Twilight: A Novel by Stephanie Meyer

I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

Seventeen year old Bella moves to Washington and falls in love with her lab partner, Edward, a mysterious boy who turns out to be a vampire. Their courtship is interrupted when a "hunter" vampire goes after Bella and Edward and his family fight back.

I read numerous reviews prior which concluded the book was poorly written and dragged in places. With that in mind, I began reading the book. I would agree the writing is not as good as Chris Crutcher's novels. However, I found the story so compelling that I completely forgot about the writing, slow pacing, etc. I read it in one cold afternoon and closed the book wanting to read more. The author has captured that undefinable characteristic of a best seller.

Meyer, S. (2008). Twilight: A novel. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
ISBN: 0316038377
498 pages

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Ten year old Winnie Foster runs away one morning and encounters a family who has drunk from a spring giving them everlasting life. Winnie goes with the family willingly and is enchanted by the son, Jesse, who proposes she drink from the spring when she turns sixteen so they can be together forever. Meanwhile, a man approaches the family about the spring and events occur that will change Winnie's plans.

I was surprised by the ending expecting a happily ever after one. It is a magical story and left me wanting to know more about the Tuck family.

Babbitt, N. (2002). Tuck everlasting. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN: 0374480134