News > Today
Countdown to ‘Breaking Dawn’ is under way
By ANDREW K. ROGERS, News-Record Staff Writer arogers@gillettenewsrecord.net
Young women anxiously crammed into the dimly lit computer lab in the basement of the Campbell County Public Library on Thursday afternoon.
The room was transformed into a goth-like shrine decked out in black lace, spiderwebs and a cardboard coffin. The teenagers watched a giant countdown clock on the projector screen with giddy excitement: Only one day left to go.
They’re anxiously waiting for midnight Friday when they can wrap their hands around the most anticipated young adult book of the year. “Breaking Dawn,” the supposed final chapter in Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, will arrive and fans in Campbell County along with the rest of the United States are in a mad furor over the book’s closure.
In just four years since the first book of the series, “Twilight,” hit bookstores, the book has gained a cult following and has become the next big thing to take Harry Potter’s crown. Many of the fans from J.K. Rowling’s beloved books have moved on to “Twilight,” a new addicting series to sink their teeth into and share with friends.
And if you haven’t heard about it yet, you will. The movie version is set to premiere Dec. 12, launching the book into greater infamy.
The “Twilight” books follows the love life and trials of Bella Swan, an angst-filled high school student, and her first love, Edward Cullen, a “painfully beautiful” loner, who just happens to be undead. Think Romeo and Juliet ” but with vampires.
What sets this story apart from other bloodsucker novels is the focus on characters, the allegories for first love, adolescence and biracial acceptance. Meyer, who is a devout Mormon, keeps her stories devoid of alcohol, drugs and sex. The characters make abstinence sexy.
“It’s how (Meyer) writes it, all the detail, we know how Bella feels,” Hannah Miller,14, said.
Hannah, who has read the series and discusses it with her best friends, admits there’s more to it than romance.
“(Meyer) came up with a great idea for vampires: they don’t sleep, they have cold sparkly skin, and they have ninja moves,” she said.
Hannah joined 14 other girls at the pre-release party held at the Campbell County Public Library, where they discussed the big what-will-happen question for “Breaking Dawn.” Just like Potter fans asked “will Harry die?” in the last book, “Twilight” readers are in a tizzy over which man Bella will chose to spend the rest of her life with. Will she pick Edward, the brooding but selfless vampire, or Jacob, the loyal best friend who moonlights as a werewolf?
Darcy Acord, a youth librarian led the discussion topic and asks why the girls think Bella will choose Edward.
“She’s in love with Edward. It’s all about them,” said Cheyenne Barton,12. “The book is about vampires so of course she’s going to be with him.”
“But Edward left her!” shouted Cheyenne Barton, 12, referring to a plot turn in the last book, “Eclipse.”
“Edward left her because he didn’t have a choice!” responded another in the crowd.
Afterward, the group played rounds of “Twilight” Jeopardy, showing off their knowledge of the series. It was no surprise when Ashley Golden, 14, who admits to reading each book seven times, won the trivia contest for a reserved copy of “Breaking Dawn” and a $5 off certificate. Ashley said that she and best friend Hannah are “Twilight freaks.”
While “Twilight” has a rabid following of obsessed teenage females usually reserved for rock stars, the book is also starting to appeal to male readers.
According to the librarians, a large percentage of the people checking out the books are males.
“Boys are getting into it because they like the vampires,” said Sue Knesel, young adult services manager. She believes fan-boys of high fantasy and horror lit are making the crossover.
On his Web site, Twilightguy.com, Kaleb Nation, 19, picked up the books to see what all the fuss was about.
“I am not the type of person who will commonly read a story whose main idea revolves around someone falling in love with a vampire,” wrote Nation. “But the Twilight books are obviously different, because they have single-handedly started a revolution in the book field which I feel has the potential to affect most teen literature.”
Regardless of who’s reading the books, the public library can’t keep the copies on the shelf. The books have been checked out 272 times since 2005. “Breaking Dawn,” which hasn’t arrived, already has 16 reserve holds.
The room was transformed into a goth-like shrine decked out in black lace, spiderwebs and a cardboard coffin. The teenagers watched a giant countdown clock on the projector screen with giddy excitement: Only one day left to go.
They’re anxiously waiting for midnight Friday when they can wrap their hands around the most anticipated young adult book of the year. “Breaking Dawn,” the supposed final chapter in Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, will arrive and fans in Campbell County along with the rest of the United States are in a mad furor over the book’s closure.
In just four years since the first book of the series, “Twilight,” hit bookstores, the book has gained a cult following and has become the next big thing to take Harry Potter’s crown. Many of the fans from J.K. Rowling’s beloved books have moved on to “Twilight,” a new addicting series to sink their teeth into and share with friends.
And if you haven’t heard about it yet, you will. The movie version is set to premiere Dec. 12, launching the book into greater infamy.
The “Twilight” books follows the love life and trials of Bella Swan, an angst-filled high school student, and her first love, Edward Cullen, a “painfully beautiful” loner, who just happens to be undead. Think Romeo and Juliet ” but with vampires.
What sets this story apart from other bloodsucker novels is the focus on characters, the allegories for first love, adolescence and biracial acceptance. Meyer, who is a devout Mormon, keeps her stories devoid of alcohol, drugs and sex. The characters make abstinence sexy.
“It’s how (Meyer) writes it, all the detail, we know how Bella feels,” Hannah Miller,14, said.
Hannah, who has read the series and discusses it with her best friends, admits there’s more to it than romance.
“(Meyer) came up with a great idea for vampires: they don’t sleep, they have cold sparkly skin, and they have ninja moves,” she said.
Hannah joined 14 other girls at the pre-release party held at the Campbell County Public Library, where they discussed the big what-will-happen question for “Breaking Dawn.” Just like Potter fans asked “will Harry die?” in the last book, “Twilight” readers are in a tizzy over which man Bella will chose to spend the rest of her life with. Will she pick Edward, the brooding but selfless vampire, or Jacob, the loyal best friend who moonlights as a werewolf?
Darcy Acord, a youth librarian led the discussion topic and asks why the girls think Bella will choose Edward.
“She’s in love with Edward. It’s all about them,” said Cheyenne Barton,12. “The book is about vampires so of course she’s going to be with him.”
“But Edward left her!” shouted Cheyenne Barton, 12, referring to a plot turn in the last book, “Eclipse.”
“Edward left her because he didn’t have a choice!” responded another in the crowd.
Afterward, the group played rounds of “Twilight” Jeopardy, showing off their knowledge of the series. It was no surprise when Ashley Golden, 14, who admits to reading each book seven times, won the trivia contest for a reserved copy of “Breaking Dawn” and a $5 off certificate. Ashley said that she and best friend Hannah are “Twilight freaks.”
While “Twilight” has a rabid following of obsessed teenage females usually reserved for rock stars, the book is also starting to appeal to male readers.
According to the librarians, a large percentage of the people checking out the books are males.
“Boys are getting into it because they like the vampires,” said Sue Knesel, young adult services manager. She believes fan-boys of high fantasy and horror lit are making the crossover.
On his Web site, Twilightguy.com, Kaleb Nation, 19, picked up the books to see what all the fuss was about.
“I am not the type of person who will commonly read a story whose main idea revolves around someone falling in love with a vampire,” wrote Nation. “But the Twilight books are obviously different, because they have single-handedly started a revolution in the book field which I feel has the potential to affect most teen literature.”
Regardless of who’s reading the books, the public library can’t keep the copies on the shelf. The books have been checked out 272 times since 2005. “Breaking Dawn,” which hasn’t arrived, already has 16 reserve holds.
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