by Linda S. Mills

Created on: April 08, 2009   Last Updated: April 09, 2009

A young girl of a certain age spends a lot of time alone in her room. Her moods swing up and down with the sway of the wind and her self-esteem is as fragile as glass. While she may consider herself smart, she rarely sees herself as pretty. She might long for a boyfriend, but shyness preempts even the slightest eye contact with the opposite sex. To further complicate matters, she often feels out of sync with her closest friends and even more so with her parents. If her mother and father happen to be divorced, add feelings of sadness, loss and emotional conflict to the mix.

In this tender time of life, the adolescent girl is the most serious of readers. She is hard-wired with an ability to immerse more completely inside of a story than, perhaps, any other time in her life. The need to escape, fantasize and attach are as strong as they will ever be and Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series, knows this better than most.

This wildly popular saga follows the super-charged romantic adventures of an ordinary, teenager, Bella Swan. Plain Jane Bella is neither wealthy nor popular. She is awkward, insecure and the product of 2 rather self-absorbed, divorced, parents. In an attempt to find some level ground, she decides to relocate from sunny Arizona (where her childish mother lives and travels with a new husband) to the gray, rain-drenched town of Forks, Washington where her father is Chief of Police.

In no time, introverted Bella is surrounded by a flock of new friends and attracts the attention of the most beautiful boy in the world. First he seems repelled, ignoring her like the plague, but soon confesses a deep hunger for her that he can hardly control. He is, in fact, a vampire over 100 years old and she is the only girl he has ever wanted.

Not since the tales of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty has there been a more enchanted Prince Charming. Despite their intense passion, Edward insists they must save themselves for marriage. What could be more seductive than a chaste lover who cherishes his girl, not for her body, but for her spirit and her mind. It is this (mostly G-rated) eroticism that drives the series forward.

As passion and danger intensify, so does Bella's beauty and vulnerability. Edward grows ever more protective, shielding her through a dangerous underworld of carnivorous vampires all of whom threaten to destroy her. Along the way, she finds loving acceptance from Edward's 'vegetarian' family and befriends a den of wolf-like creatures who guard the Indian tribal land surrounding Forks. The once lonely Bella, discovers romance, true friendship and a sense of belonging.

Ultimately the success of the Twilight series rests upon its ability to both transport and mesmerize the young adolescent girl who yearns for passion and adventure far away from the halls of high school. For a few thousand pages, she can forget her awful case of acne, the braces that bulge across her teeth and her gnawing emotional unrest. At night, alone in her room, she will live, for a while, in the Twilight.

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