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1. 

   Gypsy
   

   I had the misfortune to stumble upon one of the Harry Potter debates recently. I'm sure you've heard them: there is the "witches are evil and so therefore is anything that even mentions the term magic" religious crazies, there is the "HP isn't real literature and therefore children should never be exposed to it," the "HP is the ultimate in storytelling," and the "...if it gets kids reading" parties.

   I have no intention of getting up on my soapbox and trying my hand at this debate.

   However, the very existence of this debate makes me want to go out and finish the series. I've read the first few and they are perfectly pleasant, though nothing that I can imagine getting so worked up about in any way.

   I also want to see the movie and, being the book geek that I am, I want to read the book first. You should always read the book first!

   Anyway, that's my $0.02.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   stacey
   Princess

   I read the first few harry Potters and they are perfectly nice books, better than I expected. They have a very nice expanding view, where harry learns more about his world in each book, and so each time has a new perspective on things. It's a little odd that they are the most successful books in the world (there are so many nice books!) but they are fine fun.

   Still, if i was going to get into a fight, I'd save it for a book that didn't have so many fans. Harry Potter can take car of himself!

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   Gypsy
   

   Absolutely! It was also mentioned, in the midst of the debate, that a few schools had taken "The Giver" out of their libraries because some people deemed it inappropriate.

   "The Giver," by Lois Lowry, is amazing and the idea of any school taking the opportunity to read that book away from children is far more infuriating than whether or not Harry Potter is full of evil witches. I don't know if you've read "The Giver" or not- I read it both on my own when I was small and then again in my Children's Lit class- but it is worth reading even as an adult. Not only does the prose and subject matter blow Harry Potter away, but even to an especially avid and omnivorous reader that I was as a kid, the story was fascinating and memorable. It is like "Brave New World," but for fourth graders.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   nova
   pig whisperer

   I have to say that I only made it through a few of the HP books, and I think I sort of get the HP thing. I think they do work well for kids who aren't strong readers--I've certainly known kids who read the first a few times to gain confidence in theire reading ability, then moved on to the second. The brilliance of the first book I think is the combo of accessibility (low unique word count) and a rather charming story. For kids who haven't been able to get beyond, say, the Magic Tree House books in terms of reading ability, they suddenly feel like they're reading a "real" book. Mostly, though, those kids don't go on to read anything else, which is too bad.

   In terms of the larger culture, I think a lot of people just hadn't caught on the how good a lot of children's and YA fic is or can be. I sort of find HP pretty devoid of a larger theme/meaning but they do have a nice coming of age theme, and that does resonate with people.

   I don't think I ever read The Giver. I will have to see about that!

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   Gypsy
   

   I absolutely recommend The Giver! I do not have a copy of it, unfortunately, or I would offer to lend it to you.

   When Harry Potter first came out, Sky's little sister was just the right age for it to be all the rage in her grade. She and Sky's step-father raved about it, but my first thought on reading the very first paragraph was, "this is a complete rip-off of the first paragraph of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." (Which, by the way, it is. Honestly, read the two back-to-back.) The book improves from there, but that is still the way it begins.

   I have, since then, developed a fondness for Harry and his world but certainly it is not the best or the worst that children's literature has to offer.

   Right after that, the Eragon series came out and that, I have to say, is pretty hideous. My mom bought it for me, knowing my fondness for fantasy and children's literature, and I was horrified to learn how terrible those books are. I am a firm believer that everyone has the right to a little bit of fluff reading (Anita Blake being one of my guilty pleasures), with the hopes that they are also aspiring to higher literary goals, but even I have my limits. The worst of Eragon isn't the sloppy prose, kindergarten vocabulary or the wooden characters. The worst is that there isn't a single original thought or moment in the entire novel.

   At one point, reading along (because I have a compulsion to finish every single book I begin), I actually shouted out to Sky in the other room, "Why am I suddenly in Star Wars now?"

   Posted 1 year ago #

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