Behind the Eight Ball, but Needed to Weigh in on New Moon Concerns

The film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's New Moon comes out at midnight, and the country seems to be abuzz with concerns. I'd noticed the latest vocalization about a series I make no secret of being exhausted with, but I hadn't realized the scope of the chatter this time around until reading an excellent post on Zelda Lily on the theory of Twilight as pro-abstinence.

Since then, I've noticed a lot of people talking about Meyer's characters in a less-than-complimentary light. One of my Journalism students actually mentioned a news report talking about how Bella and Edward are the very epitome of an unhealthy relationship. On my way back from the teachers' room at lunchtime today, I came upon a group of eighth grade girls reading The New York Times (yes, you read that correctly) and discussing--intelligently!--the merits and shortcomings of concerns raised in an article.

I'd never really thought of the Twilight saga as more than a collection that was marginally entertaining the first time around. Now, people are talking about why America is putting an emotionally twisted relationship on a pedestal ... about the sexual repercussions of the books ... about Bella's inability to have any sort of individual identity beyond the men in her life (Edward, Jacob, even her father Charlie) ... about the coyly ambiguous relationship between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart ...

And I like to think of myself as one who finds philosophy everywhere! Geez Louise ...

My thoughts, in a nutshell:
1. Any books that lead to children reading cannot be all bad.
2. It really pisses me off when there are film adaptations made of books that kids actually read and enjoy (Holes is a great example ... the Harry Potter films are exceptions)
3. Bella and Edward are not good for each other. You do not need another person to make you whole, and their emotional obsession with each other is really pretty creepy.
4. The idea that these books are pro-abstinence is laughable. I mean, there are some pretty hot scenes throughout the course of the series. Although Bella and Edward do (because of circumstances and timing) hold off from actually having sex until they are married, I somehow don't see the pro-abstinence groups embracing the sort of intense foreplay both implied and stated in the books.
5. Bella is a pathetic "leading lady" in that her actions and choices are dictated by men (or her mother, whose life revolves around her new husband).
5a. I think it's kind of ironic that Bella names her baby daughter Renesmee after two women in her life--two mothers, if you will--when neither played what could be called a pivotal role in the saga.
6. Pattinson and Stewart are probably dating (or something ... but were told to keep it on the DL so as not to spoil that "pro-abstinence thing")

While I have read the entire series, I did not see Twilight and I do not intend to see New Moon (much to Addie's chagrin). My thoughts are based entirely on the books.

What are your thoughts on the bizarre phenomena of suddenly coming up with all of these concerns about a series that has been in the public eye for years?

RETTOP YRRAH: The Philosophy in Reading "Harry Potter" Backwards

I realize the title of this post might be misleading. When I say, "Read Harry Potter backwards", obviously I don't mean the words.

Well, let me back up for a minute.

I was in the school library with my Poetry class today so they could have computer access to get their lyrics project due tomorrow finished up. Since they were working so diligently (or at least were making it appear so well enough to convince both me and the librarian), I started browsing the stacks looking for something to read.

The craziest thing happened then ... I reached the R section and saw all seven Harry Potter books lined up neatly on the shelf. This, of course, included the second one, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And with that, my day was made.

I had an extremely tumultuous summer. As I always do in times of extreme stress, I read. Like, I read obsessively. And one of the things that I found myself with a desire to read was the Harry Potter series. The problem, of course, is that I could only find the last one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; the series starter Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was nowhere to be found (I was moving ... it was beyond chaos). My urge to read the series again was so great, however, that I started reading it the only way I could--from the ending to the beginning.

Now, I realize this wouldn't work for a lot of people. If you're not familiar with the books, it would be essentially pointless to start with the seventh. However, since I have a tendency to reread books more than is probably healthy, I suspected I'd be able to muddle through somehow.

What I didn't expect, though, is what a tremendous learning experience it was for me. Obviously, I knew as both an English teacher and a reader myself that J.K. Rowling might have sold the first book as children's literature but that subsequent books in the series were more political and social commentary than fantasy tales for kids.

The part I missed, though, and the part that I would have hoped I'd have gotten more quickly given the name of my blog, is the philosophy brought forward in Rowling's brilliant series. Had I not read the series backwards, I would have missed a great deal.

