Twilight Zone: Give This Woman A Hand!

Why should the stars of the Twilight movies be the only ones having fun?  What about Kimbra Hickey, whose hands grace the original cover of Twilight?  Without that awesome cover, featuring those awesome hands, would Twilight have become the phenomenon it is?

I think not.





Thanks to Leila at bookshelves of doom for the link.


The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Twilight Zone: Eclipse Recap - With lolcats!

I haven't seen the movie yet, but will do so tonight.  From what I remember of the book, it's basically a pissing match between Jacob and Edward in which Bella makes continued poor decisions about her life by not thinking for herself.  Now that's entertainment!

Anyway, if you're one of those people who'll be saving their ticket money, or maybe you just loved it so much, you can't get enough, here's an lolcatz version from PopSeude.

Enjoy!

Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.

Twilight Zone: The New Supreme Court Litmus Test: Team Edward or Team Jacob?

It used to be about a nominee's views on Roe v. Wade.  Now it's about Edward v. Jacob.

Twilight Zone: The Real Qulieute

Turns out that Jacob's Quileute tribe in La Push, WA is real.

I guess I just figured it was something Stephenie Meyer had made up. Sadly, while everyone else in America is making boatloads of cash off of Team Jacob and the whole Twilight phenomenon, the Quileute people have been left out in the rain. While MSN camera crews trespass on their cemetery and Nordstrom makes money off of their Quileute hoody, the real Quileute people go about their everyday in poverty.

I feel like something is owed to this people, whose history, land and culture has been pilfered. They deserve to profit from Twilight's success too.

Thanks to my friend James for pointing me towards this Op-Ed.

Twilight Zone: How It Should Have Ended

I agree.



Except maybe I'd have her kill Edward.

Twilight Zone: Overheard on the DC Metro

A conversation between two late teens/early twenties males, one with dreads and the other with some cool facial hair, both kinda thuggish looking...

Guy #1: Oh man, you know what movie's coming out that I'm looking forward to?

Guy #2: What?

Guy #1: New Moon.

Guy #2: Yeah man, Twilight was awesome.

Guy #1: Yeah.

Guy #2: I liked how she [Stephenie Meyer] kinda changed the vampire lore.

Guy #1: Naw man, she got it all wrong. Her vampires were wrong.

Guy #2: The way she made her vampires makes more sense to me. Like how when they go out in the sun, they don't burn up and die, but you can tell they're different. Their skin is like crushed diamonds.

Really? I mean, I expect this from tween girls. But guys with facial hair who are trying to keep a tough image? On the Metro? Loud enough so that everyone can hear?

Wow!

Twilight Zone: Bella and Edward Turn into Pumpkins

It's not exactly like when the stage coach in Cinderella turned into a pumpkin at midnight. Rather, the celebrity pumpkin carvings are actually kinda creepy. Artistic sure, but creepy.

And in an unrelated bit of Twilight news, Twilight will be re-releasing in theaters in anticipation of New Moon's release. Should be a big money maker, but I'm hearing frustration from librarians who purchased special one-time performance rights to show Twilight at programs this fall and recently learned that Summit pulled the public performance rights for November and December. I've been searching around for any official notice about this, but none to be found (at least by me).

Twilight Zone: A Makeover for Wuthering Heights

Back in the spring I posted about the abundance of teenage girls coming to the reference desk looking for literary criticism on Wuthering Heights, a book which many of them decided to give a whirl after becoming infatuated with Edward Cullen Twilight.

Well, it seems that Harper noticed this trend as well, and went ahead and redid the cover for Wuthering Heights, modeling it after the Twilight covers*. Inevitably, when a book turns into a movie, the publisher goes ahead and makes a hideous movie tie-in cover that nobody likes and everyone wishes would go away so that they could buy the "real" cover. The new cover for Wuthering Heights may actually be the first classic novel to be "recovered" NOT because it was made into a film, but because it is the favorite book of a character in best-selling book/wildly popular movie.

I personally find the "Bella and Edward's favorite book!" a bit demeaning to be stamped on the cover of a classic work of literature. And Leila over at Bookshelves of Doom wisely pointed out that, contrary to the cover's claim, Edward does not like Wuthering Heights. But, I suppose you can't have Bella without Edward, right? And I have no doubt this cover will sell copies of Wuthering Heights like never before. I am anticipating large book displays of all the Twilight titles/merchandise and this version of Wuthering Heights to be unveiled in November in anticipation of the New Moon movie release and the Christmas shopping season. It will be the go-to gift for teenagers whose parents are desperately hoping their children will read classics outside of school.

