Introduction: Melodrama, power, and girl culture
Powerless protagonists: melodramatic heroines of Victorian and postfeminist girlhood
Spatial invasions and melodrama's narrative structure: innocence, villainy, and vigilance in girlhood
Musical gestures: melodramatic lullabies of anxious desire
Secrets revealed, feelings moralized: girls' confessional intimacy and emotional agency
Melodrama's gothic remnants: nightmares and vampire-girl doubles
Suffering, separation, and crying: melodrama, tears, and girls' emotional empowerment
Melodrama's happily-ever-after? girls, re-reading, and resistance
Epilogue: In the post-Twilight afterglow
Appendix: Methodology: girls' online fandom.