Anonymous wrote:Bella is not a fully formed person.

That's an understatement. I saw her as a completely generic "every girl", a poorly written character in a poorly written book with whom almost every young woman/girl can identify. Its not James Joyce, its a trashy novel. Highly popular and entertaining but garbage nonetheless.

Bella is not a fully formed person. She is a reflection of what Edward wants, and exists entirely for Edward's benefit. If I had a particularly impressionable child Bella is not the model I would want for her before entering the dating world.

My daughter read the books at age 11 because her entire social group did. I read them first. I told her why I thought the characters were horrible (Edward may be physically around Bella's age, but he's a vampire. How creepy that he's perving on Bella!) and the problems with the relationship. That's basically how we do things - she can read what she wants, but if I think it's horrible she has to endure my literary critique.

Anonymous wrote:My DD is nearly twelve and wants to read "Twilight." I never read the series and don't know whether it's age-appropriate. In general I'm not comfortable with her reading most of the YA books that she has requested (primarily at the library, where I flip through them and try to quickly gauge the content). Sex and relationship stuff is what I am primarily trying to stay away from right now. She's my firstborn, very impressionable, wants to be a teenager NOW. Opinions?

There are things to love and hate about these. I love that there is no premarital sex, and that the character pushing for it is female, but I hate that the male character is considered old-fashioned in this regard. I hate that the female character basically gives up living when her boyfriend leaves town. I love that the female character is ok being different, is ok being even more different than her friends, but I hate that she prioritizes the relationship over everything else in her life, including her parents.

So. No, I wouldn't recommend this to or for a tween, and I would only recommend to/for a teen that I know is mature enough to see pros/cons rather than reading at face value. With that said, I found it a marvelous tool for talking with tween and teen girls.

If you are looking for YA books without relationships and sex, it's hard to find them. Even Christian YA have relationships, because that's what the kids want to read.

Bella might not have sex until she's married, but the books are obsessed with it, and when they finally do, she's covered in bruises. Also, Edward is basically an abusive stalker and it's presented as romantic. Also, they are poorly written.

There are lots of YA fantasy books out there. Find some better ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well she will be a teenager next year... but I seem to recall that the first book didn't have anything more than kissing in it. Read it yourself first - it's a quick read for an adult.

And it's actually really good and strangely compelling.

There's a reason they are so popular

I agree. I read it in my late 30s the second biggest reader group for these books. They get worse (the books in the series) but this one is very readable and moral.

I'd recommend it too. Our daughter is 15 now and read them a couple years ago and has seen the movies. I think its telling that people tend to be worried about the amount of sexual content but don't bat an eye at number of murders or that the Volturi keep human cows around. Again, most of the violence is "offscreen" and not explicit but its there.

Its a trashy, poorly written series. But if it encourages your kid to read, I say its a good thing. Most kids that age have seen the movies or read the books and have survived the ordeal to be functioning members of society. OP- you're not blazing a new trail here.

I think it largely depends on your DD's personality, but I wouldn't recommend it. I think it would give your DD a skewed sense of how a BF should be. Yes, Edward is a vampire, but in every other sense, he's the "perfect" BF: attentive, his world revolves around her, good looking, smart, and the hair.

It's a fantasy, and as long as the person can easily distinguish the reality from fantasy, then it's fine, but I would think a lot of 12 yr old girls would have a hard time not getting sucked into that fantasy and spilling over into real life. As a 40+ yr old, I could see my 12 yr old self (or maybe older since I was a late bloomer) getting sucked into it.

Anonymous wrote:Bella is a terrible role model.

Honestly, yes. Lord she is sooooooooo sulky. Her inner self conscious monologue makes my beloved Nirvana songs from my early teen years look downright chipper.

Anonymous wrote:No sex in the books, in fact they wait until marriage, and it's very pro abstinence.

I didn't view it that way. While they do wait until they are married. A LOT of pages are spent debating shoud she or shoud she not have sex? It may just be the final book, but it is a major topic (if not the major theme) of the book. Bella is concerned that having sex with her vampire husband could endanger her life but ohh those urgings. . . . not graphic but lots of discussion of lust etc.

I too have a 12 year old girl, I'm on the fence as to whether the last book is appropriate. The first few would be fine.

Anonymous wrote:Well she will be a teenager next year... but I seem to recall that the first book didn't have anything more than kissing in it. Read it yourself first - it's a quick read for an adult.

And it's actually really good and strangely compelling.

There's a reason they are so popular

Bella is a terrible role model.

Well she will be a teenager next year... but I seem to recall that the first book didn't have anything more than kissing in it. Read it yourself first - it's a quick read for an adult.

No sex in the books, in fact they wait until marriage, and it's very pro abstinence.

My DD is nearly twelve and wants to read "Twilight." I never read the series and don't know whether it's age-appropriate. In general I'm not comfortable with her reading most of the YA books that she has requested (primarily at the library, where I flip through them and try to quickly gauge the content). Sex and relationship stuff is what I am primarily trying to stay away from right now. She's my firstborn, very impressionable, wants to be a teenager NOW. Opinions?