*There's a UK version that's similarly Twilighty as well.

Twilight Zone?: Shiver Me Timbers

Back at ALA one of the publisher booths was handing out ARCs of an upcoming title. I wasn't really in the mood to carry more stuff around, but the woman at the booth was practically forcing everyone who walked by to get a copy. So I took one, feeling no sense of urgency to read it until it got a mention at Early Word...and then it made it to the top of my TBR list.

The book: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

The story: As a child, Grace was attacked by wolves. She miraculously made it out alive, and ever since has had a fascination with the wolves in the woods behind her house. Now a teenager, Grace is particularly captivated by one wolf in particular - the one with the yellow eyes. When another student at her school turns up dead, the wolves are fingered, and a hunt ensues. Grace runs into the woods in an attempt to stop the hunt and comes face to face with those yellow eyes - on an injured human.

The verdict: Twilight, but with a werewolf and better writing. Absent parents and unimportant friends? Check! Teen inexplicably in love with supernatural being? Check! Changing the rules everyone knows about said supernatural being? Check! Teen girl anxious to "just do it" while supernatural would-be mate hesitates? Check!

But...but...but...Stiefvater's writing makes the difference. Both writers know how to tell a good story that grabs readers and doesn't let go, but Stiefvater finds a way to convey the story with more "show" and less "tell." Alternating narration between Grace (human) and Sam (wolf/human) is amazingly effective at telling the story without it getting too sappy or overwrought. While Grace is fairly two-dimensional, Sam is more than just a shape-shifter, he's a musician, and music helps him make sense of the world.

P.S. I love that Maggie's last name means "stepfather" in German and that she includes a passage in German in the novel!

Twilight Zone: Bella and Edward Get Graphic

Get your filthy mind out of the gutter!

You know that those pan-camera-away-from-the-action-and-hard-cut-to-the-next-scene-just-as-it-was-getting-good sex scenes of newlyweds Bella and Edward are just about as graphic as Stephenie Meyer is willing to get.

Just when you thought you could escape Twilight Mania (they STILL have those huge displays at the bookstore, but thankfully MJ and Jon & Kate have taken over the covers of US Weekly, OK!, etc.), Stephenie Meyer announces on her blog that Twilight will now be a graphic novel!

I echo Tina Jordan's happy observation that the characters in the graphic novel aren't just drawings of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, both of whom I thought were mis-cast. Instead, they are a just a 'lil bit closer to what you might have been picturing while reading the book.

Twilight Zone: New Moon Trailer

You've probably seen this elsewhere already, as it's been on the interwebs for at least a good 24 hours, which is like weeks in back in the 20th century, but...



The Acting: Still pretty bad (at least on RPatz and KStewart's behalves)
The Budget: Cleary improved, even from this short trailer
The Jacob: From cute to hot (and now shirtless)
The Verdict: I'm still going to see it opening weekend

Long Time, No Blog

So I've been travelling (first to Italy on my belated honeymoon and then to Denver for a friend's wedding) and haven't posted a new blog in about two weeks. I'm back in the world of interweb connections, and it turns out that life hasn't stopped while I was away.

And now it's time for a recap:

The Hunger Games wins! Theeeeeee Hunger Games wins...SLJ's Battle of the Books

YALSA contemplates the virtues of extending the definition of "young adult" to include actual young adults. LibrariYAn is intrigued (I've talked about this before). Librarilly Blonde disagrees.

Rutgers SCILS minted a batch of new librarians, including Librarian Boredom's Sara, Purple Polka's Kristi(e) (who also unveiled a saucy new blog look) and, of course, yours truly! Congratulations to all the new librarians!

Summit Entertainment releases the "official" New Moon posters, which actually feature Jacob! (Thanks to Best Week Ever for the link.)

In a case of "is it real or is it not?," a "teen" is running a banned book library (sans Twilight) from his/her locker. Cue librarians arguing over whether a possible fake teen with a fake banned book locker library helps or hurts the library profession and the cause of banned books. Really?

