The Twilight Saga and The Host lauched Stephenie onto a Sci-Fi movers and shakers list.
The UK’s Daily Mail talks about why Twilight is love at first bite for teens and their parents.
The LA Times has an insightful piece on why Twilight isn’t for everybody (meaning age appropriate). One of the best parts is the comments from the kids, proving once again that kids are a lot smarter than anyone usually gives them credit for being.
Someone with Forks roots at the Seattle Times looks back in retrospect at the town. Hell’s Angels once visited Forks, who knew?
I am so happy for Evie in the article mailonline, yet a little bit jealous! Robert seems so down to earth, and hopefully I will get to meet him someday (in my dreams..) but, that is so great!
Also to respond to the Los Angeles Times, I started reading Twilight when I was in 6th grade. I agree, that sometimes others don’t give credit to kids, because I believe that I understood the aspects of the story as well as anyone else.
Marry me Robert! – Evie
Surprisingly, many kudos to the LA Times for that article. I am 27, and if I had kids, I DEFINITELY would not let them read this series until mid to late teens. There is no way in hell I would let my 10, 11, 12, or 13 year old read this series. For however much “young” readers say they can grasp the story’s elements/themes, and the fact that it’s set during high school, Bella and Edward’s relationship is nothing like a “real” teen romance; thus, the complete appeal, I believe, to 20′s and up fans (especially those Twilight Moms!
). There is a deepness to their relationship that *most* teens cannot grasp and have never experienced yet. As a married woman, I feel very in-tune with those themes, as I am sure most “older” fans do.
Speaking as someone who was a teen not too long ago (smile), I can appreciate the desire to indulge in pop culture far beyond your maturational capabilities, but as we grow older we (hopefully) get wiser, and find ourselves turning into our parents…when at one time we would have rather had a super sharp needle stuck in our eye than to ever admit that could happen. My mother certainly would not have let me read this series as a 10/11/12/13 year old (even though I was a very mature child at those ages and had a college reading level), and so I will be as well.
No offense to the “young” readers on here. I find myself almost choking on the words I never thought I’d say: someday, you’ll understand.
I’m a kid and I don’t think we’re smarter than you think we are… 0.o
Hold on not a 13 year old when I was younger I read books with way more sexual content.I think as long as you don’t take the book as a reality but instead as make-believe it should be read by any age. No one has the right to say you can’t read something because THEY don’t your mature enough. Only you can decide that.
Also to Devon I think you are completely wrong the book is about HIGHSCHOOL couple not about someone who is older than that although the vampires are. I don’t think any age group understands it better I just think everyone likes the book in their own way some have deeper connections to it but, although age might have something to do with it I don’t it is the only reason.
Why are they going to Vacouver??? I hope at least they film in the same place, maybe they wont screw up at least one thing!!!!
In regards to the LA Times article. I thought it was great. This is something I have been contemplating. I am 35 years old, and I have to admit I blush when I see people kiss, so yes I am a prude. I have loved the books for their innocence, but what she said about Breaking Dawn is so true. I have read all these books to my 13 year old daughter, so I could discuss everything with her on the way. We had great discussions during the first three books. In my defense, I read Breaking Dawn out loud with my daughter without reading it to myself first. I felt pretty safe because the first three books. Breaking Dawn is tame compared to many books. But, if I could do it different, I might have waited to read that one with her. All and all we talked about everything in that book, I skipped thru some parts, I made it more PG. I am one of those moms who is really involved with my daughter, without smothering her. We enjoy each other. But, for most 13 year olds, there is no way they should read these books. They are trying to grow up too fast at that age anyways. They think they are adult. It is like my daughter says “there is a difference between being mature, and trying to act like an adult. A kid who knows their age, and acts responsibly is mature. A kid who tries to be an adult and does things that are not appropriate for their age, is just a big kid and usually stays that way.” All and all there are worst things they can be reading.
“No one has the right to say you can’t read something because THEY don’t your mature enough. Only you can decide that.”
the problem with that is that no matter what age you are, you always think you’re mature. think about it. did you think you were a little kid when you were 5? no, because you were so much older than all the younger kids, so much older than you used to be. did i think i was mature when i was 13? of course. but now i look back on that and see that i wasn’t. and i am sure in a few years i will look back at when i was 16 (which is now), and see how silly and young and immature i was.
“Also to Devon I think you are completely wrong the book is about HIGHSCHOOL couple not about someone who is older than that although the vampires are”
it may take place in high school but the relationship is far deeper than any high school romance i’ve ever heard of. which is what i think devon’s point was.
