Okay, I will admit it....I'm a Twilight fanatic! An 8th grade student of mine told me that they were "oh-my-gosh, AMAZING BOOKS!" so I bought the first three at Barnes and Noble during Christmas break last year, and read all three in five days! Since becoming a fan, I have purchased a class set of Twilight (30 copies) and ten copies of the second book in the series, New Moon. I have a waiting list for both sets of students wanting to read them, as does our library for their Stephenie Meyer books. Never before have I seen teenagers so enamored and excited about a book series,
and it's not just my girl students. I'm sure Harry Potter provoked the same reaction in students, but this wave of enthusiasm seems to have hit a different strata of student. Twilight is engaging my students that are usually not avid readers. My busy cheerleaders and kids from the "too cool for school" crowd are picking up this book and devouring it! Boys are jumping on the Twilight bandwagon as well, mainly because I challenged a few of my "cool" boys to read it, and they have made it socially acceptable to be seen with this formally "girly" book. Boys are usually shocked by how much fast-paced action is packed between the romantic dialogue.
Whether or not you have read the book, you have to pay attention to the fact that your students are reading it. English and Reading teachers will tell you that not many students are excited to crack open a novel in our classrooms. This is why Twilight is so buzz-worthy. It is causing excitement for reading and creating fanatics...over a book! It is so important that we, as teachers, capitalize on the Twilight craze, and harness their excitement into a wonderful opportunity to learn more about great literature. So what is it about this book that has teenagers gobbling up each page like candy? My theory is that Stephenie Meyer is a sensational character author, as both of her major characters, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are well-developed and multifaceted. Neither character is perfect, and neither is their tumultuous relationship! Relationships between vampires and humans are usually a bit testy, I suppose! Students are drawn to imperfect characters at a stage in their life when attaining perfection is a huge part of their daily struggle. You couldn't find a better novel to teach characterization, character motive, or conflict. Just because Twilight is popular and not considered a literary classic, does not diminish it's literary
merit as a powerful teaching tool for teens. Use Twilight as your "bait" to hook your adolescent readers and open their eyes to the amazing adventures books can facilitate. All it takes is one amazing book, and your students will be begging for more literary fuel to stoke their imaginations.