Reel reviews for real people

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality

Genre: Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Drama

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene

Director: David Slade

Plot: As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself… As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob – knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which? (Rotten Tomatoes)

Running time: 2:04

Kate says -3 stars “I’ll just be upfront at the beginning of this review and tell you that I am a fan of the Twilight series, and therefore, not an entirely (or even somewhat) objective reviewer of this film. That being said, I think that even if you aren’t a Twilight Saga fan, you may actually enjoy watching Eclipse. This movie is the first of the three in the series that doesn’t feel low budget. Spade has done a great job with the pacing of the film, alternating between scenes of the love triangle romance, and solid action scenes with much more believable fight scenes and CGI effects. The wolves look more realistic, the vampire gravity- defying skills more believable, and even the vampire sparkle has been toned down and improved. There’s even a bit of levity and humor as the writer, actors and director seem to be making a nod at the incredible life of it’s own the Twilight Saga series has taken on. The relationships of the three main characters, Edward(Pattinson), Jacob(Lautner) and Bella(Stewart) are the real story here, and the decision Bella faces in choosing between them. Lautner, as Jacob, has come into his own in this role and does a stand-out job portraying the emotions and conflicts of his character, as do Stewart and Pattinson, as well. This is not an award winning movie (except in MTV land – think Best Kiss Award, this time between Stewart and Lautner) ) however, this universal story of love certainly has taken hold of the world, and one could argue that, in itself, is a good thing. If you are a fan of the series, you’re sure to love this one.”

Ebert says – 2 stars “The movie contains violence and death, but not really very much. For most of its languorous running time, it listens to conversations between Bella and Edward, Bella and Jacob, Edward and Jacob, and Edward and Bella and Jacob. This would play better if any of them were clever conversationalists, but their ideas are limited to simplistic renderings of their desires.” (read full review)

Kirk Honeycutt (The Hollywood Reporter) says - “It took three films, but “The Twilight Saga” finally nails just the right tone in “Eclipse,” a film that neatly balances the teenage operatic passions from Stephenie Meyer‘s novels with the movies’ supernatural trappings. Where the first film leaned heavily on camp and the second faltered through caution and slickness, “Eclipse” moves confidently into the heart of the matter — a love triangle that causes a young woman to realize choices lead to consequences that cannot be reversed.” (read full review)

Eric Snider says – “B” “Eclipse” brings the “Twilight” series into the big leagues. It still isn’t great, and there still isn’t much crossover appeal, but it’s easily the best of the three films so far, with a well-constructed story, suitable climaxes, and — at last! — a main character who occasionally thinks for herself rather than being defined by her monster boyfriends. The men who are coerced into seeing “Eclipse” with their ladyfolk will surely enjoy this one more than the last two.” (read full review)

Elizabeth Weitzman says – 3 stars (of 5) “If you adore Meyer’s characters already, you’ll be thrilled to spend more time with them. If you don’t, well, you’d just end up sitting among a bunch of sighing teens (and their moms), wondering what the fuss is about. (Director) Slade – who imports some of the darkness from his last vamp thriller, “30 Days of Night” – knows just how to reach his audience, alternating suspense and romance in carefully precise degrees. It may not be the subtlest approach, but it is effective.  Most important, Bella and Edward are allowed a wider range of emotions than we’ve seen before; as a result, Stewart and Pattinson finally appear fully comfortable in their roles (though Lautner once again proves the standout, working hard to make Bella’s decision a difficult one). The truth is, almost everyone planning to see “Eclipse” will know how things end before the opening credits even appear. So Slade and his cast can be proud that they consistently keep us involved anyway.” (read full review)

So in an effort to bring myself back up to speed with the Eclipse news and tid bits that I’ve been neglecting, I’ve been zipping here and there all over the internet gathering information. (I can think of worse things to do with a Monday afternoon…heehee.)

First of all, here’s the new official Eclipse trailer. Get ready, it’s a good one!

Also, it’s seems we have a new vampire to swoon over in Eclipse. It’s 26 year old Xavier Samuel from Adelaide, Australia, playing Riley, “right-hand vampire to Bryce Dallas Howard’s villainess, Victoria.”

Check out this story on him in Elle magazine.

http://www.elle.com/Pop-Culture/Celebrity-Spotlight/Bloody-Brilliant-The-Next-Twilight-Heartthrob

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Also, you may want to take a look at another Eclipse trailer (the first one).

And one more tid bit for today…

Twilight Saga author, Stephenie Meyer, has written another book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, available on June 5, 2010 (hmmm…that would be the birthday of yours truly. I guess I know what I’ll be asking for.)