An obvious example is Ron Weasley's dual jealousy of and pride in his best friend, Harry Potter. One of seven children, Ron never seemed to get his chance in the spotlight, and becoming bosom buddies with the most famous magician ever born certainly continued the struggle. Ron has his moment in the sun in the seventh book; he is a true hero. When you read through Book 6 then Book 5 then Book 4 then Book 3, you see the true conflict--both internal as he struggles within himself and external as he becomes Harry's staunchest supporter--experienced by this boy. You appreciate how cheap his own successes always seemed next to the glory of Harry's constant defeat of evil, how small his joys when compared to Harry's. I got this, obviously, reading the books in order, but I didn't get it until I read them backwards.

And then there's the whole Snape thing. I once heard Snape referred to by a college English professor as "no more than the ultimate red herring", but that was a cop-out answer if I've ever heard one. Snape was never acting, not pretending a bit, when he bullied and berated Harry Potter--he honestly hated the boy, and his harsh treatment makes the reader find Snape pretty despicable too. That Snape protects Harry out of love is perhaps the most shocking conclusion ... and when you finish the seventh book, it's really easy to see Snape's nobler points. Certainly they existed; Harry Potter was well aware of them as he eventually named one of his own children after Severus Snape. However, reading the book backwards, fully aware of the "Snape protected a child he legitimately (and perhaps understandably) hated out of a pure and eternal love" thesis gives the dynamic between Harry and the potions master a whole new depth, a level of complexity that cannot be achieved by reading the books in chronological order.

Anyway, school started back up just as I finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I couldn't find my copy of Chamber of Secrets to save my life. Well, I took it out of the library today, and I cannot wait to read it (I stupidly forgot it at school).

I am especially excited, in case you're wondering, at exploring the nature of Dobby's relationship with Harry in terms of what you learn about Dobby later in the series (and particularly the sacrifice made by the house elf in the final book).

Does this make any sense to anybody, or have I gone completely off the deep end?

Wait, don't answer that ;)

Literature Options for Reluctant YA Readers

I have the great pleasure of teaching a class for reluctant readers in addition to my regular English 9 courseload this year. And yes, I'm serious. Watching the kids in this class grow as readers, learn to pick out books that they will enjoy on their own, and most of all develop a love of literature (some more than others, of course ... I'm not delusional :-)) has been one of the highlights of my school year.

I just went through their reading logs and wrote down all the books that have been read in class since school started in August. I was absolutely blown away by the list ... and just so, so proud of my students : )

Since many of you that read this blog are aspiring writers (not to mention teachers), I decided to post the list. I realize it's long, but I thought it would be valuable to give you some ideas of what appeals to YA/reluctant readers--if you're a writer or a teacher. I should also note that I log along with the kids, and I did include the titles from my own reading log. What makes me especially happy, though, is that it isn't easy to figure out where on the list my titles are.

Monster (Walter Dean Myers)
Cracker Jackson (Betsy Byers)
Maniac Magee (Jerry Spinelli)
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
Hole in my Life (Jack Gantos)
Tears of a Tiger (Sharon Draper)
That was Then, This is Now (S.E. Hinton)
Forged by Fire (Sharon Draper)
Darkness Before Dawn (Sharon Draper)
One Good Punch (Rich Wallace)
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The River (Gary Paulsen)
Holes (Louis Sachar)
More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Alvin Schwartz)
Sharpe’s Rifles (Bernard Cornwell)
The Boy Who Dared (Susan Campbell Bartoletti)
Loser (Jerry Spinelli)
Paranoid Park (Blake Nelson)
The Boxer and the Spy (Robert B. Parker)
Crackback (John Coy)
Iceman (Chris Lynch)
Bringing Down the House (Ben Mezrich)
Acceleration (Graham McNamee)
Paper Trail (Barbara Shaw Gilbert)
Skate (Michael Harmon)
Digital Fortress (Dan Brown)
Bone Chiller (Graham McNamee)
A Gathering of Days (Joan W. Blos)
Come Spring (Ben Ames Williams)
Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
Eldest (Christopher Paolini)
Brisingr (Christopher Paolini)
A Separate Peace (John Knowles)
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
The Beans of Egypt, Maine (Carolyn Chute)
The Castle of Llyr (Lloyd Alexander)
Taran Wanderer (Lloyd Alexander)
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man (Fannie Flagg)
Here on Earth (Alice Hoffman)
The Host (Stephenie Meyer)
The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)
The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros)
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
Just Listen (Sarah Dessen)
Lamb (Christopher Moore)
The Ladies of Missalonghi (Colleen McCullough)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
Caretakers (Tabitha King)
Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)
New Moon (Stephenie Meyer)
Go Ask Alice (Anonymous)
Crank (Ellen Hopkins)
Glass (Ellen Hopkins)
Impulse (Ellen Hopkins)
Burned (Ellen Hopkins)
Beastly (Alex Flinn)
The da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)
The People of Sparks (Jeanne DuPrau)
Friedrich (Hans Peter Richter)
Just Annoying (Andy Griffiths)
Slam (Walter Dean Myers)
Omega Place (Graham Marks)
“The Body” (Stephen King)
Black Hawk Down (Mark Bowden)
Blood Brothers (Richard Price)
The Compound (S.A. Bodeen)
L8R, G8R (Lauren Myracle)
Stealing Heaven (Elizabeth Scott)
Someday this Pain will be Useful to You (Peter Cameron)
Confessions of a Not-It Girl (Melissa Kantor)
The Break-Up Bible (Melissa Kantor)
My Sister’s Keeper (Jodi Picoult)
Perfect (Natasha Friend)
Fearless (Tim Lott)
Boy Meet Boy (David Levithan)
Hangman’s Curse (Frank Peretti)
A Life Without Consequences (Stephen Elliot)
All that Remains (Bruce Brooks)
A Girl in Parts (Jasmine Paul)
That Summer (Sarah Dessen)
Becoming Chloe (Catherine Ryan Hyde)
How to Deal (Sarah Dessen)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brasheares)
Head Games (Mariah Fredericks)
Two-Way Street (Lauren Barnholdt)
13 is Too Young to Die (Isaacsen-Bright)
A Lifetime of Secrets (Frank Warren)
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (Jack Gantos)
The Great Gilly Hopkins (Katherine Paterson)
Deadline (Chris Crutcher)
The Truth About Forever (Sarah Dessen)
If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? (Melissa Kantor)
Tiger Eyes (Judy Blume)

