I teach 7th grade English, and have been asked to create a list of recommended books for young girls otherwise obsessed with all things Twilight. Parents and, in some cases, the students themselves are getting tired of the obsession and would like help finding the next great thing.

I don't want to make a list of vampire books. That's not the appeal, for the most part; I think they are drawn to the romance, the adventurous situations, and the characters - strong, quirky female in weird situation, enigmatic, powerful male in difficult situation.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'd suggest Robin McKinley. Her fairytale retellings are very romantic and I think you could draw parallels between, say, someone like Bella who's trying to survive in Edward's world and Beauty trying to make her way in the world of the Beast.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jan 2, 2009, 10:07pm.

Although I am not a Twilight fan and wince a little putting them in the same sentence... I also remember being attracted to romances with strong and interesting women and enigmatic interesting men at that age!

So, a few works that have those:

Many of Robin McKinley's works (positively bite-sized after Twilight, too!), especially her Damar books, Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. The latter especially is a compelling adventure/romance that features a 'plain' heroine discovering her power and figuring out the mysterious and magical world of the hero.

It's been many a year since I read Tamora Pierce, but I remember the romances in her Alanna books being a big draw for me when I was 12 or 13.

I was also a fan of Lessa and F'lar in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series.

Most of these are far heavier on plot than romance compared to Twilight, but-- I also think they're better for it! They're also heavier into the fantasy, but some of your students may enjoy them.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jan 2, 2009, 9:45pm.

Oh, I also thought of Ella Enchanted and Howl's Moving Castle.

romance, the adventurous situations, and the characters - strong, quirky female in weird situation, enigmatic, powerful male in difficult situation

That screams The Mists of Avalon to me.

A series that has a lot of the same elements is L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries. It's four books, and sounds like it hits a lot of the same nerves as Twilight. I ate them up in 7th/8th grade.

I also add my voice to the Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley recommendations :)

If it's on the shelf, I will recommend Beastly by Alex Flinn. It's a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, from the Beast's point of view. I haven't read it, so I don't know if it is any good, but the Amazon.com reviews for it are positive.

It amy be hard to get a hold of , but (The Changeover), by ((Margaret Mahy)), has romance and magic, and quirky characters.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead comes to mind

My daughter just finished Vampire Academy and enjoyed it. Our library does not carry this series so we have to get it on ILL. Currently we have a request in for the second in the series but will have to wait to get the third one until the book has been in circulation six months.

Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is quite similar to Twilight, if a bit darker. A newer book is Need by Carrie Jones. I haven't had the pleasure of reading it, but it looks very similar.

Try the Tales of the Frog Princess. Its about a witch in training aqnd has romance.

Our kids have liked Wildwood Dancing and Chronicles of Faerie: The Hunter's Moon. Also try Cup of the World

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jan 4, 2009, 5:22pm.

For a great magical romance, Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

Neither of these has much romance but for strong, quirky heroines in magical situations, try Un Lun Dun by China Mieville or The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jan 4, 2009, 5:51pm.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray would be a great read for young girls who can't seem to get past Twilight. Its a series as well which as an adult I was not very fond of but I know I would have loved them when I was 12-15!

Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing are the second and third novels in the series.

I just finished Wake by Lisa McMann and came looking for this thread again. Although it's the girl who's the 'special' one in this book, it has some of the same themes and a pair of compelling and interesting characters. The romance is a touch steamier than Twilight, though. ;)

I'm directing them to the 'dark faerie' works like Wicked Lovely or Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. I think that faeries are going to be the next vampires.

I think that Goose Girl and Summers at Castle Auburn are good choices.

I recommend the Blue Blood's series by Melissa de la Cruz the kids really seem to like that and I also recomend Alex Duval, Need by Carrie Jones or Tantalize By: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jan 30, 2009, 1:00pm.

Stephanie Meyer commented that she liked the book Hunger Games on her website. I actually liked Hunger Games more than Twilight; I think that many Twilight fans would enjoy the book.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Fev 4, 2009, 3:06pm.

I would second Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith, and add Evernight by Claudia Gray and Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I would probably only recommend Sunshine to older teens, though - 15 or 16, maybe. All three of these are vampire books.

Sunshine would definitely make some parents twitchy, like Judy Blume's Forever.

I've had great success giving Twilight fans Holly Black's Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside - they have faeries, romance, danger, enigmatic male leads, and chivalrous deeds. Better writing too. :) It's already been mentioned, but Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely is in a similar vein.

