Blogging Stephenie Meyer's New Moon, Part 2

Contains some spoilers

I finished New Moon last night, and I must say that I'm impressed with Stephenie Meyer's imagination. She constantly surprises the reader with plot twists, new characters, and seemingly irresolvable conflicts. I'm trying to avoid the hackneyed phrase "emotional rollercoaster," but I think Meyer's strongest appeal lies in her ability to involve the readers in the characters' intense and richly textured emotional lives.

I was also trying to avoid the terms "suicidal" and "self-destructive" when I wrote yesterday's post, but I've discovered a very striking parallel between Bella Swan and Harry Potter. Several times in the Harry Potter series, the orphaned hero finds that when he is in danger, he hears the voices of his parents just before they died, which distracts him from fighting for his life. Harry finds that he is slow to master the Expecto Patronum spell, for example, because he's eager for any contact with the parents he never knew. Similarly, Bella finds that when she's in danger, she hears Edward's warning voice in her head. Bella has been in a deep depression since he broke up with her (to keep her safe from himself and other vampires), but when she discovers this connection to her ex-boyfriend, Bella becomes a thrillseeker, deliberately putting herself in danger so that she can hear Edward again. Ironically, the angrier he sounds, the happier she is because this is proof that he still cares.

Eager to do something rebellious and risky, Bella buys a decrepit motorcycle and asks her friend Jacob to fix it up and teach her to ride. Despite her desire to endanger herself, Bella finds that her friendship with Jacob is a lifeline, and she hangs on desperately even after she realizes that Jacob is falling in love with her, while she sees him as a best friend. This romantic conflict is not the only plot complication; as anyone but Bella herself could have predicted long ago, Jacob is destined to become a werewolf, the ancient enemy of all vampires or "cold ones," as his Native American tribe calls them. (C'mon, this isn't really a spoiler, is it? I pegged Jacob as a werewolf from his first conversation with Bella in Twilight.)

I can tell from the readers' comments at Amazon.com and Stephenie Meyer's website that most readers see Jacob as a distraction or, at best, a placeholder in the plot until Bella's vampire lover comes back into the picture, so I know they're going to be aghast at what I say next. Sorry, guys, but I really prefer Jacob to Edward.

Take a minute to catch your breath. I'll wait.

Yes, I know that Edward is the great love of Bella's life, the Romeo to her Juliet, but he never seems quite real to me. This is not a disparagement but an acknowledgment of Meyer's characterization. Again and again, Bella describes embracing Edward as hugging a large piece of unyielding granite; whatever he looks like, his touch is cold and hard as stone. Edward can't stand in the sun because his skin catches the light and sparkles like a diamond, a sure tip-off that he's not human. Beautiful and desirable as he is, Edward is not alive; essentially, he's a statue. Certainly Bella responds to him as if he were a walking piece of precious art, which reminds me of the Pygmalion myth, in which a sculptor falls in love with a statue he has made. Could her love make Edward real, or is Bella really in love with her image of Edward, a product of her own romantic imagination?

Jacob, on the other hand, is definitely alive. Not only is he physically hot to the touch (werewolves have a higher temperature than regular humans), but his emotional warmth heals Bella from her frozen state of depression. He gives her a sense of fun, normalcy, and acceptance she hasn't had since she arrived in Forks. She feels safe and comfortable with Jacob; secure in his regard for her, Bella never feels inferior or wonders what he sees in her. She's tempted to see him as a child because he's two years younger (the distance between a high school senior and a sophomore is significant), but Bella has to change her ideas about Jacob's maturity even before his metamorphosis. They are equals in a way Bella and Edward have never been, and even in his wolf state, Jacob has more in common with Bella than Edward does. (Hey, a wolf and a human are both mammals, right?)

I know I'm probably alone on this, but I wish there had been a real love triangle instead of only the appearance of one. I hope Jacob becomes a real contender for Bella's heart in the next book, Eclipse, and gives Edward a run for his money. Jacob deserves better than to be cast as the forgettable Paris in Meyer's retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Blogging Stephenie Meyer's New Moon

I'm back from my second-life vacation (if only there'd been a vacation in my first life as well), and I'm reading New Moon, the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling YA vampire series. Of course, the big news is about Eclipse, the third and newest book in the series, which just hit shelves two weeks ago. Eclipse is getting the star treatment, sharing display space with the final Harry Potter book in the power aisle at Barnes & Noble.