Trying to Make Sense of the "Twilight" Phenomena

As a teacher, I make a serious effort to read every book a student recommends to me. I see it as a matter of respect; if a teenager is willing to put him- or herself out there and say, “Gee, I think you’ll like this book,” I feel a responsibility to take the time to at least give it a shot.

Still, I was reluctant to take up Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, despite the growing number of students telling me how amazing it was. I can’t explain why this was, although I think the apple on the cover (and the idea of a town called Forks) just randomly irked me.

Between Addie jumping on the Meyer bandwagon and one of my students pointing out, “You didn’t want to read Harry Potter either, but you ended up loving them,” I finally decided to give the book a fair shake … and got sucked in.

I read the first three books—Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse—in one frenzied weekend. I was captivated by the seemingly impossible love story between awkward, recently-uprooted from-Arizona-to-Washington-state Bella and the human-respecting vampire, Edward. I found Edward’s “vegetarian vampire” family fascinating, their struggles different (but no less difficult) than when they were human. The development of a love triangle between Bella, Edward, and a werewolf (along with unspeakably awful villains) kept me turning pages late into the night.

All right, I have to confess, I was one of those freaks panting to get a midnight copy of Breaking Dawn when it was first released. In fact, I was tempted to buy two copies since Addie had made it clear that she would be reading it first (only fair, as she’d gotten into the series long before I had). When I finally got my hands on it, I ate up the conclusion in one night.

Okay, another confession. Once I’ve read a book, the odds are pretty good that I’ll reread it at some point in time. After all, I seem to get something different out of a work of literature every time I open it up. Therefore, when I found myself looking for a book to read in late August and my eyes happened upon Twilight, it seemed like a great opportunity to revisit some old friends.

I didn’t even make it fifty pages before closing the book and moving on, something that I almost never do. I made a mental note that Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series was on a short list—books that I could only read and enjoy once.

Stephen King has taken a lot of heat for saying to a USA Today journalist about J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame and Meyer, “They’re speaking directly to young people. The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”

This stood out to me because I couldn’t put my thumb on why I can reread Rowling’s Harry Potter books over and over, while Meyer’s series was a one-shot deal for me. With that being said, though, I was unquestionably bitten by the Twilight bug, obsessed with finding out exactly what was going to happen. I could not put those books down while in the midst of the world Meyer created. Even if my visit was short-lived, Meyer’s writing had the power to keep me turning pages, so I think dismissing her as “not very good” is not really fair.

Ultimately, Meyer has inspired kids to read. Her books may not go down in history as fine works of literature, but they have sparked an interest in people of all ages and for that they deserve a measure of respect.

If you haven’t read the Twilight series, you should. Like popcorn at the movies and the center of a Tootsie Roll pop, you’ll enjoy it … just bear in mind that the pleasure associated with reading these books may well be gone (like a lollipop) when you are done.