I made a promise with myself.

I'll go see the Twilight movie at the 2nd run theater. I will not go see it tonight, this weekend, or possibly even in 2008. If it doesn't make it to the 2nd run theater in Logan Square then I will Netflix it. I am not excited about this movie. I am NOT excited about this movie. The power of cheese compels me! The POWER of Cheese compels me!
Actually, that bit about not being really excited is true. I'm so tired of the word Twilight and reading all the reviews, commentary, and talkityblahtalk that I actually am wishing the series had never been written. I wasn't a librarian at the time of the Harry Potter phenom and I wonder if I would have liked the books as well as I do had I been. *For those of you on an awkward watch:awkward sentence for the win!*

And just so this is not just another post about Twilight. I will pose the question, what is your favorite book made into a movie? And have you ever found a movie that you actually liked MORE than the book. I have, Last of the Mohicans for me is a killer movie, but when I read it I found the it to be a long tedious " classic (read: somehow we accept inherent racism because it is old?) book you read for school" type novel.

The real fans? or Twilight Poseurs

Everyone is talking about Twilight. Ah, duh. I keep awkwardly talking about it with other librarians and teenagers. At my first Teen Council meeting it was suggested that I do something "Twilight" themed. And, probably the next Twilight thing that gets released I will. It seems likely that more movies will come out. Based on this interview. Everyone has been talking about Twilight for years now and it doesn't seem like anyone is going to be stopping soon. I think I have plenty of time for a Twilight prom or party.
The phenomena first hit me while I was in Library School. In my kids' lit class no less than 6 students booktalked it as a part of our "booktalk two-three books to a selected audience" assignment. 6! Out of a class of maybe 15-20 people. I had to check these books out. So I put myself on the waiting list at my public library. And, I got swept up, because Jane Eyre was my favorite book at 13. Despite the fact that I think Bella needs to shut up about how not great she is already. Jane was the same way, and I grew up thinking that is what would attract the attention of broodingly handsome (and potentially insane)rich men. Guess what, self-esteem that low isn't attractive! It is cause for theraputic intervention to get to the root of self-loathing! Bella has issues! Jeez, you'd think at least Dr. Cullen would get that but he doesn't say a word. Maybe vampires just don't even notice whiny humans prattling on about how not good enough they are. Of, course I know (and it seems that most teens see through this as well) the device's purpose. It is to convince us all, no matter how not pretty and not special we feeel, that one day our brooding hot-as-icy hell vampire prince Rochester boyfriend will find us. Even those of us who are nearly 30 (or 40, or whatever) and already have perfectly stunning but normal relationships, get swept into this fantasy.
So I have to wonder about the director of the movie in an interview she did with MTV that went like this:

MTV: Did you enjoy taping "MTV Spoilers" the other night and doing the Q&A with all those die-hard Twilighters?

Catherine Hardwicke: Yeah, let's have the real fans! Those people were not faking it. They were into it.

I'm sorry, what? What do you mean "real fans" and "not faking it?" Is there a legion of teenaged "Twilight Poseurs" out there, pretending to love trashy vampire romance because their friends do? Because, I find that hard to believe. Not impossible, peer pressure is a powerful thing, but I find it hard to imagine it being powerful enough to generate this level of craziness. I'd like for other people to weigh in on this topic. Are thousands of people just pretending to love The Twilight Saga when secretly they think it is drek? Or is the idea behind the story and the tropes behind the characters so strong that all these fans are "real fans?" How are we even defining real fans? the ones who will buy into any promotion and marketing and merchandize that remotely stinks of vampire? The ones who love every second of the books and re-read them over and over again, but never buy another thing, never post to a forum, never engage in internet warfare over the Jacob/Edward debate? The ones who write involved fanfic but got the books from the library? I love fandom as particpatory culture, and I'm glad some fans got to meet the director and ask questions. But real fans versus fake fans seems alienating to me for any sort of fandom. And as a fan (and occasionally FAN) of many things, I resent the implications.

And thus ends my awkwardly long post about the nature of the fandom beast and the Twilight juggernaut.

Stephenie Meyer owns your soul

Okay, Stephenie Meyer doesn't really own any souls. But she does make a lot of money writing about vampires, werewolves, and annoyingly unconfident teenagers. (Seriously Bella, he's too good for you, we get it!) As a Teen Services Librarian I spend way too much time thinking about her and her books.
No real review of Breaking Dawn except to say; thank goodness so much of it is from Jacob's point of view. Generally though, the premise is wearing thin and the characters weren't all that well formed from the start. But, if your library is like mine, you likely can't keep any of Meyer's books on the shelves. Probably you won't be able to until well after December and the movie. Maybe even longer. So my thought was to have some read-alikes ready and for me the ALA's suggestion of their best paperback "dark books" list didn't quite cut it. These are the ones I've found that have some appeal in common with the Twilight series:

Vampire Fiction

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia “In the Forests of the Night”
This novel was written when the author was only 13 years old! Like Bella, Rachel was a typical teenage girl, but unlike Bella, she was transformed against her will. Now Risika has been a vampire for 300 years and gotten used to the idea. But lately her past has come back to haunt her.

Kagesaki, Yuna “Chibi Vampire”
Karin is normal except she comes from a family of vampires. Kenta is suspicious of all of Karin’s mysterious nosebleeds. This series is a funnier and lighter take on teenage vampire romance in manga format.


