Books are good or bad depending on how you read them

Erinel: Mom, one of my friends says that "Twilight" is a really bad book, and that a Mormon writer should have known better.

Mother: You've read it — what do you think?

E: I really liked it. And it wasn't bad — there were no bad words and nobody slept with anybody.

M: Is that all it takes for a novel not to be bad? Nobody swears, everybody keeps their clothes on?

E: It's a start, isn't it?

M: Why does your friend say that "Twilight" is bad?

E: Her parents say that vampires are evil.

M: Ouch. So they believe in vampires? I'll bet they just hated "Harry Potter."

E: I don't believe in vampires, and anyway, Edward is a good vampire.

M: Because he sucks people's blood without swearing?

E: He's tempted by blood but he doesn't do it. He controls himself.

M: So he's a good vampire.

E: Yes! And he loves Bella and he protects her from the bad vampires.

M: No swearing, no sex, vampires aren't real, and even if they were, Edward is a good one.

E: Exactly!

M: So your friend is wrong.

E: Completely wrong.

M: Then why does her opinion bother you so much?

E: It doesn't bother me! I don't care what she thinks! … Don't give me that look, Mom.

M: Sorry. My face just goes like that.

E: All right, it does bother me, but I don't know why it should.

M: It's good to think about the moral value of the things you read. Especially the stories that you really care about, because aren't they likely to be the ones that influence you the most?

E: And they don't sleep together or anything.

M: I think I remember Bella letting Edward stay in her bedroom and concealing it from her father. Do you think that's a good idea?

E: But he doesn't hurt her!

M: You think it doesn't hurt teenagers to lie to their parents, breaking their trust, so their parents can't stop them from doing incredibly dangerous things?