It seems that Meyer has been tapped to replace J. K. Rowling as the YA media darling, although they're writing for rather different audiences. If the Harry Potter books are Dickensian, Meyer's vampire series--which includes Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse--might be called Bronte-esque. Despite the trappings of fantasy, Meyer is writing classic Gothic romance in the style of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet for extra pathos.

Bella Swan, an accident-prone high school student, falls madly in love with Edward Cullen, the most breathtakingly handsome boy she's ever met. Edward is mysterious, intelligent, rich, and a vampire. He struggles to keep his distance, but Bella's frequent brushes with danger force him to rescue her again and again. It's easy to see why the series is so popular, especially among teenage girls. Meyer takes an innovative approach to the conventions of vampire lit, and she masterfully conveys all the breathless passion and profound significance of first love without a hint of condescension.

You're Too Good For Me

As I read New Moon, however, I'm troubled by the same thing that marred my enjoyment of Twilight: the heroine's utter lack of self-worth. Bella sees herself as average and plain, remarkable only for her klutziness, and she can't imagine what Edward (gorgeous, sophisticated, and immortal) could possibly see in her. Doubtless many readers can identify with this feeling of unworthiness ("he could have any girl he wanted, so why would he choose me?"), but Bella constantly grovels before Edward's perceived superiority. She begs for his kisses, which inflame her with passion while he remains cool (literally as well as figuratively). When another vampire attacks her, she apologizes. She's ready to die for Edward, willing (even anxious) to throw away her soul so they can be together.

Like Jane Eyre, Bella regards her lover as her master and is in danger of making him her idol. The difference is that Jane does assert her own worth, and she doesn't wait until the end of the novel to do it, either. She accuses Edward Rochester of toying with her emotions, insists that she is his equal, and even risks hurting her lover in order to do what is right. Bella, on the other hand, consistently submits to her Edward's manipulation, miserably telling herself that she's not good enough for him.

Enthralling as Meyer's story is, I believe Bella's masochism sends a dangerous message to young women about what it means to be in love. As I read through New Moon, I'm hoping to see Bella become less like Heathcliff, a man of violent passions who insists that his soul is buried with his dead love, and more like Jane, a woman who is able to love passionately without losing herself.

Top Five Strategies for Dealing with Controversial Texts

These are lessons I've learned the hard way from teaching first-year university composition and literature courses and from facilitating book group discussions. I presented these strategies at the Children and Youth Conference for Librarians in Fort Worth, Texas, on 10 August 2007.



1. Prepare the ground. Not all readers like surprises. Give them some idea of what to expect. Let them know if the text you're presenting contains profanity, violence, sexually explicit scenes, or other offensive or distressing elements; don't let these come as a shock.

2. Give the reader a choice. Nobody likes being forced to read a book, particularly when that book may be offensive and disturbing. Suggest, encourage, recommend, but leave the reader room to make his or her own decisions.

3. Don't just teach the text; teach the controversy. Don't pretend that the controversy doesn't exist or assume that any criticism of the text must be invalid. Be respectful, and try to create a safe space for discussion. Exploring the debate with young readers gives them practice in explaining and defending their own reading choices.

4. Choose your battles. Why is this text important to you? Don't make the mistake of presenting a text simply because it is controversial or because everyone else is doing it (peer pressure doesn't end in high school, folks). If you have serious doubts about a text, don't push it; you won't be doing yourself, your readers, or the author any favors. Save your energy for the texts you value and believe in.

5. Take responsibility for mistakes. Perhaps you've misjudged the text or your readers. For example, let's say you discover something objectionable about a book you scheduled, without reading it first, for your teen-and-tween book group. Don't get defensive and don't make excuses. Waste no time in apologizing to the readers for the mistake, and move on.

