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"Twilight" gatherings: Adults, teens clamor for new vampire book

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By Ragan Robinson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: July 31, 2008

BOOK BASHES

Where: Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 2405 U.S. 70, SE, Hickory
When: 7 tonight
Readers who want to buy the book can start checking in at 6 p.m. At midnight, store employees will sell "Breaking Dawn" according to your check-in number, with reserved buyers first and non-reserved buyers after that. In the meantime, the store will have a prom-like party with a red and black theme (those are the colors featured on the covers of the Stephenie Meyer books). Dress in the theme colors for a chance to be named prom king or queen. Except for the special coffee and lemon-ade drinks such as Bella's Bite and Moonlight Mocha, all of the activities are free.
Here's a breakdown
7 to 8 p.m.: Nail painting station
8 to 9:30 p.m.: Photo station
9:30 p.m. Musical Squares (like musical chairs but without chairs)
All evening: Vampire-style temporary tattoos, "Twilight" trivia table, and giveaway registration

Where: Waldenbooks, Valley Hills Mall, 1960 U.S. 70, SE, Hickory
When: 9:30 p.m.
The theme is a bachelor, bachelorette party for Edward and Bella. Everything is free except for the book. (Get a Borders Rewards card for free and get 40 percent off the $22.99 retail price.) Get free raffle tickets for a T-shirt, first place in line for the midnight sale and a stand-up of Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Activities include:
9:45 p.m.: Trivia contest
10:15 p.m. "Breaking Dawn" themed bingo
10:30 p.m.: Howling contest
11 p.m. Costume contest
All evening: Vampire makeovers
All evening: A scavenger hunt with winners getting T-shirts and paper tulips (like those on the cover of "New Moon")
All evening: Photographer there for party portraits

Where: Catawba County Library in Newton, 115 W. C St., Newton
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Stephenie Meyer fans will celebrate the release "Breaking Dawn" with a scavenger hunt for 12- to 18-year-olds. The prizes are secret. Expect refreshments. The winner of the poetry/essay contest also will be announced.

Where: Patrick Beaver Memorial Library, 375 Third St., NE, Hickory
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Seventh-graders to high school seniors can dress as their favorite character from the books or come in gothic style clothes. Participants will play twilight trivia and get refreshments. They'll also make a "gock" puppet (a gothic sock puppet). Door prizes include a copy of "Breaking Dawn."

Hickory
First J.K. Rowling's boy wizard worked his magic on America's young readers. Now Stephenie Meyer's vampire-centric books bring reading back to life for teens - and some adults - waiting ever so impatiently for the fourth and last in her series of "Twilight" books.
"It's the biggest teen book since Harry Potter," says Lidia Miller, a library services specialist for the Catawba County Library in Newton.
With its release parties and midnight sales, Meyer's "Breaking Dawn" also is a continuation of the clamor surrounding young adult fiction.
Hickory Barnes & Noble Manager Joe Ley, who has read all of the "Twilight" books, credits the groundswell in popularity to quality writing appearing on young adults shelves in recent years.
"It's dragging the teen writing into the 21st century," he says. "The fiction is good and it plays into the continuous taste for urban fantasy and science fiction."
As for its crossover appeal, he thinks young adult literature of the past would have seemed too pedantic – or too much like a lecture – for adults.
Newton Librarian Richard Griffin also thinks teen fiction might be of a higher quality than in the past. He can't think of an adult author whose fans are in line for the latest book at midnight. The trend of adults picking up teen favorites probably started with the Harry Potter series, he said.
Filmmakers picked up on the idea earlier.
"If you look at the movies that are out, that are so popular, they are actually young adult books," said Miller, pointing to 1997's "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and the more recent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
She and her 17-year-old daughter have both read the entire "Twilight" series – twice.
"I know when we get 'Breaking Dawn,' because I've got it on order, we'll be doing hand-to-hand combat for that book."
Readers depending on libraries for the Meyer's new novel might want to re-read the first three while they're waiting. They'll have time. Catawba County libraries have 40 holds on its eight cop-ies. The Patrick Beaver Memorial Library has 12 requests for its six books and two holds on its one audio book.
That's bad news for anxious fans, maybe. But in the long run it's not so terrible for lovers of the written word.
"I know the buzz is out there that the book is dead but the book is not dead," said Jan Knotts of the Patrick Beaver library. "Books are here. They're not going anywhere."