That quote about Harry Potter and Twilight got me thinking, and I’ve decided one thing for sure: neither my children nor my students will ever have Twilight read to them by me, nor will it be tolerated/ allowed in my home or classroom. (The decision to read Harry Potter to my class every year, and to my children almost as often, was made a long time ago.)
I will admit that I haven’t read any of the Twilight books or watched the movies, so one could potentially argue that I’m in no position to judge. But I’m gonna go ahead and trust the observations I’ve made and the opinions and details I’ve heard, and stay well away from this apparently low-quality, low-substance, seemingly inappropriate, somewhat absurd, excessively celebrated teenage romance novel. I get the feeling I won’t be missing out on much.
The Harry Potter series, on the other hand, is one I have read several times, and will continue to read (aloud and on my own) for many many years to come. And by that, I of course mean my whole life. I never get sick of them! The rich character development, the epic and clever plot, the very fine writing, the completely new and believable world, the humor, and the excellent lessons taught are all reasons why I think every kid (and adult) should read these books.
Oh, and speaking of characters, let’s talk about that for just a moment.
To tell you the truth, I relate very little to vampires and werewolves, but maybe it’s only me. I’m kind of into a slew of awesome people of all ages and stages, who have depth and character.
“I prefer Harry Potter because the idea is magic or wizard, and it’s kind of everybody could have fun. But Twilight it kind of love story, you know, Edward, he’s so good and he’s so handsome. I heard that most guys are like “Ew Yuck! Stop it!” Harry Potter is everybody have fun. In other words, we can have a fun conversations with anybody, like parents or guy friends or younger friends. Twilight we just have fun during girl time. I think it’s kind of awkward to talk with parents, like “Did you see Twilight? Yes…” The movie, the Twilight movie is kind of like more… you know. I just think, especially Harry Potter series one, is more light. Getting darker with Voldermort later on, but everyone can have more fun. Twilight is like Harry Potter 7 or 6 because it’s really like, like Bella, Bella, Bella.” -the very beautiful and intelligent Kyoko Hasegawa