Notice how all the young kids who commented said they thought it was inappropriate for anyone younger than them. Like a ten year old said “kids under 10 shouldn’t read it” and and 11 year old said “10 year olds shouldn’t read it.” When I found out my 12 year old cousin was reading them i admit I was a bit concerned when she got to Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. But it was no big deal. Her mom pre-read them and edited some parts out so her daughter could read them. I do think people should take the “young adult” thing into consideration though. Is a 10/11/12/13 year old a young adult? One of my younger brothers is in 5th grade and he says there are girls in his class who read the books. In my opinion,they should stick with Harry Potter for now and call it good for a few years.
Karli,
I agree with you about “young adult” – I think it’s a very vague term with blurry margins. It’s a term that’s relative to everyone; it means something different to everyone. To me personally, when I think “young adult” I think 14 or 15 and up. And that depends on the maturity level.
Thanks Kizmet – that was my point
Good comments. We always think we know everything at our current age and are continually proved wrong as we age. The earlier one realizes that, the better off one is in the long run. 
As an avid reader, someone who has been reading YA books (and beyond) since I was eight, I think some people should really consider their responses to this article carefully. One thing I can’t stand is a condesending attitude, soemthing that people of any age find equally frustrating, something that is coming off strongly in a lot of the comments here, particularly from supposedly older and more “mature” readers.
Sure, your view of the books, your opinions of the characters and the decisions they make is dependent on your maturity, which is largely connected to your age and the associated life expereience, however this does not mean that teenagers, or any group in particular, should not read the series. While I can understand some apprehension about those under 11 reading the series, it is all dependant on the individual. Each boook is many hundreds of pages, and they are all clearly romance oriantated, for a person of any age to finish the series they must be interested in the genre and therefore “mature” enough to handle the content.
Reading has always been an enriching, though provoking and learning experience for me; if young people are going to learn their values about romance form anywhere isnt it better that it comes form a book as love-based as Twilight? This is a much better source of information then any young-girl magazine or TV show i hvae ever seen…..
My two cents again…
lol! “Please marry me” I love that. Surprisingly enough, the Daily Mail did an okay article. Usually they just talk s***.
Fantastic article LA Times! Kudos! My 8 year old son wants to read the books and I absolutely forbid it. I let him see the movie, only after I saw it and thought it was okay. I still cringed though during the Port Angeles scene where Edward was describing what everyone in the restaurant was thinking. My son is way too young to be exposed to the sexual desires in the series. I’m very glad to see this discussed in the media.
Luana, I don’t think anyone’s trying to be condescending about this. You’re right – maturity is key in whether you’re able to handle the content. You’re 17; if you were my child, I wouldn’t have a problem with you reading the series. My main point was regarding the very, very young readers who cannot understand the sexual tension and the deep relationship, and I’m sorry to offend anyone, but no 10/11/12/13 year-old should be encouraged to expose themselves to that yet. That is simply my opinion; every parent is different in regards to what they will or will not allow for their children, and some parents might be okay with their very young child reading Twilight. We live in a society where younger and younger children are facing a constant sexual barrage in school, in the media, everywhere, and look where that has gotten our society as a whole. Yes, the Twilight series puts a moral spin on sexual values and that’s something I greatly appreciate, because there’s not enough of that out there today, and I would focus on that with my kids if I had them. There is a difference though with reading YA and “adult” books at age 8 or 9 or 10; reading Tolkien or Austen at that age is completely different than reading a book that involves sex or sexual tension. You can read about it and “understand” it, but you don’t fully grasp it until you’ve “been there.” And I sincerely hope that no 10/11/12/13 year-old has “been there” yet. I would continue on the age scale with that, but I won’t fool myself into thinking that 14 and 15-year-olds out there haven’t “been there,” as much as that worries me.
I don’t think anyone is arguing that “teenagers” in the general sense should not be reading this series; what it boils down to is the maturity level. The main issue here was the readers considered “too young” (i.e. 8-to whatever, 11, 12 or 13, etc.). Even Peter Facinelli won’t let his 11-year-old daughter read the rest of the series until she’s “a few years older” because of the “more mature sexual theme” throughout the series. It’s not an attempt to be condescending in our opinions; I’m not a parent yet, but have “parental feelings” since I’m of an age that I want to start having kids, and any parent worth their salt wants to protect their children from things they cannot or should not comprehend at too early of an age, and maintain their innocence, which is increasingly hard to do in this day and age. But again, a parent who is involved with their child will be aware of their reading material and can make their own best judgement as to their capability of handling a book series involving a very mature relationship, longing, and consummation.