And coming up this week, Alicia goes to BEA with the sole intent and purpose of getting an ARC of Catching Fire. I'm sure I'll get a slew more ARCs that I'll love and devour, and yes, I'm meeting up with several friends, and that's great and all, but let's be honest: Katniss is my real reason for attending.

Twilight Zone:...And After the Breaking Dawn There Was a Russett Noon?

After the twilight, a new moon is obscured by an eclipse. Then a breaking dawn threatens to end it all. But, after the sun leaves the dawn behind to rise to its zenith, a russet noon begins with a new adventure...

So fanfic writer LadySybilla wrote her own book, Russet Noon, which continues the Twilight saga from Jacob's point of view. She went out and got herself an ISBN and started pre-selling the novel, complete with "accidentally" stolen cover art (see image, copyright Charli Sieger, 2004, on left) on the Internet back in early March for the low, low price of $9.99.

But oops! Seems nobody explained the finer points of copyright law to LadySybilla. She was under the impression that it was perfectly permissable to take Stephenie Meyer's characters, put them in her own book, and make money buckets of money. Once it was brought to her attention that that's now how it works, she seems to have consulted with some lawyers who basically said "Um, duh!" and she pulled the book and now plans to release it for free on the Internet, one chapter at a time, beginning in September.

I don't even know what to say about this other than:

1. How did I totally miss this until Leila over at Bookshelves of Doom brought it to my attention?

2. Did LadySybilla really not think there was anything wrong with this?

3. Does LadySybilla really think that Stephenie Meyer would be ok with this and that "she laughs at the whole situation," as she stated in this interview?

4. Is anyone else so intrigued by this controversy that they're actually looking for to September and the chance to read the first chapter

For more on the Russet Noon controversy, check out:

...the "Official" website, which sadly, has mostly been taken down due to that pesky copyright thing.

...the history of the controversy as extensively chronicled and footnoted on fanhistory.com (and where I did much of my research for this post).

Twilight Zone: Looks Like Somebody's Been Hitting the Gym

(Cue teenage girls screaming and swooning and their mothers trying their hardest not to do so as well.)

What I find oddest? Edward is barely even in the book and isn't one to go around shirtless anyway. Isn't Jacob the shirtless star of New Moon?

Twilight Zone: Comic Relief

Sure, you could spend a whole weekend devouring all of the books in the Twilight saga. But if you're not so predisposed to that idea, you can check out this comic by artist/author Lucy Knisley where one reluctant Twi-hard who did the above kindly distills her experience and then summarizes the four-book saga into a quick (an amazingly accurate and thorough!) 16 panels. Impressive.

Seeing it boiled down almost makes me wish for those hours spent reading back, and most assuredly makes me more than embarassed at proclaiming to a room full of people "I would leave my husband for Edward Cullen*." But who am I kidding? Those were some good angsty hours. Except for most of Breaking Dawn; I'll take those hours back any day.

Thanks (again) to Fuse #8 for the link.

* It should be noted that this was immediately after reading the first book and that my husband was travelling extensively for work and I probably hadn't seen him in about a month. I was sad and lonely, and Edward was my only hope.

Twilight Zone: Twi Tour Coming to a Town Near You!

Now usually I don't do this (post just minutes after posting), but...

The Twi Tour is coming to my hometown of Parsippany, NJ, and I think that (aside from the whole Hunger Games movie) this is some of the best news I've heard all week!

Sure, the movie was fairly terrible, and the casting was off, (and the book itself not a literary accomplishment) but I can't help but feel a certain sense of giggly anticipation knowing that thousands of screaming teenagers will descend upon my hometown for two days at the of August. And while I don't see myself shelling out my hard-earned cash on any of the various photo opportunities or autograph signings, I might just have to spend $20 to get into the convention and take pictures of all the crazed Twi-hards (for blogging purposes only, of course).

And O.M.G., there's a Vampire Ball and costume competition! This just keeps getting better.

The good news is that by some miraculous circumstance, the actors coming to Parsippany's convention are actually the only ones who I felt were well-cast. No "stuttering and long pauses are how my character talks" Kristen Stewart. No "skinny kid who smokes, drinks, eats fish and chips, has never been to the gym, and hunches his shoulders, yet somehow is a hunky strong vampire" Robert Pattinson. Thank G-d. That would only bring pandemonium of the very bad sort.

