New Moon

New Moon is a young adult fantasy-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is Meyer's second novel in the Twilight Series. This book, unlike the previous entry, is about losing true love. It was originally published in hardcover in 2006.

Critical Reception
Review site, DearAuthor.com complained that, "[Stephenie Meyer portrays Bella], either intentionally or not, as a selfish user who seemed to only be able to exist with the help of a man in her life." and rated New Moon a B-. AvidBookReader.com rated New Moon a C+ and said that, "The protagonist and narrator, Bella, happens to be the weakest character in the story and the most annoying... I didn’t really care for the teenage angst...[and] The thread with the werewolves was a bit uneven." Other critics at, Teenreads.com said, "In the middle, the story sometimes drags, and readers may long for the vampires' return. The events of New Moon, though, will leave Meyer's many fans breathless for the sequel, as Bella finally understands everything that will be at stake if she makes the ultimate choice to give up her humanity and live, like the vampires, forever."

Plot summary
In the beginning of the book, Bella is very upset that it is her birthday. Much to her dismay, the Cullen family throws her a birthday party. She then receives a present from Alice and Edward where she gets a paper cut and Jasper attacks her, but is held back by the other Cullens.

After accidentally smashing Bella into a mess of crystal that cuts deeply into her hand, Edward leaves the small town of Forks in an attempt to keep Bella safe from a world of vampires. Bella enters a deep depression, becoming a zombie with no friends and no life. She seeks comfort with Jacob Black, an old family friend who clears the haze of Bella's pain.

Jacob soon finds out that he is a werewolf, a secret that had always been in his family's genetics but revealed itself only when the Cullens, the werewolves' natural enemies, return to Forks. It is a secret he tries desperately to keep from Bella at first, but he eventually reveals as much as he can without betraying his clan. Bella and Jacob spend more and more time together, and Bella soon discovers that the rush of adrenaline present when she places herself in dangerous situations stimulates a hallucination of Edward's voice, telling her to get back home, to safety.

Bella begins doing dangerous things, such as motorcycle riding, to keep Edward's voice with her. Cliff-jumping, a recreational activity participated in by Jacob's friends in his hometown of La Push, is one way she seeks consolation. However, Bella becomes impatient and refuses to wait for Jacob to jump safely. She falls into a riptide in the water, but Jacob rescues her and brings her to safety.

At the same time, Alice Cullen, Edward's vampire "sister" who has visions of the future, has a vision of Bella jumping. However, werewolves are the one flaw in her ability, and she does not see Jacob rescuing Bella. Presuming Bella is dead, Alice rushes to Forks to check on Charlie, Bella's father, after his daughter's supposed death, while Edward calls her home. Jacob picks it up and informs Edward that Charlie is "at the funeral." Jacob is speaking of the funeral for a man in town (Harry Clearwater) who had a heart attack, but Edward draws the conclusion that it is Bella's funeral. Having lost the will to live, Edward flees to Italy to see the Volturi, peace-keeping vampires who would be able to kill Edward, thus granting him leave of a world without Bella.

Bella and Alice rush to Italy to stop Edward, and it is almost too late. Edward is stopped, but now all three of them are brought before the Volturi for judgment. Aro, the more exuberant of the Volturi, was very curious about Bella and her power to block Edward's mind reading. So he set up tests for her, and finds out that neither he nor Jane can affect her. Aro is very excited about this and asks if she wants to join the Volturi, but she refuses along with Edward and Alice. The Volturi say that Bella must be killed because she knows too much about vampires and could be a threat to their secrecy. The three escape, on one condition: Bella must be turned into a vampire, and soon.

When they all return to Forks, Bella wakes up to see Edward and believes she had drowned or is dreaming and starts going into hysterics. Edward tells her what he was doing before he heard about her dying, but she still believes that he is a dream. He finally manages to make her believe he is real by kissing her.He also explains that he is not leaving her again. She is happy to have him back, but he kills her mood when he says that he won't damn her soul, by turning her into a vampire. She then tells him that she is going to ask his family to vote on the matter. Everybody says yes to her being a vampire except Edward and Rosalie (who then says, "Let me explain, I dont mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister. It's just that...this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me."). Edward takes Bella home, and tells Bella he will turn her himself, if she will marry him first.

The book ends when Bella, being grounded, hasn't gone to La Push again. Jacob, thinking that Edward was keeping Bella away, dropped off the motorcycles at her house, which makes Charlie furious. When Bella and Edward come back and find this out, Jacob confronts them. Bella explains that she didn't go to see him because she was grounded, and Jacob reminds Edward that if he or any of his family bites a human, their treaty with the werewolves will be broken. Jacob is shocked when Bella reacts angrily towards this revelation, and realizes that Bella wants to become a vampire. He leaves looking hurt and angry, and Bella gets the feeling that he now counts her among his enemies. The novel ends with Bella contemplating all the problems that she has: Victoria, Jacob's mistrust, the Volturi, and the threat of a war with the werewolves.

Cover and title significance
Stephenie Meyer has stated that the flower on the cover of New Moon has no significance to the story, as she had no part in choosing its design. This is stated on her website under the "New Moon : FAQ" heading However, some fans have theries like the "flower is drooping because their love is failing" and "the white and red mean Bella is adjusting to vampire life."

The title refers to the darkest phase of the lunar cycle, indicating that New Moon is about the darkest period of Bella's life.

Awards and nominations

 * New Moon rose to the #1 position on the New York Times Bestseller List for Children's Chapter Books in its second week on the list, and remained in that spot for 11 weeks. It spent over 30 weeks in total on the list.

Film adaptation
On November 22, 2008, Summit Entertainment, the producers of the Twilight (film), officially announced that it would move forward with the production of the second installment in the saga, New Moon. This announcement came after the first film's early success at the box office. Stephenie Meyer stated that she is very happy to be able to continue to work with Summit Entertainment on the production of the saga. Of the original cast Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have already signed on for the sequel.. Summit Entertainment has started prepping for the filming of "New Moon" and announced December 8, 2008 that they would be filming "New Moon" and "Eclipse" back to back starting March 2009 with a new director. Catherine Hardwick will not be returning to direct New Moon due to time restraints. Summit's goal is to release New Moon by November 20, 2009.