Little Brown Books press release

Order The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner from Amazon here.

Well, that’s enough Twilight Saga info for one day. Now that I’ve been re-bitten (bad pun intended, sorry, couldn’t help myself) with the Twilight bug, you can be sure there will be more to come.

Other Twilight stories

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break.

*Just leave a comment on this post, or any other post for that matter, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

ChaCha.

So what did you come up with? Visions of the 40s and 50s? Cuba? Latin music? Something like this video below? (By the way, the intro commercial for men’s dancing shoes is worth the price of admission )

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Now back to our word association. If the ChaCha made you think of this dance, you’d be correct… historically speaking, anyway.

While ChaCha could bring the dance to mind, this is 2010.

Let me introduce you to the new ChaCha – where information is as close as your cellphone. Think of it as a search engine for your computer, without having to be at your computer. Say you are at the store, wondering if the cantaloupes are ripe. Grab your cell phone, text your question to ChaCha (242-242) and wait for an answer to be texted back. Want to know what the population of Zimbabwe is? Do the ChaCha. Need a joke to impress your friends? ChaCha.

Here’s a quick look at a few of the questions recently answered on ChaCha’s website:

What is 20 percent of 29,450

Who invented the air tube delivering at banks

Who was the supreme court chief justice selected by president Nixon in 1969

How do you say “me my uncle and my aunt went to kentucky to pick up my cousin on friday” in spanish

Does Jennette McCurdy have a nice butt

What is the conductivity level of titanium

How much do leopard geckos cost

Where at in the bible does it say about worship with the sounds of string instruments, the high sounding cymbals and the high trumpet

What is the request line number for 95.7 jamz out of Birmingham

Would raven from teen titans win or Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10 alien force

What is the perfect “goodbye” present

How much are tickets to the “PBR Invitational”, in Fort Smith AR, on 04/17/10

As you can see, the questions are limited only to one’s imagination, or need for information. What’s really bizarre is that there are real people who make it their job to supply the answers. There are even category shortcuts, referred to as Thmbsvrs. By texting a key word like Phob, Dum, Doh, or NTB, or TW. you can learn about fake or real phobias, dumb laws, funny questions asked of the service, or get a brand name, or Twilight information.

According to my daughter and her friends, ChaCha has already become the go-to source for sports scores, music information and homework (not sure I like where that one’s going…).

I’d like to say I’ve known about ChaCha as long as they have. But that would be a big fat lie. In fact, I have to wonder if I’m the last person to know about this. To tell you the truth, as much as I’d like to pretend I’m up on all that is tech-savvy and information-driven, in this age of information, the younger generation seems to be well ahead of the curve, filling their minds to the point of overload with information, whether useful or otherwise.

But I feel confident in saying I still hold the edge. I remember when ChaCha was a dance. Heck, I even know how to do the ChaCha. I suspect my daughter and her friends would have to learn it by texting the other ChaCha.

-Liz

*As always, just leave a comment on this post, or any other post for that matter, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!

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Here’s the trailer for…

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Just seeing this makes me have goose bumps.

Check out our other Twilight Saga stories in our

Twilight Zone

What is this new emergency, you ask? An Eggo shortage.

That’s right. An Eggo shortage. (Is nothing sacred?)

To give you an idea of what a big deal this is, even the Twilight folks are in a panic, according to CNNmoney.com:

There was even an exchange between lovers of the Twilight vampire movie series. Thinking about another kind of bite, Twitter fanpage editors comforted each other via the social media site.

User @cullenluv sent a message of support: “We’re outta Eggos here, too!! It’s a national tragedy!!”

User @KStew411, a page devoted to Twilight star Kristen Stewart, tweeted on Tuesday: “I am despondent. DESPONDENT. My 4 food groups are: tacos, skittles, pop, and eggos!”

Time to pull out my best imitation of Prissy from Gone With the Wind:

“Miss Scahlet! Miss Scahlet! Whatta we gonna DOOOO?!?!”

Well, tomorrow’s another day (fiddle-dee-dee). So, Prissy, we’re gonna scramble up some eggs, maybe make some French toast, pour some milk on a bowl of cereal. Worse-case scenario, we’ll pull out the ol’ waffle iron and a package of Bisquick and make our own (and believe it or not, I actually own a waffle iron).

Let the world panic if they must. I’ve got bigger problems. Namely trying to figure out who to coax into submitting a craft or three for this week’s Craftdown to Christmas. Clearly, I’ll have no time for Eggos.

