Out of the Twilight Zone

The incredible popularity of the books in the Twilight Series amazed me to no end. To me, the books were Harlequin Romances for teens and 'tweens. No great or enduring literature here. The premise that Vampires can be almost undifferentiated from humans is such a violation of all the rules of "vampirism" that the books are really about humans and very-long-lived humans. Aside from the longevity, the only difference between humans and this series' vampires is that most humans don't subsist on blood--human or animal. Vampires do not walk in daylight without a good explanation, as Anne Rice gave Lestat in her series--he had to trade blood with the mother of all vampires to begin to develop some immunity to the sun's effect. Vampires certainly may try to avoid human blood and attempt to subsist on that of other mammals, but even contemporary literature's strongest vampires were unable to resist the occasional human (hence, Tru Blood needed to be invented). In no other literary place will you find that fog cover keeps the sun's rays from destroying vampires. Scientifically, we all know that the sun's destructive rays make it through those clouds, albeit less strongly; but if humans can get badly sunburned on an overcast day, how can a vampire without the blood of the vampire queen survive a cloudy day unscathed?

Do I find any redeeming qualities in these books? Yes. The heroine is definitely a strong figure and, for the most part, a great role model for teenage girls who, for one reason or another, do not see college in their futures. Bella is assertive, forthright, virginal, conflicted--in short, everything most of us adults think of as the perfect teenage daughter, despite the fact that there is no such person.

Come to think about it, none of the characters in the book are normal. The teens and other characters are either perfectly good or perfectly evil. It is as if the rest of the world cannot be part of the saga of Bella and Edward. Interestingly, now that movies on some of the books are out, I've noticed that the book sales are declining. Realistically, as young girls enter their 'tweens, they should develop a sudden interest in the Twilight Series. But that does not seem to be happening. And why should it? As a teen, I watched the movie instead of reading the book as often as I could get away with it. It was a definite time-savings to spend two hours in front of the TV compared to the numerous evenings that a book took to read. So the decreasing sales must mean...that the books are not destined to be classics--cult classics, maybe; but not classics. The story lines are overall too trite, and the writing itself is, at best, mediocre.

The Twilight Series books are the type of books that, as either a mother or an educator, I would look upon as a passing fancy. I would neither encourage nor discourage the reading of the books. Reading is, after all, something we want our teens to do more. However, I would read and recommend the books selected by the panels of the committees for the Caldecott Medal Award, the John Newbery Medal Award, the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Golden Duck Award, and award committees that honor children's literature. (See this link for more children's and YA book awards: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/awards/nat_awards.html .) Even though the intended target of these books is children (and Young Adults), they can easily be enjoyed by adults as well. They have excellent plots and plot development, the conflicts are those that any of us can relate to, the questions are timeless, and the books roll around in our minds for a long time. These are the books that will endure and that should be considered classic. Some of them are tied very closely to the era in which they were written; some may take on a different meaning in a different era; one or two may have lost relevance. But it is easy to see why the books have staying power. They send powerful messages or ask powerful questions. The language in these books is of a higher level than that found in fad books. The plot development and conflicts are mature, addressing the very issues young people care about--personal self-image and development, social issues, interpersonal problems.

With relief, I watch the slow and steady decline of sales of the Twilight Series books. Now I can get back to reading young adult and children's books that have social value...