Bonus lesson: If you do make a mistake, don't freak out or beat yourself up too much. Young readers aren't always as sensitive and sharp-eyed as the adults who care about them; odds are good you haven't scarred anyone for life.

The Gryffindors Have Moved!

The Gryffindor Book Group has a new schedule and meeting venue. Beginning in September, we will meet at 4:30 p.m. on the 3rd Thursday of each month at Emily Fowler Central Library. Check the Gryffindor Book Group Schedule sidebar for dates and books.

Chick Lit: Bridging the Generation Gap?

Lately I've noticed quite a bit of crossover between chick lit and YA fiction for teen girls. Meg Cabot, best known for her Princess Diaries series, has also written several romances for adult readers, including The Queen of Babble and Size Twelve is Not Fat (one of my favorite titles).









Similarly, Ann Brashares, author of the bestselling Sisterhood of theTraveling Pants series, has recently published her first work of adult fiction, The Last Summer (of You and Me).











If the traffic only flowed one way, we might assume that YA authors like Cabot and Brashares are simply trying to retain their audience by adapting to the changing tastes of their maturing readers. As Brashares writes to her fans on Sisterhood Central:

The characters are a little bit older (in their early twenties) and the themes a
bit more sophisticated than ones I've written about before. So it's probably
not right for younger readers. But if you are a seasoned reader of the
Traveling Pants series--probably fifteen or older--I think this book would
be appropriate and (hopefully!) enjoyable for you.

However, authors are moving in the other direction, too. Sarah Mlynowski, author of several chick lit novels published by Red Dress Ink (a Harlequin imprint), has staked out YA territory with Bras & Broomsticks, a fantasy series about a high-school girl who covets her younger sister's newfound magical powers.

So is the distinction between YA and adult fiction simply a matter of packaging? Is there any real difference between books written for teenage girls and those written for women? Author and essayist Deanna Carlyle has no problem with calling YA books for girls "chick lit":

In the U.S. publishing industry, the line between chick lit, young adult fiction and women’s fiction is blurring.Some editors are calling the new developments “humorous women’s fiction,” “romantic comedy” or “tween lit.”
But don’t be fooled.
Chick lit by any other name is just as fun and just as fresh.

In an April 2005 interview with Carlyle, Sarah Mlynowski explains that she made the transition from adult to YA lit because she wanted to emulate her hero, Judy Blume, in reaching out to young readers and helping them fall in love with books:

Judy Blume is my inspiration. I grew up reading her novels. They were the first books I read that made me laugh out loud and want to become both a reader, and a writer. It was a compete revelation for me to see my experiences and pre-pubescent angst affectionately reflected in print.

People always call Helen Fielding the mother of chick lit, but I think it’s Judy Blume. She’s who we all (chick lit writers) grew up reading, and she’s the one who helped shaped our consciousness.

Yesterday

I wrote yesterday's posts on a computer at the public library before I headed out to a tutoring session. Not only was I worried about being late for my appointment, but I was racing the clock, trying to get down my thoughts and hit "Publish Post" before my session timed out. This may account for the urgency. :-)

On the other hand, I'm relieved to see that they're not quite as rant-y as I remembered them. I thought I might have to apologize for being a little too self-righteous and over the top, but it doesn't seem necessary. I doubt any of my three readers (you know who you are!) require an apology. Or maybe I really AM self-righteous and over the top on a regular basis, so it's hard to tell if I've exceeded my usual background levels. You'll let me know, right?

I promise I'll get back to doing the thoughtful, reflective thing soon.

Dealing with Controversial Texts, Part 2

Okay, no book is every going to please everyone. (And if it does manage to please everyone, or at least a whole lot of someones, critics will claim that it can't possibly be any good. Witness the Harry Potter backlash.) But there seem to be an awful lot of folks who are afraid of books--they'll spread subversion, create anarchy, destroy our values, and confuse our children.

I'm the last person in the world to deny the power of the written word. It drives me up the wall when well-meaning defenders of literature say soothingly, "Don't be so upset. It's just fiction, after all." As if we don't express our highest truths, our darkest fears, our deepest desires, and our most profound convictions about the human experience in story. Or have these people forgotten about Uncle Tom's Cabin and To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath and A Christmas Carol and Pride and Prejudice (never out of print for a single day in almost two hundred years) and Frankenstein and Don Quixote and, dare I say, the parables of Jesus?

