Anonymous
Post 07/02/2015 21:55     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't really have a problem with media that shows premarital sex and/or violence. Both are part of life, and reading about it in fiction is a good, relatively safe way to explore and discuss the issues that go with both.

I have a HUGE problem with Bella as a character. It's impossible to imagine a worse role model for a young girl.

Hermione? Yes! Katniss? Yes!
Bella? Ugh.

I am delighted that my 11 year old daughter is familiar with the series, but decided on her own, based on what she heard about it, that she has no desire to read the books or see the movies.

I wouldn't forbid her from reading them. (I'm hard pressed to think of anything I would--just can't get behind book banning!) but I have to admit I'm glad she's not interested in Twilight.


I second you on Hermione and Katniss! Personally, I also think there are tons of role models that are sooooo much better:
Alanna (Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness), then Keladry (Protector of the Small), then Alianne (Daughter of the Lioness), then Beka (Beka Cooper, but I would hold off on this until teen)
Daine (Tamora Pierce, The Immortals)


Sandry, Tris and Daja (Tamora Pierce; Circle of Magic, Circle Opens and Circle Reforged, possibly holding off on the latter two until teen)
Katsa (Kristin Cashore, Graceling)
Cimorene (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)


Wait, are you my 14-year-old DD posting?! Honey, I know that's you! Alanna, Keladry, Sandry Tris and Daja....all big favorites of my DD's.

OP, suggest books by Tamora Pierce as mentioned above. My daughter also loves anything by Brandon Sanderson or Robert Jordan, whom she says write strong female characters too.

Or have her look at the series by Marissa Meyer: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, et. al. Science fiction meets fairy tales.

As for Twilight, like another PP mentioned about his or her own kid, my DD said she wasn't interested. Some of her friends read it when they were younger, and at the time some of them even commented (at age 11 and 12) that Bella was a very lame female character who kept getting saved and neeeeeeeeeeeded her boyfriend to be complete. Says volumes that even kids that young could read these wastes of ink and see how poor the characters were.


Nope, not your DD, but someone that started reading Pierce a looong time ago, and has never stopped. Of course, I work with kids, so that's my excuse, right?
Anonymous
Post 07/02/2015 15:34     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't really have a problem with media that shows premarital sex and/or violence. Both are part of life, and reading about it in fiction is a good, relatively safe way to explore and discuss the issues that go with both.

I have a HUGE problem with Bella as a character. It's impossible to imagine a worse role model for a young girl.

Hermione? Yes! Katniss? Yes!
Bella? Ugh.

I am delighted that my 11 year old daughter is familiar with the series, but decided on her own, based on what she heard about it, that she has no desire to read the books or see the movies.

I wouldn't forbid her from reading them. (I'm hard pressed to think of anything I would--just can't get behind book banning!) but I have to admit I'm glad she's not interested in Twilight.


I second you on Hermione and Katniss! Personally, I also think there are tons of role models that are sooooo much better:
Alanna (Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness), then Keladry (Protector of the Small), then Alianne (Daughter of the Lioness), then Beka (Beka Cooper, but I would hold off on this until teen)
Daine (Tamora Pierce, The Immortals)


Sandry, Tris and Daja (Tamora Pierce; Circle of Magic, Circle Opens and Circle Reforged, possibly holding off on the latter two until teen)
Katsa (Kristin Cashore, Graceling)
Cimorene (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)


Wait, are you my 14-year-old DD posting?! Honey, I know that's you! Alanna, Keladry, Sandry Tris and Daja....all big favorites of my DD's.

OP, suggest books by Tamora Pierce as mentioned above. My daughter also loves anything by Brandon Sanderson or Robert Jordan, whom she says write strong female characters too.

Or have her look at the series by Marissa Meyer: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, et. al. Science fiction meets fairy tales.

As for Twilight, like another PP mentioned about his or her own kid, my DD said she wasn't interested. Some of her friends read it when they were younger, and at the time some of them even commented (at age 11 and 12) that Bella was a very lame female character who kept getting saved and neeeeeeeeeeeded her boyfriend to be complete. Says volumes that even kids that young could read these wastes of ink and see how poor the characters were.
Anonymous
Post 06/28/2015 23:04     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
It's fine. Just be glad she isn't reading the Shining like I was at that age. Then again, I turned out pretty decent despite that.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 22:07     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:I don't really have a problem with media that shows premarital sex and/or violence. Both are part of life, and reading about it in fiction is a good, relatively safe way to explore and discuss the issues that go with both.

I have a HUGE problem with Bella as a character. It's impossible to imagine a worse role model for a young girl.

Hermione? Yes! Katniss? Yes!
Bella? Ugh.

I am delighted that my 11 year old daughter is familiar with the series, but decided on her own, based on what she heard about it, that she has no desire to read the books or see the movies.

