Granard Middle School seventh grade students are among many teenagers who have become big fans of the "Twilight" book series. Kim Threadgill wasn't exactly thrilled when friends urged her to read the vampire romance "Twilight."

An avid reader, the Granard Middle School seventh grade teacher initially balked at picking up a book that appeared to be a horror novel. Her adult friends continued to rave about American author Stephenie Meyers' novel "Twilight" and its tale of forbidden love between a teenage vampire and high school girl Bella Swan.

"When I first heard about it, I didn't really care about reading it because it was about vampires," Threadgill said. "Once I started to read Twilight, I could hardly put it down. I read the four books in the series in a week and a half."

The first book "Twilight" was published in 2005. Meyer has since expanded the young adult series by writing three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008.)

The Twilight books have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 37 different languages.

Granard Middle School students are among a large audience of teen-aged students who have helped make Meyer's "Twilight" series the most popular books since the Harry Potter phenomena. A movie version of "Twilight" raked in $70.6 million when it opened last weekend.

Catherine Hardwick's film "Twilight" was the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie by a female director, easily beating the previous record of $41.1 million set by Mimi Leder's "Deep Impact" in 1998.

Copies of the "Twilight" book series are hard to find in the Cherokee County Public Library.

The four copies in the Gaffney branch are all checked out, library business manager Penny Dechant said. There are 10 local residents who have placed the book on reserve, waiting to read the vampire romance novel as soon as it is returned to the library.

"The books in the 'Twilight' series are most definitely in demand," Dechant said. "It's probably as popular as Harry Potter."