Stephenie Meyer by Ryan Burton

Bibliographic Information:
Burton, R. (2009). Stephenie Meyer. United States: Bluewater Productions.
ISBN# 9781427641847

Plot Summary:
This book is a graphic novel. A vampire tells the story of Stephenie Meyer. He starts with her birth in 1973 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona when she was four years old. Stephenie was a good student. The other students were different, or the vampire suggests, perhaps Stephenie was different. Her grades were good enough that she was a National Merit Scholar recipient. She went on to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Stephenie majored in English with an emphasis in literature. The vampire narrator takes a break at this point to eat a spider. While at BYU she met her future husband, Christian, again. They had previously met as children, but didn’t have much to do with each other. Stephenie and Christian married and eventually had three children. The vampire tells us that Stephenie had everything she had everything that was important to her: Her faith, her family, and her enjoyment of writing and drawing. She also had her dreams. In June 2003 she had an especially memorable dream. Not intending to write a story, she did write down the dream to see where it led. This story was set in Forks, Washington and was entitled Forks. After sending out feelers, finally someone decided to publish her work after changing its title from Forks to Twilight. The rest of the books ensued and vampire mania was again alive and well. The vampire narrator insists that Stephenie and everyone else should continue writing about vampires. Writing keeps the interest up and the enhanced interest keeps our vampire friend well fed. Also included is an introduction to Forks, Washington.

Critical Evaluation:
What a great way to tell a biography! The fact that the book is narrated by a vampire will surely capture many teens’ interest as vampires are very in right now. Of course this mania is in a large part due to Ms. Meyer. So this book is a fitting tribute and can easily be tied to her novels, the movie, and other vampire stories. I imagine this book never being on the shelf; it will always be checked out. The illustrations are very detailed. They are rather dark in coloring and shadowing, but this lends to the vampire theme of night, bats, and things that go bump. The text is sparse, but to the point. Less experienced readers should have little trouble understanding the text. In addition, the illustrations greatly add to the text. The text mentions the things that Stephenie has in her life: Family, faith, and her pastime. The illustrations show her three children, the Book of Mormon, and writing and drawing implements. A bibliography is included so that teens can get more information. I hope to add this book to my school library collection.

Reader's Annotation:
In graphic novel format, a vampire tells the story of Stephenie Meyer’s life.

Information about the author:
There is no information about the author, Ryan Burton, in the book. An internet search also proved to yield very little. However, the book is produced by Bluewater comics. This company produces comics, graphic novels and multimedia on a variety of subjects from classic myths to science fiction, from superheroes to Hollywood legends. They have just added the biographies to their selection.
http://bluewaterprod.com/about_us.php

Genre: Biography; graphic novel

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalking Ideas:
• If you were to have a mythical character tell your life’s story, who would you choose? Why?
• How does this book compare to a standard biography?

Reading Level/Interest Level:
This book would appeal to a wide range of students from the upper elementary level through young adult.

Challenge Issues:
Vampires; eating a spider

If the book is challenged:
• Listen calmly to the complainant.
• Ask if s/he has read the entire novel.
• Show positive reviews of the novel.
• Show the selection policy.
If the complainant still has issues with the book:
• Request that the complainant read the entire book if this has not already occurred.
• Have the complainant fill out a reconsideration form.
• Set up a reconsideration meeting.
• Provide the reconsideration meeting members with:
o Positive reviews
o Selection policy
o Reconsideration policy

Selection Process:
I found this book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. It intrigued me so I took it.

Five positive reviews listed on the back of the book