Bella and Edward...My Opinion

Okay, so now that the last of the Twilight movie has been released, can we talk about Edward and Bella's relationship?  I know how many of you love the Twilight series, and swoon over Edward, but I just want to say: REALLY?  Do you really want a boyfriend who is so controlling?  Do you understand that controlling partners can lead to abusive relationships?  I am not the only one who feels this way.  Below is taken from a blog.  I did not write it, but I do agree with it! Here is a link to the blog
http://io9.com/5413428/official-twilights-bella--edward-are-in-an-abusive-relationship

Official: Twilight’s Bella & Edward Are In An Abusive Relationship

If you've suspected that there's something unhealthy about the relationship between Bella and Edward in the phenomenally successful Twilight series, then it turns out that you're exactly right. In fact, there are fifteen examples of unhealthiness.

Livejournal user kar3ning was reminded of something after going to see New Moon recently:

    According to the National Domestic Violence hotline, these are some signs that you may be in an emotionally or physically abusive relationship.

    Does your partner:
    * Look at you or act in ways that scare you?
    Check.

    * Control what you do, who you see or talk to or where you go?
    "Stay away from the werewolves. I love you."

    * Make all of the decisions?
    Check.

    * Act like the abuse is no big deal, it's your fault, or even deny doing it?
    "If I wasn't so attracted to you, I wouldn't have to break up with you."

    * Threaten to commit suicide?
    "I just can't live without you. In fact, I'll run to Italy and try suicide by vampire if anything happens to you."

    * Threaten to kill you?
    On their first date.

    These are some more signs of an abusive relationship.
    Has your partner...
    * Tried to isolate you from family or friends.
    Bella doesn't have time for anyone else!

    * Damaged property when angry (thrown objects, punched walls, kicked doors, etc.).
    Check.

    * Pushed, slapped, bitten, kicked or choked you.
    Does tossing her through a glass table count?

    * Abandoned you in a dangerous or unfamiliar place.
    "We're breaking up. And I'm leaving you in the forest."

    * Scared you by driving recklessly.
    Check.

    * Forced you to leave your home.
    She had to run away with him to flee from the other vampires in the first movie, and she had to drop everything and run to Italy in the second.

    * Prevented you from calling police or seeking medical attention.
    Check. Even in the hospital, nothing is a big deal.

    * Views women as objects and believes in rigid gender roles.

    * Accuses you of cheating or is often jealous of your outside relationships.
    Check, wolf-boy.

According to the NDVH, "If you answered ‘yes' to even one of these questions, you may be in an abusive relationship." This list is fifteen.

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It's Connie again.  
So, Twihards, has the blog post convinced you to rethink Bella and Edward's relationship? 

Have you discovered the great audiobooks in the Youth Services Room?

Audio books are a great way to hear a good book.  Sometimes the author of the book is the one who reads the book. Or the audio book will include an author interview that might tell how the author came up with the idea for the book or some other interesting information not included in the physical book.

Here are some examples of audio books in the Young Adult collection.

Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos

Did you read the Joey Pigza books when you were younger?  This is a biography of the author, Jack Gantos, who recently won the Newbery Medal for the best book for kids for the year.

At 18 years old, Jack was doing a dead-end job on a Caribbean island, looking for adventure and a way to make money for college. When he was offered $10,000 to sail a boatload of drugs to New York, he jumped at it. He got caught, and spent a year in a federal prison . In prison, Jack discovered the library where he was able to indulge his passion for literature and continue to write the journal he'd started in childhood. Denied a diary of his own by prison regulations, he wrote his notes in a tiny hand between the lines of a Russian novel. Jack discovered that he didn't have to let one bad choice map out the course of the rest of his life. There are such things as second chances. Paroled after a year in order to go directly to college to study writing, Jack had his first children's book published within two years of being released from prison.

Bullet Point by Peter Abrahams

Wyatt never really thought much about his dad—in prison for life. But then the economy tanked, and the community cut the baseball program from Wyatt's high school. And then the coach showed  Wyatt a photograph of his dad at sixteen, looking very much like Wyatt himself. Through a series of unfortunate—or perhaps they were fortunate—events, Wyatt meets a crazy-hot girl named Greer with a criminal dad of her own. A criminal dad who is, in fact, in jail with Wyatt's own criminal dad. Greer arranges a meeting, and Wyatt's dad is nothing like the guy he's imagined—he's suave, and smart, and funny, and cool, and—Wyatt's pretty sure—innocent. So Wyatt decides to help him out. A decision that may possibly be the worst he's ever made in his life.

Matched by Ally Condie

For Cassia, nothing is left to chance--not what she will eat, the job she will have, or the man she will marry. In Matched, the Society Officials have determined all the best outcomes for all aspects of daily life; no one has the "burden" of choice. When Cassia's best friend is identified as her ideal marriage Match it confirms her belief that Society knows best.  But then she plugs in her Match microchip and a different boy’s face flashes on the screen. This unlikely mistake sets Cassia on a dangerous path to the unthinkable--rebelling against the predetermined life Society has in store for her. Matched reminds readers that freedom of choice is precious, and not without sacrifice.

The audio books for Young Adults are behind the Youth Services’ desks.  They are a little bit hidden, so be sure to ask one of the staff to help you find them if you have any trouble.

Happy listening!

Connie