse of a weekend. They are *beyond* insipid, but then there are these moments that draw you in. The book series isn't exactly good, but it is compulsively readable. I do like one character, Jacob Black, so I'll definitely be reading the next novel to know his fate.;-)

[liptonrm.livejournal.com]

It is a hard age to buy for. And YA reading's changed a lot. Hell, I was still reading Anne of Green Gables when I was 12.

*looks at bookshelf* Huh. Has she read any of the Wizard books by Diane Duane? They're not very chicklit, but they are about a 12 or 13 year-old girl from New Jersey who saves the world a couple few times. Strong female characters and serious themes abound.

Though, definitely more adventure than chicklit.

[bunniewabbit.livejournal.com]

I've read them all, on my 13-year-old's recommendation. They're all the rage at the middle school, and the main vampire has all the girls swooning.

It's a little violent, but I think it's age appropriate. I agree somewhat about the feminist issues listed above, but I didn't find it to be extreme. And the fact that the heroine is constantly getting into trouble is a bit of a running gag, really. She's klutzy and accident-prone, and seems to attract trouble. It actually ends up being sort of amusing.

In a nutshell, it's a romance novel that just happens to include vampires. And, eventually, werewolves. :D

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If they're all the rage, I'm betting this kid has them already. They're making a movie out of it, you know?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I haven't even laid eyes on this kid in about four years so I don't know what she's read. I was a little surprised to hear about the chicklit thing because her parents are such intellectuals but they've also always been into letting their kids go their own way.

I was obsessively reading Stephen King when I was twelve and I turned out just...oh.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yeah but when you're 12, the more insipid the better. It's an insipid age.

[bunniewabbit.livejournal.com]

I know! My daughter and all her friends say that the fellow playing the lead isn't pretty enough (it's the guy who played Cedric in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). But I don't think anyone could compete with their little fevered imaginations. :)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I was wondering why the hell that kid looked so familiar! Cedric! Of course!

He actually was kinda prettier when he was younger. But he seems to have the whole vampire smolder thing down pat.

Time magazine cracked me up when they said Meyers' writing had the same histrionic quality as fanfiction. I just think it's so funny that fanfiction is so out in the open that it can be referred to in a mainstream publication without an explanation.