-Liz

Reel reviews for real people

Rating: PG 13 for some violence and action

Genre: Drama

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Billy Burke, Jamie Campbell Bowers, Michael Sheen, Cameron Bright, Graham Greene

Plot: The supernatural tale of starcrossed lovers continues as the Cullen family flees Forks in order to protect Bella (Kristen Stewart), and the heartbroken high-school senior discovers that vampires… The supernatural tale of starcrossed lovers continues as the Cullen family flees Forks in order to protect Bella (Kristen Stewart), and the heartbroken high-school senior discovers that vampires aren’t the only creatures in town. Realizing that Bella will never be safe as long as he’s around, Edward (Robert Pattinson) makes the difficult decision to leave his beloved behind shortly after her 18th birthday. Reeling from her loss, Bella embraces self-destruction after being comforted by Edward’s image during a moment of mortal peril. But as heavy-hearted as Bella may be, her old friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) distracts her from her sorrows by helping her renovate a weather-beaten motorbike. When Bella encounters a former adversary with a sizable grudge, she’s rescued from harm at the last second by pack of enormous, ferocious wolves. Subsequently delving into the history of the Quileutes, Bella discovers the secrets of Jacob’s tribe while looking forward to a reunion with Edward that may have deadly consequences.

Director: Chris Weitz

Running Time: 2:10

Kate says: 3 stars “I will just tell you right from the get go here, this is not an objective review…this is a review from a Twilight saga fan. A fan who has read the entire Stephenie Meyer series more times than I’ll care to admit in public. And let me tell you, this one is better than Twilight.  There won’t be any film making awards given out for this Chris Weitz directed film, but New Moon does give it’s fans exactly what they are looking for – a visual version of the book that they love so much. If you know the movie Twilight well, and you know the New Moon book well, you know every detail of what the characters are thinking and the motivation for why they do what they do. This gives the movie a depth that the non-Twilight lover will undoubtedly miss.  The New Moon the movie is nowhere the experience of reading the book, but in my world, I’ve never met a movie I liked better than the book.”

Ebert says: 1 star “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” takes the tepid achievement of “Twilight” (1988), guts it, and leaves it for undead. The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. Never have teenagers been in greater need of a jump-start. Granted some of them are more than 100 years old, but still: their charisma is by Madame Tussaud.” (read full review)

NY Daily News (Elisabeth Weitzman): 3 stars (of 5) “If you’ve come to this movie looking for fancy filmmaking or an original voice (other than Meyer’s), well, Weitz frankly doesn’t care. You’re not his audience” (read full review)

Roger Moore (Orlando Sentinel): 2 1/2 stars “The Twilight soap opera continues with a lighter, goofier and far less erotically charged sequel, New Moon, a movie directed by a man and not a woman…At least this time the movie is more polished, the brawls (save for the silly wolves) more believable. Most of the laughs are intentional and we get the sense that even though a guy directed it, he wants the mostly-female fanbase to revel in the overheated romance, the blood-enforced chastity and the sacrifices this toothy Romeo and Juliet tale serves up.” (read full review)

Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips) 3 stars: “Why does “New Moon” basically work, even with its grave self-seriousness? A few reasons. Weitz lets the material breathe, and his actors interact. The film does not try to eat you alive. Kristen Stewart  and Robert Pattinson are interesting to watch…” (read full review)

Net Buzz Examiner Marci Stone: “The second movie in the Twilight series, New Moon was released at midnight on Friday 11/20/2009 and the reviews are out. The internet buzz on this movie is the hottest search of the day. Many Twilight fan movie goers were in line yesterday to see the midnight showing of the movie and they just can’t get enough.

Fandango New Moon movie description: In the second installment of Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenally successful TWILIGHT series, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of—only to find herself in greater peril than ever before. With more of the passion, action and suspense that made TWILIGHT a worldwide phenomenon, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON is a spellbinding follow-up to the box office hit.

USA Today: Werewolves inject life into ‘New Moon’ but the sequel still sputters – The werewolves have it all over the blood-suckers in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. When these oversize, hirsute creatures burst onto the screen, they inject life into a rather inert story. Once Jacob and his pals morph into teenage werewolves, the pace picks up. Then it dials down again when Bella, Edward and Edward’s sister Alice (Ashley Greene) venture to the Italian hilltop town of Volterra. The intended suspense when they are confronted by evil vampire rulers never pans out. Michael Sheen, the crimson-eyed Aro, plays the character with more high-pitched giddiness than menace. Daokta Fanning has a small role as the innocent-looking Jane, who calmly tortures Edward with her mind. The lovelorn Bella has little to recommend her as a heroine. She’s sullen, self-absorbed and stubborn. That such a bland and passive character elicits the amorous devotion of both Edward and Jacob is rather mystifying. Almost as incomprehensible is the huge appeal of this series, beyond the obvious timeworn fascination with vampires and werewolves.