College Kids, Reading and Activism

Sunday's Washington Post featured an article by Ron Charles about the reading interests (or lack there of) of college students. The author is troubled that the reading selections of today's college students aren't the revolutionary, politically charged, introspective reads of yesteryear. Instead, Charles laments, "Here we have a generation of young adults away from home for the first time, free to enjoy the most experimental period of their lives, yet they're choosing books like 13-year-old girls -- or their parents." Chief on a current college student's reading list: Twilight.

Yes, it's true, college students are reading Twilight. So are middle schoolers, high schoolers, young professionals, stay-at-home-moms, businessmen and grandparents. Everyone is reading Twilight. It's a phenomenon like Harry Potter where readership is not defined by a certain demographic. And it's one book for Pete's sake! (Okay, okay, it's four books - but it's not as though identifying as a person who has read Twilight means something other than that you are alive in the year 2009). Let's not make it out to be more than it is.

So yeah, college students are reading Twilight, and I guess it's the end of the world because this is evidently an indication that instead of a desire to change the world, it means they want to revert to the safety of childhood. I don't think anyone is going to argue that college students aren't as mature and independent as they once were. Extended adolescence - adultescence, if you will - is a fact of our twenty-first century that is plainly evident in the over-involvement of parents in their adult children's lives*, the "boomerang" generation, and the ever-increasing age at which young people are marrying and having children. To say that today's twenty-somethings aren't growing up and moving on to full-fledged adulthood as fast as they used to isn't a shock. But to demean their activism and engagement in critical thought just because they aren't reading Barthelme (who, by the way, I had too look up!), is foolish.

These same students are the motivated young people who propelled our nation to elect its first African-American president just a few short months ago. These same students are applying in droves (over 25,000 applications this year alone) to teach for two years in low-income communities through Teach For America. Yes, they drink a lot and aside from Twilight the other book that most have probably read is Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - a book so repugnant that I can't understand how a movie version got an R rating instead of NC-17 or worse (if there even is worse). But they read a lot of textbooks and classics in all of their college coursework, and college is only getting more and more academically rigorous and it's more important than ever to be a well-rounded student who achieves inside and outside the classroom.

Give the kids a break. As noted in a previous post, it's not like publishers, booksellers or libraries are making any effort to appeal to the college set. So leave them be. At least they're reading during their minimal free time. They have a lifetime to read.

* Last summer I worked with college students and the day before they arrived a mother called concerned that the special sheets and comforter she had shipped for her son had not yet arrived in the mail. I assured her that he could go to Target and buy another set if it didn't arrive in time. She drove 7 hours the next day with a second set of bedding, made her son's bed and left. True story.

Twilight Zone: Dakota Fanning to Star in New Moon?

She's been offered the role of Jane, but the meeting to discuss hasn't happened yet. Mock me for my interest, but this is one casting decision that I can get behind. Plus, she's already got deathly pale skin, so no need for make-up!

Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link (even if she's one of the mockers).

Twilight Zone: New Moon, Old Jacob

Teens, tweens and adults who live vicariously through Young Adult Fiction* will be pleased to learn that Taylor Lautner will be reprising his role as Jacob Black in the New Moon sequel to Twilight movie. The news was reported on Stephenie Meyer's website on Wednesday. My sincerest apologies (as a member of Team Jacob) for the delay in posting the good news.

Director Chris Weitz was originally unsure if Taylor would have the heft to pull off the role, (since New Moon sees Jacob grow to over 6 feet of strapping muscle man/wolf), and Twi-hards were sent into a panicked frenzy. Happily, he decided to keep him on, and peace has returned to the land. I'm guessing Taylor's going to need to hit the gym as part of his contract and can only hope he'll bring skinny scrawny Robert Pattinson along with him.

*With small amounts of personal shame I count myself among these folks, noting that I fully recognize the absence of literary value and lack of editing evident in the Twilight series. I am not obsessed. Rather, I have a healthy appreciation for the appeal of the series. And yes, there was that one time that I said I'd leave my husband for Edward Cullen, but I was confused and awash in overly long gushy descriptions of his fabulousness.

Twilight Zone: What's That Smell?

Tsk tsk, Twilight. Somebody's gonna be in trouble!

Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.