Summary/Reflection

Summary/Reflection

I have been a fan of YA Paranormal for a number of years. I enjoyed them before Twilight came out and I have been so excited by the changing publishing landscape ever since Twilight.

I was lucky that Meyer published her book the same year that I got my first position as a Teacher Librarian and happened to open a brand new middle school library at the same time. That book was my *in* with my students. I had all these young kids who came to the library looking for something to read among all the brand new books and I had made sure to get multiple copies of Twilight when I started. After a Q&A to find out what kinds of books they liked, I often found girls (and sometimes boys) who wanted to try something a little romantic with a little something else. I'd steer them to Twilight. And, without fail, they'd all tell me it was waaayyyyy too big for them to read. But I would booktalk it and beg them to try it. I usually got the books back within a day or two, not because they didn't like it, but because they couldn't stop reading it.

From that point on, the library was once again a place of discovery for those kids, even though it wasn't cool for anyone in Central Los Angeles, near Downtown LA, and in the middle of gang territory, to like any books. I even had a movie release party in November 2008 at the library complete with trivia, games, and released scenes and trailers playing on the wall. The library was packed and my principal was shocked. It was great for everyone.

So, no matter how many people downplay or mock Twilight, I will always be grateful to it for getting publishers to finally recognize the genre and begin publishing more YA Paranormal fiction. And I will always be grateful for the readers who exist today in large part because Twilight was published over a decade ago.

In doing this assignment, I got the chance to go back through my favorite titles and authors to share them here. I also was able to look at some interesting reviews and discussions of the genres. There were a number of interesting articles about the genre from authors who defended their work to a thesis that I found that went into detail about the genre and its readers. I believe that the genre may continue to last a little while longer, but that it has already started to fade slightly as newer generations of young adults are seeking different types of books to identify with.