Twilight

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Exposition:  Isabella Swan (Bella) has just moved to rainy and dreary Forks, Washington to go live with her dad, Chief Charlie Swan.  She has left sunny Phoenix to let her mom, Renee, move around with her new husband who is a minor league baseball player.  Bella soon meets Edward Cullen, who is a vampire, that can read minds but is unable to read Bella's thoughts.

Conflict: Bella abhors living in cold, cloudy, and rainy weather, but meets Edward Cullen and begins to have an interest in the mysterious young man who is her lab partner in biology.  Edward Cullen is a vampire that only feeds on animal blood but is strongly attracted to Bella's scent and is extremely dangerous to her because he does not know if he is able to control his thirst around her.  Edward soon starts to fall in love with Bella, but is he able to control himself when he is around her?

Rising Action:  Edward Cullen saves Bella's life by stopping a van, with his bare hands, before she is crushed between two cars.  Bella begins to suspect that Edward is something other than human.  Edward tries to stay away from Bella but is unable to do so.  Edward and Bella begin to start dating and he takes Bella to introduce her to his "adopted" family.  On one occasion, Edward takes Bella to play baseball with his family where they encounter three wandering vampires.  One of these vampires, James, is a tracker and wants to kill Bella.

Climax:  Bella has to try and escape from Forks to save herself and her father from James who is now tracking her. She flees to Phoenix but is soon found and tricked into meeting James at her childhood ballet studio.  Edward and his family arrive just in time to save Bella from James, but not before he has had a chance to bite her, and kill him. 

Falling Action:  Edward sucks out the venom from Bella so that she will not turn into a vampire.  She is hospitalized for her injuries. 

Resolution:  Bella goes back to live in Forks and asks Edward to turn her into a vampire so that they may spend eternity together.  Edward refuses to take away her soul.  Twilight is the first book in a series and there is no real resolution to a new problem that has now arisen.

Stephenie Meyer has done an incredible job with character development.  We all begin to understand how strong-willed, clumsy, and determined Bella is.  Most of all, most female readers of the series fall in love with Edward. Stephenie Meyer also does a nice job of developing the mood.  We all can feel the teenage angst and remember what first love was all about.