With the release of the very last Harry Potter movie, kids (and grown-ups) everywhere are feeling some big-time nostalgia for the series. That works out in the library's favour, as a number of libraries have been inspired to do some Harry Potter programming. And why not? Harry Potter was a big thing. It got a lot of kids reading; it got a lot of adults reading, too. I remember riding the express bus in the morning on the way to work with a bunch of executive types in suits and skirts and heels, some of them with their noses in one Harry Potter book or another. It was pretty cool to see.
I was in my late teens when the first Harry Potter book came out; I was never swept into the hype. I haven't seen all the movies. (I liked the last one I saw, Order of the Phoenix, because they did such a great job on the fight in the Ministry.) I'd like to at some point. There are a number of younger kids in my program, some fresh out of high school, and I think about how great it would've been to grow up with the books.
(I imagine there were some downsides, too. Much like when I was a little kid and New Kids on the Block were the best thing since sliced bread, it can be a little rough when you don't like the 'in' thing. Or maybe you hit that age where the 'in' thing is the very last thing you want to do, you iconoclastic rebel youth, you.)
It was something of a phenomena, which is fun to witness. In any case, people left wondering what to read next will be happy to learn there are lists of read-alikes. From that list, Ender's Game is an interesting choice - different genre, sci-fi, but still 'little boy grows up special, saves the world'. I didn't particularly like Lev Grossman's The Magicians - there was only one character I liked even a little. Closer to the Potter age group, I'd personally recommend Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock.
And now I'm feeling nostalgic for the Secret of the Unicorn Queen books and thinking about how much more fun reading can be when it's shared in a community. Man, nobody else read Secret of the Unicorn Queen books when I was little.
What books did you read as a kid? Did you ever read the Secret of the Unicorn Queen series? What was your experience with Harry Potter books like?
I was a bit "mature" to get completely sucked in to the Harry Potter mania, and as I'm a slow reader, the thicker the books got, the less I wanted to read them! I've sort of been a sideline spectator, as all my friends read them and brought me to see the movies. I'm satisfied to have these interpretations (friends & movies) stand in for my own. As for my childhood fantasy reading, I was totally into the Black Cauldron series. http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Black_Cauldron.html?id=tbwsTtuHmX4C. The Secret of the Unicorn Queen sounds intriguing - may have to look that one up.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably remembering Secret of the Unicorn Queen with rose-coloured glasses. Actually, I'm sure of it. The Black Cauldron sounds much better!
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