Meg Cabot's Mediator series is also a hit for many of the same reasons, except swap out faeries for ghosts.

Good luck!

The list my library (www.jocolibrary.org) put together is here http://www.jocolibrary.org/upload/librar....
A few from the list:
Hawksong, Tithe, A Great and Terrible Beauty, City of Bones, Blue Bloods, Wildwood Dancing, Keturah and Death Lord, Tantalize, Elsewhere

I'd add Graceling to the list.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Fev 13, 2009, 11:52am.

I just finished reading Evernight, and I definitely second it.

Message #20
I have Hunger Games on my TBR pile. Sounds like I'll enjoy it.

i don't see it mentioned above so i'll add sunshine by robin mckinley as well...amazing book, better for older "twilighters" say 16+ since there's a little more sexuality in it...

I read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. It's consider sci-fi but it has romance in it. I also like Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

Vampirates... by Justin Somper... covers the adventures of twin siblings, a brother and sister.

What about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy -- The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass? The heroine, Lyra, is definitely quirky and strong, there's some romance and LOTS of thought provoking issues as well as adventure and a coming of age story. If your area is religiously conservative it might not go over so well. But then again neither would vampire books, right?

People here seem to like The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine. For the fang-hungry and not as particular set: Also the Dead Is series by Marlene Perez. Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley has been a popular title here, as has the graphic novel Dead High Yearbook (but the latter is kind of a slasher and won't grab everyone, especially the ones who want romance). Also try Eternal (touchstone is wrong, darn it) by Cynthia Leitich Smith. There's the Vampire Knight manga series for those willing to go that way. Vampire Kisses series works, too-- I think those are by Ellen Schrieber. P.C. Cast writes the House of Night series. Did someone already mention Richelle Mead? Lili St. Crow has at least one. I agree about Libba Bray as being a good choice for Twilight fans (and personally think they're higher-quality pieces of work), Vampire Academy, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Melissa de la Cruz, and the Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith.

Oh, and there are several Twilight companions of various sorts-- a companion to the books and a director's movie companion, that I know of. I don't know those titles; I mostly know the fiction. Don't leave those companions out for the hard-core fans. I wonder if there's other non-fiction that could be enticing?

Sorry for the long list. I work at a little library, and the vampire craze here has been so overwhelming that all of these books have been on hold forever, and we can reel all the titles off in our sleep. We have one girl who will read nothing BUT vampires! I know I'm missing some of the newer stuff in our catalog, but I'm too lazy to search it on my lunch break.

We joke that, ten years from now, someone is going to look around and ask why we have nothing but vampire books in YA from this period. Is anyone else with a small budget finding it hard to balance buying what's popular-vampires- with a little variety? We really don't want to end up with a period down the road where these aren't popular anyone but they're all that we have to show for a year or two's collection.

And Twilight (& spawn) continues to be on hold. It's never come off hold since it was released. Amazing.

i loved this book. (Beastly) I posted my review on facebook for my students and it checked out five times in four weeks. They loved it.

The Morganville vampire books are much better for the middle schooler set than Twilight in my opinion. The main heroine is super smart (near genius) and she gets herself out of her jams...doens't usually need any boy to come rescue her. I love them.

Also I just read "Wings" by Aprilyn Pike and it was one of the most beautiful stories I have read all year. Check that one on Amazon.com reviews as well. Very positive. No vampires, but some 'supernatural' elements.

Another supernatural with some love series that might work is the Meg Cabot Mediator series.

What I find interesting are the adults coming up to me asking for ideas of what to read after they've finished Twilight, etc. I have lots to offer them -- I just get a kick out the fact that they're reading the Twilight books. And I really love the younger readers who ask me if I've heard of Twilight and then are amazed (I hope, happily) that I've read the books more than once, and seen the movie twice! :)

Even better.. I work for the library for the blind in Texas and it usually takes us 6 months to a year to get a book recorded. I had a patron call concerned about transferring her service to another state because she would lose her place in line to read New Moon and I had another patron in the request line for New Moon who insisted I tell her what was going on in the series because she thought it would be too long before she got her hands on the audiobook. She would rather know what's going on and have spoilers than wait her turn to read the book. We ended up having an Edward vs. Jacob conversation that amused my coworkers. Both patrons were 65 +.

(We like everywhere else have a line for the books in this series!! Added to the fact that we don't even have book 3 and 4 in the series yet, the lines is very long for those titles.)

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jul 14, 2009, 5:26pm.

>37

Now I'm very intrigued. How is a recorded book (for the blind) different from an audiobook? Or are there just not audiobooks available for that titles?