Rotten Tomatoes says: 83%

Other movie reviews by Kate

Psst! I have a secret for you, and I’ll tell you what it is if you promise not to hate me for it.  I’ve just come home from seeing New Moon.  It’s a perk of being a movie reviewer.  Let me tell you, if you’re a Twilight fan, I think you’ll be pleased with Twilight Saga: New Moon.

(read Kate’s review of Twilight Saga: New Moon)

But to help you while away the time until then, I’ve put together a New Moon post for you to keep you entertained.  We’ve got the video of the Oprah interview, the answer to the Oprah teaser about a fifth Twilight book which was never answered on the show and  Stephenie Meyer answering fan questions.  Hope you enjoy!

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga, made a rare appearance on Oprah last week.  Here’s what she said on her website pre-interview.

You know I’ve been doing the hermit thing this last year, in so far as media is concerned, and I’m not changing that now, but I am making an exception. I’m doing this for a good reason: I am so pleased and amazed and thrilled with what Chris Weitz has done with New Moon that I want to talk about it, and to show my support for him. And since I’m only doing one interview, better make it big. Really big. So….I will be on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, November 13th.”

During the show, Oprah teased, “Coming up, will there be a fifth book in the Twilight saga? Stephenie answers that later.”

Only she didn’t answer it, because Winfrey didn’t ask, because of time constraints.  A deluge on complaints flooded the show.  Here’s their response…

“Reps for the show said that sometimes Winfrey doesn’t get to every question on live television, but good on Oprah’s folks for following up with Meyer backstage after the show.

When pressed about the possibility of a fifth “Twilight” book, Meyer gave a lengthy, yet vague answer.

“I can’t answer it. The way I write, it’s what makes me happy. Like, I can’t write when people are looking over my shoulder,” Meyer said.

She also admitted to some vampire fatigue. “I am a little burned out on vampires right now,” she said. “I think I need a little break. I might go spend some time with my aliens. I might do something completely different. I’ve got to cleanse the palate. I may come back to it. I did envision it as a longer series. But I wrapped ‘Breaking Dawn’ in a way that I felt satisfied with, so if that moment didn’t come, I’d be OK.”

A few days later Meyer answered some fan questions on her own website – www.stepheniemeyer.com.

“My favorite thing about Chris Weitz: everything. Sounds hyperbole-ish, but he’s really that amazing. If you follow along on some of the cast interviews you’ll hear the same thing over and over. We all adore Chris. I would have to say that my very favorite thing about Chris as a director, coming from my unique position, is his passion for being true to the source material. He really immersed himself in the Twilight world and came to the set with the feel of it already in his head. We were very much on the same page. Second thing, he listens really well—to everybody, cast and crew.

In comparing New Moon to Twilight, I would say that the biggest difference in style is that Chris is more classic while Catherine is a little more edgy and modern. I wouldn’t want both movies to be the same, though. I like seeing different interpretations. After all, no two people see the same thing when they read a novel. I enjoy seeing that visually.”

Hope this has helped you pass the long agonizing hours until midnight tonight.  You can make it!

Check out the rest of the posts in Twilight Zone

or

if worst comes to worst, just keep watching the New Moon preview over there on the right side of the page. Heehee

~Kate

with New Moon’s Laurent and Caius

This past Saturday (Nov. 14) Kate went on an adventure to the Fashion Place Mall in Salt Lake City, UT. to meet New Moon actors   Edi Gathegi (bad vampire Laurent) Jamie  Campbell Bower(Volturi vampire Caius). This was stop #14, of the 15 city New Moon Mall Tour.

Before you read any further you should probably know this…

Two weeks ago, I survived an entire the night on the cold, hard floor of Fashion Place mall just outside  the Nordstrom store, to be one of the lucky 75 people to get a pass to meet  New Moon actors Edi Gathegi and Jamie  Campbell Bower.

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Edi Gathegi - Laurent

Jamie Campbell Bower - Caius

(See Kate Goes on an Adventure: The Quest for a New Moon Mall Tour Wristband.) I know to some of you this might seem to  be on the borderline of teetering over to crazy train, but let me assure you than I am a Twilight amateur compared to the majority of  people in the line that night…and besides, I blame it all on peer pressure from my much younger, crazy and pregnant friend, Whitney.

So fast forward to this past Saturday…

With our Mall Tour passes securely around our necks, two of my daughters and I lined up with 72 other guests to wait for our chance to meet the New Moon vampires.  To say security was tight would be a gross understatement. We were checked, double-checked, briefed, recorded and numbered.  We were then relieved of our coats, purses, cameras and cell phones. I’m surprised we weren’t patted down and fingerprinted,  just to be safe.

