New Moon

"Tonight the sky was utterly black. Perhaps there was no moon tonight—a lunar eclipse, a new moon. A new moon. I shivered, though I wasn't cold."

- Bella Swan

New Moon is a young adult fantasy-romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. It is Meyer's second novel in the Twilight series. It was originally published in hardcover in 2006.

Plot summary
In the beginning of the book, Bella Pawn is upset because it's her birthday and it will make her older than the "permanently" 17 year old Edward Cullen. Much to her dismay, the Cullen family throws her a birthday party. She, then, receives a present from Alice and Edward, a CD with Bella's lullaby on it. At the birthday party, Bella gets a paper cut when opening a present and then Jasper attacks her which then leads to her being accidentally smashed into a mess of glass that cuts deeply into her arm, Carlisle gives her stitches, and they have an interesting conversation. Jasper does not harm Bella, as the rest of the Cullens hold him back. This reminds Edward of the danger he puts Bella in because of their relationship. Edward leaves the small town of Forks, attempting to keep Bella safe from a world of vampires. He does this by telling Bella he no longer loves her. As soon as he leaves, Bella enters a deep depression that lasts for months, becoming a zombie with no friends and no life. When her father threatens to send her to live with her mother, she seeks comfort with Jacob Black, an old family friend who clears the haze of Bella's pain.

Bella soon finds out that Jacob is a werewolf, a secret that had always been in his family's genetics but reveals itself only when vampires, the werewolves' natural enemies, are around. It is a secret he is forced to keep from Bella at first, but he eventually finds a way around it, making Bella guess what he is. As soon as Bella figures it out, Jacob reveals as much as he can without betraying his pack. Bella and Jacob begin to spend more and more time together.

Bella soon discovers that rushes of adrenaline in her system yield hallucinations of Edward's voice. Desperate to hear him, she purposely places herself in dangerous situations. She rides a motorcycle and even approaches strange men in Port Angeles. She wants to try cliff-jumping, a recreational activity, participated in by Jacob's friends, but Jacob tells her it is not safe by herself and cannot find time to take her, since he and the other werewolves are busy protecting the town against Victoria. However, Bella grows tired of waiting for Jacob. She jumps and gets caught in a riptide in the water. After a few minutes, Jacob rescues her and brings her to safety. When they return to Jacob's house, they learn that Charlie's friend, Harry Clearwater, has passed away because of a heart attack.

At the same time, Alice, Edward's vampire "sister" who has visions of the future, has a vision of Bella jumping. However, werewolves are invisible to her foresight, 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. When Alice gets there, she finds Bella is alive and well. But Rosalie, not knowing the truth, called Edward to tell him that Bella is dead. Edward wants to see if it is actually true by calling Bella's home. When Edward calls, Jacob picks it up and informs Edward, who is impersonating Carlisle Cullen, that Charlie is at the funeral, referring to Harry, but Edward draws the conclusion that it is Bella's funeral. Having lost the will to exist as immortal, Edward flees to Italy to see the Volturi (peace-keeping vampires who would be able to kill Edward if he broke the vampire laws) thus granting him leave of a world without Bella.

Bella and Alice eventually figure everything out and rush to Italy to stop Edward. Bella stops Edward from stepping into the sunlight by running with all her energy to save him, he is happy to see Bella and know she is alive. She states you didn't have to feel guilty or anything, I can let you go now. He states you'll never have to let go. The reason why Edward decided to reveal himself is because Aro refused to kill him at first so he tries to break the law by an act that would have revealed the existence of vampires and invoked the wrath of the Volturi. Instead, all three of them are brought before the Volturi for judgment. Aro, the most 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 when she is a vampire, but she refuses. 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 are free to leave 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 will never leave her again. She is happy to have him back, but he upsets her 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 don't 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 that he will turn her himself if she will marry him first.

The book ends with Bella being grounded for leaving Forks without permission. Because she hadn't gone to La Push in a while, Jacob thinks that Edward was keeping Bella away, so he drops 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 before, and Jacob (who thinks Edward plans to change Bella into a vampire) 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 toward 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 red and white ruffled tulip on the cover of New Moon has no significance to the story, as she had no part in choosing its design. However, fans suggest theories like the "flower is drooping because Edward and Bella's love is failing," and "the white and red represents Bella adjusting to vampire life," while others suggest "the flower drop means that drop of blood in the beginning of New Moon that changed everything" and "like the falling petal of the flower, Bella is also falling into a deep depression."

The title refers to the darkest phase of the lunar cycle, indicating that New Moon is about the darkest period of Bella's life when she doesn't have true love. Stephenie Meyer has stated that it has absolutely nothing to do with werewolves.

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 they 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 working with Summit on the production of the saga. The majority of the original cast have signed on for the sequel, which will star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and Ashley Greene. Chris Weitz is directing the film, replacing Catherine Hardwicke who could not return to direct New Moon due to time restraints. Summit released New Moon on November 20, 2009.