Twilight

I had been told about "Twilight" since November. One of the staff developers I work with from Teacher's College RAVED about how she just couldn't put it down. I took note of this, and promptly forgot. I then went to a workshop where Meyer's books came up again, then I put in a large book order, which it was back-ordered, and finally I just said "forget it, I'm buying a bunch of copies". One of my students and I have spent the last week reading this book, and I personally believe that it rivals Harry Potter for the "I Stayed Up All Night Reading It" award. This new trend of vampires, werewolves, and demons has taken flight with most of the readers in NYC. Perhaps it was Rowling who opened the door to fantasy again, but for whatever reason, these stories are HOT. Bella, a quiet and wonderfully clumsy girl from Phoenix, chooses to move to Forks, WA to live with her father. Her mother, and best friend, has recently remarried and Bella wants her to be able to travel with her new husband's job as a AA ball player. Having spent summers in Forks with her father, who Bella calls Charlie, she knows that she is heading for a SMALL town, a LOT of rain, and a probably lonely new life. Already, we see her generosity and sacrifice--themes that will return in the folds of Meyer's storytelling. It is in high school that we meet Edward Cullen, the strikingly pale, beautiful, and mysterious boy who catches Bella's attention. Bella, only aware of Edward's beauty and the intense physical response that she has to his presence on the first day of science, has no idea who or what Edward is or why he only spends time with his equally beautiful siblings.
As it turns out, Forks is also home to a coven of Vampires. Bella stumbles upon the truth as she is spending a day on the beach next to the Reservation, where Jacob (a boy who seems to be the rival love interest--though Meyer only hints at it in volume 1) a childhood playmate tells the story of the Cullen's relationship with the Reservation. Bella finally pieces together that they are indeed Vampires, and is now faced with more complexity that any first love should ever have.
This, though, is the real beauty of Meyer's work. Though a bit overdone at times, and a bit forced, falling in love for Edward and Bella is much more about racing pulses than about anything else. The magnetism of the two characters, their honesty with each other, the constant looming danger, and the fear of the unknown provide plenty of fodder for these two. Edward is always torn between his desire to love her and his physical needs to taste her. For a majority of the work, he is unsure of his self-control, wary of even touching her, for fear he could not stop himself. Bella, equally aware, has never been aware of her beauty, has never been near love, nor does she want anyone to be at risk for her. As their worlds collide and open into a dramatic end both of them are tested--turning romance into life or death situations fraught with the realities of what their relationship faces.
I rode local trains for 3 days to keep reading. I have now been stuck all weekend with New Moon, the second volume, at school. Though I admittedly like most things that I read, I haven't felt this drawn to a book in some time. Perhaps we all really want a little more danger, especially from something as simple as a kiss.