Klause, Annette Curtis “The Silver Kiss”
Before there were Bella and Edward there was the intense vampire-human romance of “The Silver Kiss” Zoë would have been a normal teenager if her life had not been torn apart by her mother’s illness. Simon is a vampire. They are brought together at a critical moment in both their lives.

Velde, Vivian Vande “Companions of the Night”
Kerry was like Bella and most other teenagers, until she meets Ethan, an enigmatic vampire, and must help him in order to help her save her family. She must also battle her own dangerous attraction to Ethan.

Westerfeld, Scott “Peeps”
The vampire’s in this novel are a little different from the norm. Cal looks and acts normal, which means he’s a carrier of the vampiric parasite, but it doesn’t drive him crazy like it does all of his infected girlfriends. Cal must track down his most recent girlfriend in this story about vampirism, parasites, and love stories that end very badly.


Vampire Non-fiction (I'll be honest here folks, this one didn't exactly fly off the display, but I still think it is really cool.)

Bartlett, Wayne and Idriceanu, Flavia “Legends of Blood” The Vampire in History and Myth”
Read about the myths and legends where Stephenie Meyer’s got her inspiration for the Cullen clan.

Werewolf Fiction

Cole, Stephen “Wereling Trilogy: Wounded, Prey, and Resurrection.”
In this twist on the paranormal romance Kate is from a werewolf family and Tom is a normal kid on vacation when he is “rescued” by her family. Thus begins their epic (and maybe even slightly romantic) adventure.

Creedon, Catherine “Blue Wolf” (Again, not a big hit on the display. But I think it sounds totally interesting. Maybe I need to change my blurb.)
Similar to Bella’s experience, Jamie Park’s life changes drastically when he moves to Washington State. Only instead of find another family with a big secrets Jamie starts finding secrets in his own family.

Klause, Annette Curtis “Blood and Chocolate” (Do librarians like this book so much because of Klause's other occupation?)
For older readers there is “Blood and Chocolate.” Vivian, a sixteen year old werewolf, sets her sights on a normal human boy, Aidan, probably because he is as forbidden to her as Bella was supposed to be to Edward. And much like Edward and Bella, there is another werewolf who is intent or winning her.


Overall my display worked out pretty well for the release of Breaking Dawn. I'm thinking about revamping (haha)it and bringing back something similar for the movie in December.

Next review: The Mysterious Benedict Society audiobook: SO MUCH FUN.

Twilight, New Moon,Eclipse

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2005.
Meyer, Stephenie. New Moon. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2006.
Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. New York:Little, Brown, 2007.



In my Materials for Youth class we had to give a booktalk to the class. The booktalking assignment fell on the two weeks around Halloween and I think seven people chose vampires/horror books as their theme, and all of those people tied in Twilight. Which is the least horrific vampire novel ever written.
So for my valentine's day post I'm giving you a review of the most absurdly romantic books ever written. Talk about giving people unrealistic expectations about love! As a side note I'd like to say that I don't think erotic/romantic vampire stories should count as horror, as my friend Adrienne likes to point out (repeatedly), "Dude, It's all just a metaphor for sex!"
Yes, yes it is Adrienne. One big giant cautionary tale about waiting until you are ready for sex and then you will get eternal life, or you'll die early from hiv/aids, I mean, depending on how closely you look at the metaphor. Just as a warning though, I wouldn't look at it too closely, judging from Stephanie Meyer's writing style I'd say she just read one too many sexy Anne Rice novels, and a few more of Laurell K. Hamilton's later Anita Blake books, had typical romantic goth high school fantasies about the Toreador clan.
Anyway, the book starts off with the main vampy dude Edward, and all his pale brethren trying to fit in as a normal family "The Cullens" in a small Washington town. Our heroine, Bella, is an annoyingly self-deprecating waif with divorced parents. At the beginning of the tale she's just moved in to a different state and school with her dad after her mom has a new exciting beau she wants to get to know better or something. Edward pretends to hate Bella when they are lab partners because he looks 17 and being normal means going to high school. The tale gets complicated because both characters are extreme and stubborn and generally given to making problems because their lives are too easy and fun except when other vampires happen by and want to kill Bella. Oh, and Bella wants to be a vampire because Edward is going to be immortal without her (does this make her a bug chaser?) Edward doesn't want her to be a vampire (shock.) Three (soon to be four) books of this with more plot twists, like a hot best male friend for Bella, oh la la!
Anyway, the best part of these books are that they are huge, but a really smooth easy read. And I did find myself wanting to read more and immediately reserved the second two books after finishing Twilight.. They are fun, fast-paced, have a great setting and side characters and follow an entertaining formula once you get to parts where Bella quits feeling sorry for herself because she's a nerdy klutz and not preternaturally beautiful (I like Anita Blake's, "I'm cute, but I don't compare...whatevs!" attitude much better.)
I'm looking forward to book 4, and possibly renting the movies when they come out, and if you like a good romantic vampire story (and I do) please feel free to indulge in this guiltiest of Young Adult fiction pleasures. Just, don't go thinking the preternatural creatures in these books are going to scare you. Unless you are scared of self-induced drama queen vampires, then they might.