Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. [New York]: Little Brown.

Bella moves to dreary, small town Forks, Washington to be with her father, and she soon meets the mysterious Edward Cullen, whose family has a dark secret. After several strange encounters, Bella and Edward begin spending time together, despite the warning from her friends and Edward’s reluctance to do so. Soon Bella discovers that Edward has reason to be cautious, and she too should be afraid because he is a vampire. As Bella learns more about Edward’s family of peaceful vampires, she is soon in danger from other vampires who are after her. As the Cullen family work to protect Bella, they all face many threats and soon must battle with violent vampires. Bella struggles to stay alive and on good terms with her father, but as true love wins out, her biggest struggle is just to be with Edward.

I was very reluctant to read some weird book about vampires, and I was sure I would hate it. However, as soon as I began reading I was hooked by the compelling story and vivid details. Even the strange idea of vampires was believable because of the depth of description and plausible storyline (besides the whole immortal vampire stuff!) Although I didn’t think I would like it, I found myself engrossed in the books, and ended up reading the entire series. I feel this is a great book series for adults and perhaps teenagers, but it is far too mature for those tweens that are still in elementary school. I wouldn’t recommend it for my students because of the content, but it is great for older readers.