I wouldn't forbid her from reading them. (I'm hard pressed to think of anything I would--just can't get behind book banning!) but I have to admit I'm glad she's not interested in Twilight.


I second you on Hermione and Katniss! Personally, I also think there are tons of role models that are sooooo much better:
Alanna (Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness), then Keladry (Protector of the Small), then Alianne (Daughter of the Lioness), then Beka (Beka Cooper, but I would hold off on this until teen)
Daine (Tamora Pierce, The Immortals)
Sandry, Tris and Daja (Tamora Pierce; Circle of Magic, Circle Opens and Circle Reforged, possibly holding off on the latter two until teen)
Katsa (Kristin Cashore, Graceling)
Cimorene (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 13:17     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:Still having a hard time that some PPs have issues with sex- which is discussed but doesn't happen until after marriage- and are fine/oblivious to the violence.


I have no issues with the sex, violence, or marriage. I just don't think that Tweens are ready to process the intense desire for painfully violent sex and the violent sex itself.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 11:50     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
I don't really have a problem with media that shows premarital sex and/or violence. Both are part of life, and reading about it in fiction is a good, relatively safe way to explore and discuss the issues that go with both.

I have a HUGE problem with Bella as a character. It's impossible to imagine a worse role model for a young girl.

Hermione? Yes! Katniss? Yes!
Bella? Ugh.

I am delighted that my 11 year old daughter is familiar with the series, but decided on her own, based on what she heard about it, that she has no desire to read the books or see the movies.

I wouldn't forbid her from reading them. (I'm hard pressed to think of anything I would--just can't get behind book banning!) but I have to admit I'm glad she's not interested in Twilight.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 10:55     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Still having a hard time that some PPs have issues with sex- which is discussed but doesn't happen until after marriage- and are fine/oblivious to the violence.


Then shield your tweens from the books....


Nah. My daughter is 15 and read them years ago. I'm a PP who recommended them even though they're trashy and poorly written. I'm just pointing out that some PPs are stressed out that fictional HS kids discuss being sexually active and then decide to wait until they're married. Sex is a topic verboten for a tween but wholesale slaughter is fine.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 10:29     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:Still having a hard time that some PPs have issues with sex- which is discussed but doesn't happen until after marriage- and are fine/oblivious to the violence.


Then shield your tweens from the books....
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 10:29     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:Still having a hard time that some PPs have issues with sex- which is discussed but doesn't happen until after marriage- and are fine/oblivious to the violence.


Basically the books when analyzed that deeply are all fucked up. They are. The copy I read had been left in a vacation home and an 8th grader had scrawled graffiti inside the copy saying as much (and identifying herself as an 8th grader).

But I still enjoyed reading the first one. And I am a grown up.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 09:28     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Still having a hard time that some PPs have issues with sex- which is discussed but doesn't happen until after marriage- and are fine/oblivious to the violence.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 09:02     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
Read the books first yourself if you are worried about it. It's a quick read.
I enjoyed them, you can tell they were written my a Mormon. I really wanted Bella to just sleep with Edward already! But that is my married self. If I wear my teen hat, I can remember spending hours thinking about sex and marriage and all my catholic rules.
Bella gets pregnant the first time she has sex, as a married women.
Also, Edward doesn't pressure her, so that is a nice role to exposure your DD to.
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2015 08:51     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
When I was 12 I was reading those terrible VC Andrews books, which were x10 times more disturbing than this series. Twilight is tame when compared. If a kid is choosing books over screen time, I am all for it!

I say let her read the books. It is not gratuitous sex, and, if you read it too and have concerns about anything like other PPs (perfect bf etc.) you can talk with her about it.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2015 17:55     Subject: Re:"Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote: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.


I think it would be ok to read, but then discuss with an eye toward this PP's comment. I have a 40 something year old friend who got sucked into Twilight, is less mature, and has now decided she wants her relationships to be this way The book is fairly good until you get to the part where Bella is "supposed" to die in an auto accident--and Edward saves her. After she is saved, he has to keep on saving and saving and saving her. As long as your daughter and you talk about the book, it would be ok.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2015 17:47     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
Anonymous wrote:They only wait until marriage because he keeps talking about how violent it's going to be and how he's afraid he will hurt her. When they finally do, in book 3 (?) it's violent and painful and she is hurt. Definitely not something I want my kids reading.


That's partly the stated reason, but I also objected to the way that it can be read as the guy from the early 1900s being out of touch with not being ok with premarital sex.
Anonymous
Post 06/25/2015 16:40     Subject: "Twilight" series for Tweens
They only wait until marriage because he keeps talking about how violent it's going to be and how he's afraid he will hurt her. When they finally do, in book 3 (?) it's violent and painful and she is hurt. Definitely not something I want my kids reading.