But the problem lies in exaggerating the power of the book and diminishing the power of the reader. People who fear books appear to regard texts as authorities whose pronouncements are law, or as teachers who irrevocably shape (or deform) the student-reader's mind, or as stealthy viruses that infect the reader's thinking and cannot be purged.

But readers have their own power--to resist, to question, to critique, and to interpret. They're free to argue in the margins, to air their views in classrooms and coffeeshops, to write their own review, to send a letter to the author, even to write their own book and assert their own "authority." They're even free to stop reading. But they're not free to stop others.

Dealing with Controversial Texts, Part 1

If you look at the Upcoming Appearances sidebar, you'll see that I'm scheduled to present at the Children and Youth Conference for Librarians on Friday. My topic is "Dealing with Controversial Texts." I've been looking forward to giving this presentation for months, and therein lies the problem. Sometime last spring, when I was first invited to present at CYC, I wrote out the whole talk in great detail, probably more than I'd ever need, but now that I do need it . . . you guessed it. I have no clue where my notes are.

Well, I know roughly where they are--probably in one of the many spiral-bound notebooks littering my office floor. I'll go on a search-and-destroy mission this afternoon, but I'm already resigned to the fact that I'll need to recreate my whole talk from scratch.

So what do I want to say about controversial texts? A lot, actually, but I'd like to address the problem of taking a zero-tolerance-for-defects approach to literature, which I think is closely related to popular attitudes toward the Bible. Stay with me here. A number of Christians pride themselves on an all-or-nothing approach; either every word of the Holy Bible is literally, factually (as opposed to metaphorically) true, making it the ultimate authority on every subject under the sun, or every word of it is false and we might as well throw the book away.

My intent is not to argue about biblical inerrancy but merely to say this: if it IS valid to say the Bible is either entirely true or entirely false, we can only say this because the Bible is a unique case. All other books are imagined, written, revised, edited, published, and marketed by fallible human beings who may well be right about some things and wrong about others. To insist that every element of a literary work be factually accurate, orthodox, inoffensive, and clear as daylight is absurd. No Shakespeare play could stand up to it.

• Othello includes racist comments, vulgar fart jokes, and numerous sexual references.
• A close reading of Ophelia's mad songs (all about seduced and abandoned maidens) and Hamlet's puns on the word conceive strongly suggest that Ophelia is pregnant with our hero's child when she drowns (accident? suicide? abortion gone wrong?).
• And in Romeo and Juliet--well, you get the idea.

As I've told my students at the beginning of every lit class I've ever taught: In order to read and enjoy any work of literature, you've got to be willing to accept some discomfort. You're not going to like everything the author says. You're not going to agree with every point she makes or accept every "fact" she offers. You may not approve of everything the main character says and does. And you may HATE the ending. But you'll also find that your own thoughts, beliefs, and values are clearer after you read a book that isn't inside your comfort zone.

Denton Public Library Events in August

Join the Denton Public Libraries for these great events!

FAMILY-FRIENDLY MOVIES
Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

First Friday Movie: Bridge to Terabithia (PG, 98 minutes)
Aug. 6, 3:30 p.m., South Branch

Wednesday Family Movie: Happy Feet (PG, 100 minutes)
Aug. 8, 4 p.m., North Branch

Third Friday Movies:
Flushed Away (PG, 90 minutes)
Aug. 17, 3:30 p.m., Emily Fowler Central Library

High School Musical (PG, 98 minutes)
Aug. 17, 3:30 p.m., South Branch


PAPER MAKING

Aug. 2, 3:30 p.m., South Branch

Aug. 7, 4 p.m., North Branch

Aug. 23, 4 p.m., Emily Fowler Central Library

Always running out of paper? The City of Denton Recycling Department can show you how to make your own! For kids 10 and up.