It was at this point that I had a decision to make…ask permission for my Kate cutout to go in with me to be in the photograph and risk being told no, or sneak her in under the jean jacket I was wearing.  I chose forgiveness over permission.

We were taken one by one into a black curtained makeshift room to meet the guys and be photographed with them.  I was escorted in and we said our hello’s and shook hands (Yes, they were really cute and yes, I’ve washed!)  Anxious to not appear to be a freak, but also determined to get Kate into that photo, I cautiously pulled Kate out from underneath my jacket. I told them this was Kate and asked if she could be in the picture with us. Jamie (Caius) took Kate from me and in the thickest and most endearing British accent I’ve ever heard,  gave her the once over, laughed and animatedly said, “Kate! What’s a Kate?”  I told them about my Coffee Break website and Kate and her adventures, a great moment for me, and then  Edi (Laurent) put his arm around my shoulders and held Kate for the photo  (I know, girls, I know.) Unfortunately, you’ll have to take my word for it until next week when I can pick up the evidence.

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Next came a concert  by Anya Marina, singer of Satellite Heart from the New Moon soundtrack.

Her indie style performance was soulful, breathy and moving.

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And then a lively, animated Q & A session with the vampires.

Jamie Campbell Bower is a 20 year old English actor with a background in theater and singing. He is best known for his role as Anthony Hope in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd.  He is set to appear as Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I & II.

Of his movie career, Jamie said,

“I’m going to cry until I get another job. I want to do more movies. I feel like it’s a totally different skill set than there is to theater. It’s much more internal. I’m an extrovert, I like to gesticulate and talk loud and stuff, and the theater is easy for me. I can go up there and spread my legs and go, ‘Here I am’. Oh, don’t get that wrong. Whereas in cinema you have to be much more thoughtful, and I find that a lot more challenging.”

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Edi Gathegi is a 30 year old Kenyan-born actor who grew up in California.  He also has a theatrical background, appearing in Cyrano de Bergerac and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  He switched over to movies with roles in the 2006 film, Crank, and the 2007 film, Gone Baby Gone, this year’s My Bloody Valentine, and on the TV drama, House.

On whether New Moon the movie follows New Moon the book, Edi said,

“That’s the whole point of having Stephenie Meyer as a consultant for all the books, because you know she has final approval and final say and they’re not going to do anything to upset the fan base,” he told the audience. “You guys are the driving force behind this entire thing.”

Check out Kate’s other Adventures…

Kate Goes on an Adventure: The Quest for a New Moon Mall Tour Wristband

Kate Goes on an Adventure: Demolition Derby

Kate Goes on an Adventure: Hot Air Ballooning

Kate Goes on an Adventure: Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Week

And as always, just leave a comment on this, or any other post, to be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

Enjoy your Coffee Break ` Kate

this New Moon Trivia.

• The title New Moon is often thought to be a werewolf reference. Stephenie Meyer, however, says that is “refers to the phase of the moon opposite a full moon.  It is when the sun is on the opposite side of the moon from us and thus the bright side of the moon is not visible from the earth.  This is the darkest kind of night. New Moon is the darkest period of Bella’s life.”

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• Kristen’s eye color is really green, but she has to wear brown contacts when she plays Bella Swan.
• Kristen will earn $12 million for New Moon, which is $8 million more than she earned for Twilight.

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• After months of speculation, Taylor Lautner won the right to reprise his role as Jacob Black.  The actor’s ability to play the role was in question because the filmmakers worried that he would not be able to acquire Jacob’s physicality in time for shooting. He was given the green light after gaining approximately 30 pounds of muscle.

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• During the scene in Italy where Edward is going to come out into the sun, CGI markers were placed on Robert Pattinson to allow the computer effects team to make him sparkle in the sun post-production.

*Leave a comment on this, or any other post, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

The Premier of Twilight Saga: New Moon is less than a week away, so to help you survive the next few days we’ll be running New Moon Trivia. Enjoy!

1. Who is Elizabeth Masen?
2. What did Edward take when he left Forks?
3. Who found Bella in the forest?
4. When is Bella’s birthday?
5. What did Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper give Bella for her 18th birthday?

Answers:

1. Edward’s mother. (New Moon, page 39)
2. The CD he’d given Bella for her birthday and the photos of him from her scrapbook. (New Moon, page 83)
3. Sam Uley. (New Moon,  page 75)
4. September 13th. (New Moon, page 6)
5. A new stereo for her truck. (New Moon, page 27)