Is Twilight for Tweens?
Image by Mari van Ormer
The kids are lucky to have such great books to choose from now. I can remember being stuck with reading material like The Babysitters Club, and Sweet Valley High -- not exactly challenging, or thought-provoking literature. With the books and movies we had available in the 1980's it is a wonder any of us 80's children made it out alive! Yikes! Seriously, 80's movies require therapy to overcome!
I enjoyed Twilight as a fun read a few years ago, but I am wondering how many of the books I should allow Sammi to read. (She is 12 years old.) As I recall, book one was pretty tame, but I cannot remember when the mushy-stuff really starts, is it book two, or three? I suppose I could read them as a refresher, or I could pull out the movies to remind myself, but I actually have things to do with my brain right now -- I don't really have time to fill the limited space available in my head with Edward and Bella's romance. (Darn!)
So far, I have only allowed her to read book one, but of course, that leaves her hanging. I just can't remember how the rest of the books are, as far as more mature lovey-dovey content? (No need to introduce her to raging hormones just yet!)
What age do you think the Twilight books are appropriate? Maybe "appropriate" is not exactly the right word…?
Oh, and Sammi had a question: What does the apple represent on the front cover of the book? It's been awhile, and I did not have a good answer.
Drawing by Sammi van Ormer
I remember the books getting pretty steamy. I don't remember when that all starts but it's there. I do remember thinking, when I knew all these teens were reading it, that it had some pretty sexual stuff in there. In my opinion a little to much for teen girls. I think it will invoke feelings they shouldn't really be toying with. Their was stuff described that as a married woman I understood but feel that young girls shouldn't venture into that part of their imaginations. Maybe I'm a prude...I don't know. It's your call. I know you don't have a lot of extra time but maybe you should browse or speed read to help you remember some of the things in there. You might find yourself saying, "Oh, yeah I forgot about this part or that part." Your a good momma and will do what you feel is the right thing for Sammi I have no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI would for sure stay away from the last book in the series - way to mature content for young teens in my opinion. I remember them getting progressively more steamy with each book. I agree with the suggestion to look through them yourself to refresh your memory. You're a wise Momma - you'll make a good decision!
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ReplyDeleteCan you not edit your comments? Anyway my guess is the apple is the forbidden fruit? I'd keep Sammy away from these books!! And I agree, the 80's were a strange time.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you can edit comments or not, I think all you can do is delete and start over?
DeleteI think book one is all Sammi is going to get for a LONG while. (A long while, like she make the choice when she is an adult!) :-) I could not remember if book two was acceptable or not, but I think if she reads two she will want to read three, etc. The poor girl will just have to wait. Meanwhile, she keeps asking me lots of questions, and she wants to know why I prefer Jacob to Edward. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI personally found nothing wrong with the series. We have the books and if my girls want to read them fine. There is no nudity or overt sexual behavior. In fact Edward insists that he is a gentleman and will treat her as a lady. I personally do not comprehend this innate ridiculous fear of talking to our children of sex and sexuality. how are my children to learn of it if I am not having open and honest conversations with them at all ages. I guess though that is why often I have been vilified, because "good" Mormon women should "know their place". Heaven forbid we talk openly with our kids about the beauty of marriage and the "joining together as one". Just gets me so irritated. For heavens sake if you want to know whats in the books read them. There is a good contrast between both Edward and Jacob and what kind of man Bella chooses. Sometimes that choice is hard.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insights, Moira! I agree with you that we need to be open with our children, and willing to talk to them about hard things, like the birds and the bees -- if they do not learn from us, they will learn it somewhere! We have those kinds of conversations with the kids all the time, even casually, so they feel comfortable talking to us about it. But I think all children are different when it comes to what reading/media material they can handle. What one child could handle, could be too much for another. Miss Sammi tends to become obsessive over new movies/books/characters,etc., so I have to be careful with what I put in front of her -- it will be ALL she thinks/talks about for months on end. For example, if she could, she would watch The Phantom of the Opera EVERYDAY if I let her (she does listen to/sing the music everyday!). Anyways, it has been awhile, and I do not recall the Twilight books being too over the top with things, but in the later books, it is definitely more than Sammi is ready for right now, as a budding teenager, VERY interested in boys. :-)
DeleteWe all have our different ways of doing things, and that is great! You are the Mama of your beautiful family, and they are lucky to have you!
And, just so you know, you are an AWESOME Mormon woman!
You are loved! :-)
My only comment is that there is so much good literature in the world that it's not worth wasting time on a poorly written, badly contrived book. The only reason people read it is because of the vampire theme. And the movies are among the worst in terms of acting and everything else...which is universally agreed upon by the critics. If you need a list of good books for those around Sammi's age, I'll be happy to give you a list.
ReplyDeleteThey were the only books in the house that Sammi has not read, and she was dying for something new to read. As you know, I am not an avid fantasy novel reader (which is probably why I am so uninteresting), I much prefer deep doctrine books/articles, self-help/how-to books, the news, and quality blogs. I don't know why I have never enjoyed novel reading much, but it takes a lot for a book to interest me -- I barely made it through the Harry Potter series! But the kids LOVE to read all kinds of stuff. I have NO idea what is out there, though Charles is pretty good about gathering good books (he also LOVES to read novels). And I absolutely agree with you that the Twilight movies were possibly THE WORST movies with THE WORST acting I have ever seen! There were some interesting life parables in the books that make you think, but the movies only cause your brain to stop functioning properly, because the acting is SO terrible!
DeleteThese comments are giving me really good advice! I really liked book one and will probably read it again in a few years, but from I've been hearing, I think I will wait a while to read the next ones. I may need something to read when I'm 25… : ) Either way, I will be able to find plenty of other books to read in the meantime. : )
ReplyDelete-Sammi van Ormer
Sammi, I love you. You are awesome! :-)
Deletethe books were a hit among women and teens. Having read all of them, the first couple maybe not harmful, except for the fact that girls might get a skewed idea of what love is like, or should be, and that guys should be like Edward.....not going to happen! I usually don't like to share my opinion, but personally I didn't love the fact that my granddaughter read them. I am glad you are going to wait to read the others.
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