Here’s a little funny for you on a grey afternoon. (Well, grey in Vermont, at least.) A group of wily youth has filmed an ongoing video series called Twilight the Musical, a spoof of, well, you know — and it’s really well done. Part 1 (watch in HD for much better quality) starts off a little slowly, but revs up, and Part 2 is utterly hilarious.
I found these on Twilight Guy: A Guy Reads the Twilight Saga, one of the very slick websites started by 20-year-old new YA author Kaleb Nation. The TwilightGuy site actually boasts a blurb from Stephenie Meyer herself: "…this new site made me laugh buckets." I agree; it’s a very funny look at the book from a young man’s perspective. He’s reading the books purely for research, of course; as he says, "At least, that is my alibi."
At our store, we find more and more boys asking for the series without sheepishness or apology. It’s pretty heartening, actually. Reminds me of a sixth-grade boy in my library — one of the cool kids, to boot — shrugging off the jeers of a few buddies who saw him reading Little Women. "It’s a really good book," he said. "You’re missing out." Now, the Twilight shift probably wouldn’t have happened without the movie, and without the natural curiosity of teenage boys who want to see why their competition (Edward Cullen) is making an entire generation of girls swoon. But I like to think some things are changing.
Are there any other formerly-known-as-chick-lit books you are finding boys gravitating toward? And which ones do you wish they’d pick up?
How much do I love that sixth-grade boy reading Little Women? “
Darn, I always forget the quotation prob here. What it should have said: How much do I love the sixth-grade boy reading Little Women? *You’re missing out.* Wonder what he’s reading now?
Our friend came to visit with his family of three kids. The middle boy told me he had been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I almost laughed out loud from surprise (but quickly kept my face under control). I asked if he’d ever heard of Percy Jackson and the Olympians… nope. Note: I actually first picked up Twilight after seeing a teenage boy reading it. So, they were picking it up before the movie.
He’s the same kid who was taking a message between buildings at school and had to pass through an open courtyard in the rain. My library window overlooked the yard, and I saw him look up at the sky and grin, then take a slow happy jogging lap before continuing on his errand.
My nephew loved The Penderwicks, maybe because of Jeffrey, and because the girls are relatively rascally. Ramona Quimby works that way too… (Love the videos. How DID we kill time before YouTube??)
Anything by Laurie Halse Anderson, and anything with vampires at the high school level, is in a gender-free zone.
It’s refreshing to know that both boys and girls are starting to dismiss the chick-lit line.
Elizabeth – I’m SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU TAKING OVER as Alison heads for her well-deserved rest. It will be wonderful to hear your voice here and to keep in touch this way, bookseller-wise and writer-wise – I don’t know how you have time for it all! Thanks for the link to the musical Twilight – you can tell what side of the generation gap I’m on when the part that makes me laugh most is when the teacher says, “
[oops- that got cut off] when the teacher says “We have a policy here of not murdering your classmates….One more murder and Edward will get detention.” Sounds like my husband’s school! P.S. I meant to say welcome to Josie, too!
Here at our middle school the boys have been reading the Twilight series almost as long as the girls have. And the Scott Westerfeld books seem to be just as popular with the boys as well.