Suicide.

38.. for copyright purposes the National Library Service for the Blind does not (typically) use the commerically produced audiobooks. Sometimes our books are recorded by volunteers, I think there is a small staff and some states use criminals to assist with recording books. In addition, our books are recorded at a different speed and are four tracks (again copyright and space issues).

We are still using cassettes, but are bypassing CDs and going with a digital format for our books. The books will still look like cassette cartridges because the packaging will be easier to use for our patrons than a traditional flashdrive, but the books will be saved / recorded on a flashdrive. (hopefully we'll have these out starting in September, but there are 200,000 digital machines on order and 7 million people in the country that use the program)

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jul 15, 2009, 12:51pm.

>40

Very interesting. thanks!

Someone already sugested Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier, and I say: ANYTHING by this author is an excellent sugestion, it's not because I love her to death, but because her work is impecable, her main characters are often young ladies(13, 14, 15, 16...) with amazing minds, personalities, inner strength and so on and so on, they always have hard challenges to go through and you can always count on a great love story to go with it... a good way to start is with the first and best, BEST, of her books, Daughter of The Forest*sighs*.
This lady has quite a few books now, so the kids can get crazy on Juliet for a while:)

Now, if you want more vampires (Juliet Marillier has just one book with a vampire and it's the one mencioned before - Wildwood Dancing) I have to say Sunshine by Robin McKinley - I think someone already sugested it - I read it just a few days ago, it's amazing work, there's the heroine, a human girl, and this misterious green eyeded vampire who will not harm her...it's very funny too;)

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Out 1, 2009, 4:31pm.

Usually MaryJanice Davidson's Undead and... series is the first place I think to refer Twilight fans - at least, the older ones (there's a little more sexual content, though I figure the bloody content of Breaking Dawn about balances that?).

Although to be honest, my instinctive reaction is "anything BUT Twilight!!"...... yeah, I have major issues with the content of the series, but let's not go into that. (I don't want to offend fans, and my opinions on this are very decided.)

If it's the vampire/romance combination they go for, MJD is my first resort. If it's the supernatural/magical in general, Tamora Pierce and Diane Duane.

Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jul 18, 2009, 2:37am.

Until the Twilight fans in my family arranged a day trip the Forks area (Twilight's home) in 2008 I didn't know much about the books, although my college-student daughter had been to a Stephenie Meyer book signing. That trip opened my eyes to the whole Twilight phenomenon and the people of all ages who flock to Forks to visit see Bella's hometown. I created a traveling photo display for the library where I work in California. The display shows most of the important Forks-area locations (NOT the movie locations). A Stephenie/Bella Recommeded Reading List, map of Forks, and other handouts accompany the display. The display visited all of our branches last year, has since then been to two neighboring counties, and may be going on to other places. Our website also has a section devoted to the photo display (http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Dire...). The Recommended Reading List and the Twilight Readalikes lists are there, and so is a story of out trip to Forks. The kids love the photo display, and they do take the handouts.

I would highly recommend Luthiel's Song: Dreams of the Ringed Vale. A wonderful story. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

First Summer's Eve has come and all elves celebrate as the black moon's shadow fades from the world. It is also Luthiel's fifteenth birthday.

With it come two extraordinary and dangerous surprises: a Wyrd Stone, its silvery heart a window into a world of dreams and nightmares, and a Blade Dancer, dreaded protector of the Faelands, who bears a dark message.

Instead of celebration, Luthiel is given a terrible choice: if she does nothing, someone she loves deeply will die. Or, to save a life, she can break the most perilous law of the Faelands and venture alone to the Vale of Mists.

If she chooses the journey, she must race Othalas -- eldest and most feared of all the werewolves -- past great black spiders who weave webs out of nightmares, through glittering mists with the power to reshape flesh, and at last into death by the teeth of the dark and ancient Vyrl, who feed on the blood of elves.

Either choice will bring death -- unless Luthiel can find the secret in her remarkable Stone, a secret that even the nightmares fear.

'Salem's Lot and Cycle of the Werewolf

Laurell K. Hamilton's entire catalogue.

I recently started a new one, that I have not finished that seems promising called Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge.

These are all pretty much outside the YA age category, but if middle schoolers aren't ready to leave the safe little world of Juvenile and YA yet, they never will be ready.

I know you said you weren't looking for more vampire books, but I think The Southern Vampire Series (by Charlaine Harris) is fantastic. It has romance, mystery, and exciting situations in general. Very funny too!