Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. New York
Annotation:
After deciding to move in with her dad, Bella starts her new life in a new town and a new high school. During her first day of school, she meets a boy that she is instantly drawn to. As the two form an unlikely relationship, it becomes evident to Bella that she is encountering a whole new world that she can barely fathom, but the bigger question remains, can she survive in it?
Justification for non-nomination:
Look beyond the Twilight phenomenon that entails the movies and the movie star characters so that you can focus on the actual book and the writing itself. This book encompasses so much of what it takes to hold the YA audience and its attention both stylistically as well as the deeper context of teenage issues, quests for identity, and belonging.
Stephanie Meyer does a great job introducing the awkwardly clumsy Bella into the new world of belonging both in terms of her new town and school but also to the gripping world of the supernatural. This is a fast-paced story that moves quickly through the relatable, uncomfortable first days at a new school and moves onto the beginning stages of love and romance, with a twist, the human girl falls for a not-so-human boy.
Even if you look at this as an entertainment novel that holds no value to the reader, it has to be admitted that Meyer uses this supernatural tale to show the very concepts of adolescent identity at work throughout the story. Take for example Bella, unable to fit in, struggling to understand who she is, is able to find the unconditional love of someone she still can’t believe would be interested in her; its all relatable to the YA audience as they too, move through the awkward stages of adolescence into adulthood.
This book is a fun read. It introduces the reader into a different reality that can work metaphorically as a tool to deal with adolescent issues as seen through a good versus evil supernatural storyline. I think Twilight itself receives a lot of criticism based on the widespread popularity that made it into well known blockbuster movie phenomenon. It may not be deemed a classic piece of literature, but something has to be said for its overall popularity and loyal fans and readership. It is the writing that made it popular initially, not the movie itself.
Genre Catalog: Supernatural, Horror, or Vampire, Thriller, Fantasy, Romance, Coming of Age
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