BABYSITTING CERTIFICATION WORKSHOP
Aug. 7 & 8, 2 - 4 p.m., South Branch

Aug. 22 & 23, 2 - 4 p.m., North Branch

If you want to become a certified babysitter, attend this 2-day workshop presented by the Denton Fire Department. Learn great babysitting strategies, emergency procedures, and more! Pre-registration is required, so call 940.349.8752 to reserve your place. For teens, ages 12-18.

CRITTERMAN: AROUND THE WORLD
Aug. 9, 3:30 p.m., South Branch

Aug. 24, 10 a.m., North Branch

Meet animals from around the world and learn about their amazing survival strategies and adaptive abilities. Features live animals!!! Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.


PIRATE ADVENTURE!
Aug. 14, 3:30 p.m. South Branch

The famous Pirate Lady leads an exciting, informative, hands-on exploration of a treasure chest filled with replica pirate artifacts.


READING IS MAGIC
Aug. 21, 3 p.m., Emily Fowler Central Library

Join us for an afternoon of magic with Gerald Edmundson, one of the world's top sleight-of-hand artists.

Violence in Harry Potter

I was talking the other day with a friend who was concerned about the violence in the final Harry Potter book. "I understand that there's a war going on between good and evil," she said, "but I just don't know if nine-year-olds should be reading such violent scenes."

I found myself flashing back to my days as a drama major at the University of Georgia when Matt Williams came to talk to the students about the film industry. Williams is probably best known for creating and producing hit shows like Roseanne and Home Improvement, but at the time I met him he was still writing for The Cosby Show.

Williams told us a story about a screenplay he was very proud of but couldn't seem to sell. He saw it as a heartwarming story about the close relationship between a boy and a dog, but nobody wanted to make the movie because it was "too violent." Williams couldn't believe it. He'd written a sweet story about a dog who dies, but it was considered too violent to commit to film, even though the most popular show on TV at the time was Miami Vice, which featured a weekly body count higher than that of the average Shakespearean tragedy.

We measure violence, Williams concluded, by how much we care about the victims. Every week, Miami Vice casually dispatched scores of villains we'd made no investment in, so their passing was unimportant, even comic: "BAM! BAM! Cancel this man's dinner reservation. Come on, Tubbs, let's go." But the death of one dog was meaningful because Williams had spent an entire screenplay developing the audience's relationship with this character.

Is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows violent? Yes, no question. There are ambushes, attacks, duels, and at least two major battle scenes I can think of. But Rowling is never, EVER casual about death, even when it comes to characters who aren't particularly likable. The violence is never random but always placed in the larger context of war between good and evil. As Harry learns in Order of the Phoenix, it is not easy to use an Unforgivable Curse to kill or torture another living being; you have to mean it. Only completely evil characters, like Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, are careless about inflicting pain.

On the other hand, characters demonstrate their courage and nobility by the way they respond to pain and suffering, and most of those who die in this series are prepared to accept this consequence for their actions. Rowling herself has said that each of the characters is defined by his or her attitude toward death. For example, in Prisoner of Azkaban, when Peter Pettigrew protests that he had no choice but to betray Harry's parents because Voldemort threatened to kill him, Sirius Black thunders, "Then you should have died!" In a quieter moment in Order of the Phoenix, Sirius insists again, "There are things worth dying for," which gives the readers some comfort in his death. Sirius dies as he surely would have chosen to, defying Voldemort and protecting Harry. It is significant that the character who fears death most is the supreme villain.

There is no question that the Harry Potter books contain violence; no series so preoccupied with death could avoid it. But Rowling has worked hard to develop a completely believable world peopled with characters we know and love (or love to hate). When death comes to characters in whom we have made such a great investment, we can't shrug it off. We have to grapple with the concepts of mortality and grief, but also with the necessity of courage, the power of love, and the persistence of hope.

By confronting young readers with death and challenging them to think about its meaning, Rowling does not glorify violence; instead, she celebrates the significance of each individual life.

Technical Difficulties with Comments

A couple of people have had difficulty posting their comments. I think I've fixed the problem, but please email me if you have any further trouble. Thanks!

Jaw-dropping Photos

Just found a great slide show of Harry Potter events on the Denton Record-Chronicle website. See if you recognize anybody.
Link