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The Next Twilight?
With the current economic crisis, the publishing industry has been shaken. Yet despite all odds, young-adult literature has not only continued to sell, it has thrived: According to the Association of American Publishers, sales of children’s YA paperbacks increased from 39.7 million copies in December 2007 to 54.4 million a year later. In total, YA paperback sales increased 6.4 percent from 2007 to 2008, and are projected to rise even further this year. “It’s one of the strongest categories in a challenging retail environment right now,” said Tina Jordan, the Association’s vice president.
Industry insiders like Paul Crichton, director of publicity at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, speculate further about the popularity of YA. First, he explains, is what he calls the “Harry Potter Effect”—middle-schoolers who started on the Harry Potter series have now matured into YA. Another possible cause is teens’ increased exposure to mature material on the Internet. “The YA market is growing up faster than in years past, because of news, blogs, and Internet content,” Crichton explains. “They’re now able to handle older material.”
Undoubtedly, Hollywood’s attention to the genre—and the film success of Harry Potter and Twilight—has helped refocus attention on the original books. Suddenly, the once ghetto-ized YA authors are earning respect and entering literature’s mainstream.
“No longer are they the farm team, ready to graduate to adult books,” said Farrin Jacobs, executive editor of HarperTeen, Harper Collins’ YA division. “Twilight really did help. The grassroots appeal of it helped the market take notice.”
“Critics haven’t been in the YA section of the bookstore for a while, and they don’t realize that it’s changed a lot,” said the teen blogger de Andrade. “I think making movies is a great way of bringing attention to YA literature.”
Advance buzz on If I Stay suggests that the book has already had a deep impact on readers of all ages. One adult YA blogger, Persnickety Snark, wrote after reading the book: “I have had a continuous stream of tears running down my cheeks for the last few hours. My house mate asked 'why do you put yourself through it?' I had to think about it, for a fraction of a second, before I answered 'because every word is worth it'.”
Feig agrees. “I haven’t been able to shut up about it,” he said of If I Stay. “I keep saying to everyone, you have to read this book. It’s so good. I think it has the potential to have great word-of-mouth the way Twilight did.” According to Feig, the If I Stay movie will be released in 2010. And if all goes according to plan, it’ll be the hottest thing since teen vampires.
Isabel Wilkinson is a Daily Beast intern who attends Columbia Journalism School. She has written for New York magazine and Women’s Wear Daily.
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I'm personally not a fan of the "Twilight" series, but to suggest that a book like this would be the next "Twilight" seems delusional at best. Seriously, are you drunk?
To be a huge run-away hit with young girls, to the point of rabid fandom, it requires the fantasy elements that the "Twilight" series has - this book has zero of that.
Not that it won't be successful, but why even compare two ridiciulous non-related treatments? Because they are both aimed at young adult audiences?
As the person above said, this is more like a Lifetime movie, not a blockbuster teen hit.
I'm glad I'm the only one who believes there is a qualitative difference between a total mind-candy fantasy about falling in love with a VAMPIRE, and a first-person narrative about a girl stuck in a coma who is trying to decide if she should die like the rest of her family or stay alive.
"Twilight" is a fairy tale - this book sounds pretty grim.
I have to say that I disagree with the comments above.
I was a high school sophomore and my youngest sister was a sixth grader when "The Lovely Bones" came out. We were both avid fans of that book, telling everyone we knew that they simply had to read it.
The subject was dark and grim, took place 25 years ago and didn't have any of the "fantasy elements that the "Twilight" series has" yet every girl I went to high school with was reading it faithfully.
I think people are underestimating this particular fan base. You make it sound as if all you need to do it shake a pretty boy and glitter in front of their faces and it'll be a sure hit. Teenagers don't need Romeo-esque vampires and romantic storylines in order to fall in love with a book and help coax it into "rabid fandom". They only need something to connect with. Teen girls are at that age when fantasy becomes more and more fleeting and the reality of humanity seeps in. While it is nice to escape to that fanciful world it is also equally intriguing to explore the other aspect of these new feelings and emotions. The words mean more. The story resonates deeper. Books like "If I Stay" and "The Lovely Bones" fit that bill quite eloquently. In the case of all three books it is only a matter of getting girls to feel "I could be that girl." They'll want to see her on screen, hear what her voice sounds like, and watch her interact with people.
If Forman can charm teenagers into becoming emotionally attached and connected with her character I am quite sure it could reach the fandom of "Twilight."
I also think that it could reach the Twilight fandom.
i loved the movie and im def looking forward to reading the book. i just wish the movie would of been longer and had more to it.
Why does everyone think that teens need an extremely romantic, glitzy story to catch their eye? I think all women/girls in general appreciate romance in their reading, but we still enjoy novels lacking romance. I am a teen, and yes I loved Twilight, but I also loved The Lovely Bones, To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984, and The Hunger Games. I wouldn't say that those books revolve around romance. I can appreciate stories with depth and despair.
I definitely don't think this will be the "next twilight", simply because there are MANY amazing books out there that probably haven't even come to half the popularity of Twilight. But still, this isn't to say that it's impossible. People who think that for a book to be a "hit" that it has to deal with fantasies and love, look at Harry Potter. You can't just decide what will and won't be a hit judged by the summary of the book, you should probably stick your nose in it and read it first.
After hearing this book review for If I Stay, on the NPR book review this morning, i see here not just a morbid personal dilemma, but a great societal struggle. What will win out, Moral obligation or American narcissism? What is fascinating is that the protagonist's fate is hers to decide! To choose to die is a highly individualist, very western decision, and would ignore the fact that one's gift of living life in the first place makes him or her indebted to the bigger scheme of things, be it god, mankind, family heritage, or community. Will Mia factor in the concerns and feelings of the living- her boyfriend, her peers- and the yet to live- The family of her own she may have one day- into her choice to live or die? Does she not have a duty to give back to the society and culture that is ultimately responsible for her well being and her accomplishments that she enjoyed previous to the accident?
I don't know if i'd ever read gloomy book like this but i hope that Mia makes the right decision, heads off to college, and inspires others with her life story.
This book completely moved me, the way I thought about life is now not the same. I definitely think that this could reach to Twilight fandom, if not more.
Besides the movie production, the director and the love story between Mia and Adam, there is no more similitaries with Twilight. If I Stay is way more emotional and realistic. I think that even if the movie is done as an Independant movie, it could go far.
The actors should be unknown (well at least for Adam and Mia) so this way, people will be able to discover new actors and not having any opinion on them.
Teens could relate to Mia"s life more then Twilight, becaise in If I Stay, the book is about family, love, music and this is things that we face in everyday of our lifes. And I also think that it will appeal an older audience because this story could remind a memory of someone who had been something through the same kind of thing in their life.
In the story, Mia has the choice, and it is not everybody who had the choice to live or die and I think that is something that needs to be see by the population.
And Mia and Adam"s relationship could relate a lot more to the relationships in real life then Twilight.
So thit is my opinion, and If I Stay is one of the best book I ever read and Gayle Forman should make a sequel of If I Stay.
Thank you.
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