Now for certain fans, the new Beau and Edythe were almost as good as getting the actual Bella engagement ring. For others, the retelling (and not the continuation of Midnight Sun) made them understand how Mike Newton felt after being rejected by Bella. For me, I was just glad to make the trip back to Forks, Washington.
With anniversaries come the memories, and I definitely have memories of Twilight. It’s no secret that many of us at That’s Normal love Twilight. But for me, my love started in a classroom. As this is really no secret to anyone who knows me personally: I’m a high school English teacher. In my class, Twilight was more than just a YA book – it became something bigger than just Team Edward versus Team Jacob.
Here’s why Twilight will always be on my list of required reading.
The Discovery
In my second year of teaching, I noticed a student reading a book with a pair of hands holding an apple. At first, I thought nothing of it and continued to bury my nose in my Shakespeare lesson. But as the week progressed, more and more students were carrying that same book in my classroom. Brief moments of downtime saw my students quietly reading and completely absorbed in the novel.
I finally asked my students about the book and received a ten minute lecture about the story of a young girl who meets and unconditionally and irrevocably falls in love with a teenage vampire. I’ll admit something right now: I actually snickered. Don’t get me wrong – I loved the fact that my students were reading. But that storyline? Where was the Atticus Finch? The Darcy? The Gatsby? Yes, I was being a stubborn, elitist English teacher. (If you haven’t yet read Beth’s Confession about her Twilight experience, do it now because 1) it’s amazing and 2) I can completely relate.)
But then a student offered up her dogeared copy of Twilight for me to read. I accepted and told myself to just read a chapter, just a few pages even and that would be enough. In my mind, I already saw myself handing it back to the student with the old tried and true, “Oh, I don’t think this is my cup of tea.”
That morning, I opened up the preface during my prep period and by the end of the school day, I was a quarter of the way in the story. Every red light home was an opportunity to read. Dinner plans were cancelled as I had come down with justonemorechapteritus. And yes, Bella and Edward came with me when mother nature called. The next morning, I had a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee and the epilogue to help me start my day. Total breakfast of champions.
For me, Twilight opened my eyes to a different genre and convinced me that YA wasn’t just for the Y. It allowed me to escape my reality for a few hours, relieve my own teenage angst and first love (or loves), and excited to start the next novel. To this very day, I credit Stephenie Meyer for introducing me to a genre that has since included Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Fault in Our Stars. It was through this book that I found a new way to connect with my students, to engage them, and to spark their thought and imagination.
And yes, I did use it in my classroom. When you have twenty struggling learners finish a book and their first words are, “Can we read the next book,” you feel like you hit the teacher jackpot.
Now Trending: Reading
In my opinion, there’s nothing sweeter than a child’s love for reading. The excitement they feel when they sit in your lap, help you hold the book, getting to turn the page and seeing what comes next.
And then somewhere down the road to teenagedom, that love sometimes dies a slow, painful death that you, as an educator, try to resurrect with every tool in your literary arsenal but it’s buried so deep under concrete layers of lost AR points and failed timed reading tests. No matter what classics you assign, no matter how you sell it to students, or how many study guides you give, getting almost every student to read is one of life’s biggest challenges (as well as eating just one Lay potato chip).
Usually said by students who came in last place in AR points.
But Twilight became the bridge over the broken road to reading. For the first time, I didn’t have to force a book into a student’s hands because it was already there. No AR points were needed: students read it because they wanted to read it. Once students were done it was passed around to others…like a joint. Only this time the high was due to Bella and Edward’s relationship.
My female students didn’t read it because they wanted to be Bella – they read it because they were Bella. They read about a character they saw everyday in the mirror.
And what about my male students, who statistically read less than their female counterparts? Twilight made them one less statistic.
But just like with anything popular, the hate starts. Other books come along, and suddenly Team Bella is changed to Team Katniss or Team Tris. The bashing and comparisons begin because, y’know, there can only be just one. Once die hard fans become staunch critics. And if you even show that you’re a fan, people pounce on that and tear it a part.
So, for those who challenge why I, as an educator, love Twilight, I answer with this question (Yep, I’m that person): Why would I ever criticize a book that made reading cool again for my students?
The silence that follows is beautiful.
#TeamStephenie
So as we look back at ten years of Twilight and as we move forward to Life and Death, I would just like to say to Stephenie Meyer the following:
Dear Stephenie,
First, happy anniversary. Ten years, and Edward doesn’t look a day over seventeen or 117. Also, thanks for Life and Death. You could have just written a new forward, slapped a shiny sticker on the cover, and called it a day. But reimagining Twilight was a great surprise. I feel bad: I didn’t get you anything.
Okay, now for the heavy.
Thank you for writing a story that made the sound of pages turning the most beautiful music in my classroom. Thank you for helping me reach students who thought reading a book was breezing through SparkNotes. Thank you for making reading not a trend but a necessity. Thank you for making me a better teacher.
Sincerely,
Julie (and thousands of other teachers)
What’s your Twilight memory? Who made you Team Bella, Team Edward or Team Jacob? Let us know in the comments or send us a tweet!
