Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight.
[CD]. New York, NY: Listening Library.
ISBN-13: 978-0307280909
Genre: Romance,
Vampires, Werewolves
Reading level/
interest age: 14+
Plot summary:
Bella Swan leaves her beloved city of Phoenix for a small,
dreary town in Washington called Forks. Her mother is thoroughly in love with
her newest boyfriend and Bella decides to move in with her father to get some
much needed space. Though it has been several years since Bella left Forks,
both her room and the town seem almost unchanged. Even her new school is
boring. Until Bella reaches biology. There, she meets Edward Cullen who seems
to instantly dislike her. Intrigued, she watches him closely the next few days
but he does not seem all that out of the ordinary.
Getting out of her car several days later, Bella hears the
sound of tires screeching. A fellow student’s car is skidding on black ice
right towards her. All of the sudden, Bella is on the ground and Edward is
standing over her, the car bent around him. He tells her to keep this a secret
and quickly vanishes. Head reeling, Bella decides to track him down later and
get to the bottom of this mystery.
Reader’s annotation:
Bella leaves sunny Phoenix for the USA’s rainiest town
Forks, Washington. Just when her situation couldn’t seem to get drearier,
Edward Cullen turns out to be a vampire.
Information about the
author:
“Stephenie Meyer's life changed dramatically on June 2,
2003. The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke up from a dream
featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.
"‘Though I had a million things to do, I stayed in bed,
thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the
immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the
back burner and sat down at the computer to write—something I hadn't done in so
long that I wondered why I was bothering.’
“Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons
and potty training, and wrote it out late at night when the house was quiet.
Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight. With encouragement
from her older sister (the only other person who knew she had written a book),
Meyer submitted her manuscript to various literary agencies. Twilight was
picked out of a slush pile at Writer's House and eventually made its way to the
publishing company Little, Brown where everyone fell immediately in love with
the gripping, star-crossed lovers….
“Stephenie lives in Arizona with her husband and three sons”
(Stepheniemeyer.com, 2014).
Curriculum ties: N/A
Booktalking ideas:
·
Would you leave your hometown and friends just to
give your mom some space?
·
What would your reaction be to finding out
Edward is a vampire?
Critical evaluation:
Audiobooks always seem to take a while to get used to and Twilight is no different. Dialogue takes
a few minutes to decipher from regular text but Ilyana Kadushin does a
fantastic job with the reading. Listeners quickly pick up what character is
speaking when by the different tones and inflections she uses. Ilyana has a
smooth and easy voice and the small musical chimes to denote the end of a
chapter are sweet musical notes leaving the listener wishing for more.
Despite Twilight’s
negative view in the public, it remains an actually surprisingly good tale full
of wonder and romance. Yes, there are juvenile themes present in the book but
this is why it is geared towards a younger audience. An adult would have a
different viewpoint of relationships and dealing with mythical beasts. Her
character has a very different view of the world and much of the wonder of Twilight comes from following Bella’s journey
through all her innocence and naiveté. Sometimes, an unjaded and unbiased
viewpoint is refreshing.
Challenge issues: N/A
Why included:
An audiobook could be used to help listeners develop
comprehension and attention skills. This could also be a great format for those
who have vision problems.
Reference:
Stepheniemeyer.com. (2014). Bio. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from
http://stepheniemeyer.com/bio.html
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