Date: Fri 01-Oct-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JEFF

Quick Words:

Harry-Potter-

Full Text:

Harry Potter Casts His Spell On Newtown

(with photo)

BY JEFF WHITE

Search for his name on the Internet, and you will find thousands of sites. He

currently occupies the top three spots on The New York Times bestseller list,

has caused swelling crowds of frenzied fans to overflow book stores in England

and the US, has been translated into 28 languages, has won a mound of major

literary awards, and is captivating the minds of children and adults alike.

He is Harry Potter, and Newtown is under his spell.

"It's something I've never experienced before," says Lana Meloni, the

children's librarian at Booth Library, commenting on the Harry Potter craze.

"It sort of snuck up on us."

Four copies of each of the three Harry Potter adventures in print -- Harry

Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone , Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -- are kept at the children's

library, though according to Mrs Meloni, a child might be hard pressed to find

them. "We can't keep them on the shelves," she exclaims.

The books, penned by English author J.K. Rowling, are flooding local book

stores almost daily with patrons who have just heard about Harry. " It's been

probably in higher demand than any book since I've been there," says Diane

Cassady, manager of The Book Review in Sand Hill Plaza, who has been at the

store for five years. "We've had to order [the books] quite a few times, and [

The Sorcerer's Stone ] is still selling in hard cover even though it's

available in paperback."

But who really is this Harry Potter? He is many things to many people: wizard,

adventurer, hero. But one thing is clear, Harry Potter is single handedly

demonstrating how literature can transcend age.

A World Of Wizardry

J.K. Rowling's creation, at the start of The Sorcerer's Stone , is an infant

who successfully vexes the evil wizard Lord Voldemort (otherwise known as

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named), but not before his parents die in the struggle.

Harry goes to live with his aunt and uncle, the Dorseys, who live a mundane

and cranky existence, and who disdain Harry. He is kept in a tiny closet at

the foot of the Dorsey's stairs until age 11, when he learns of his wizard

powers via letters delivered to him by Hedwig the owl. Soon, a final letter,

brought personally by a giant named Hagrid, invites Harry to attend Hogwart's

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Leaving from platform 9‹ at King's Cross Station, Harry joins the other

students each fall who attend Hogwart's. As the Hogwart express chugs its way

out of Muggle World ( Muggles are those people, like the Dorseys, who are not

aware of and do not believe in Wizardry), Harry's life as a student-wizard is

underway.

Fantasy and reality are blended seamlessly in these novels, which is why many

feel the stories appeal so much to readers both young and old.

Hogwart's takes on all the characteristics of a typical, stuffy boarding

school, except that a young wizard's course load includes classes in

Transfiguration, Herbology and the Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The students play together, but at games such as Quidditch, the mid-air ball

game Harry soon excels in on his Nimbus Two Thousand brand broomstick.

The relationships that Rowling creates in these tales are another thing that

students across Newtown and the country are relating to. Ron and Hermione,

Harry's best friends, have the characteristics of affection and loyalty that

all best friends should have, despite the fact that they possess magical

powers.

Many of the supporting characters and places have names that almost drip from

the mouth. There's Malfoy, professors with names like McGonagall, Quirrell and

Dumbledore, and of course the Wizard's village of Hogsmeade. Even more

flavorful are the names of some of the food at Hogwart's, like Bertie Bott's

Every Flavor Beans, jelly bean-like candies in such palatable offerings as

strawberry, sardine, grass and (gulp) ear wax.

From his start at Hogwart's, Harry is seen as a prodigy, the only one who has

successfully stood up to the vile Voldemort. Much of the three novels'

adventure hinges on Harry overcoming Voldemort's various plots to kill him.

From his first encounter with the unmentionably evil wizard, Harry has a scar

in the shape of a lightening bolt on his forehead. Look around these days, and

you will see countless kids with stick-on bolts of their own.

Mesmerizing The Young

...And The Old

Sixth grader Mary Ellen Sloan had a surprising night recently, when three

different members of her family brought home three different Harry Potter

books for her to read. As of this past week, Mary Ellen had read them all, and

is anxiously awaiting the forth, which J.K. Rowling is currently writing.

"I think they're great," says Mary Ellen of the books. "I like how Harry

Potter always gets into trouble, and how he always weasels out of trouble."

"I have read the first and second book, and have started the third," explains

Mary Ellen's classmate, Michael Conroy. "I like them because [Harry] is

adventurous."

Anyone who walks into a middle school classroom and mentions Harry will see a

scene resembling Georgia Bately's sixth grade classroom, where Mary Ellen

loves to explain the various aspects of Harry's wizard world to those few

students not initiated.

"They are just enchanting books," Mrs Bately says.

Many experts, who once discounted the possibility of Harry's success due to

the books' length, are amazed by the response of young readers. But Lana

Meloni is not surprised. No matter what the length, kids like to read good

stories, she explains, and Harry certainly qualifies.

"The books have all the elements of a good story: conflict, resolution and

drama. They draw you in," Mrs Meloni says.

"It takes a while to read, but it is well written, so you don't get bored with

it," says Michael Conroy.

But perhaps what has baffled the literary establishment more is Harry's

success among adult readers, who find the stories just as irresistible as

their children do.

"I think parents are reading them to their kids and with their kids, which is

probably why adults are so interested," explains Diane Cassady.

Newtown resident Barbara Urbansky saw the books and author featured on Rosie

O'Donnell , and since cracking the spine of The Sorcerer's Stone , has been

hooked. Now she enjoys reading the stories, complete with different voices, to

her husband Joe.

The stories were perfect for the long car rides they took over this past

summer, Mrs Urbansky recalls, when she would read Harry for almost ten

straight hours out loud as they glided down the highway.

"I like the fact that it crosses the ages. There is always something in each

world which you can relate to," Mrs Urbansky says. "There is so much in the

books that you can put your feelings into."

She is not alone. Mrs Urbansky was part of the adult rush on local book stores

when the third installment, The Prisoner of Azkaban , was released September

15. Fifty thousand copies of the book were bought on its first day of

availability in the United Kingdom alone.

There are even distinct adult jackets for the hard-cover books, with more

"grown-up" illustrations than those which grace the children's versions.

As the series unfolds (J.K. Rowling is at work on the forth of seven

installments, one installment for each year Harry spends at Hogwart's), adult

enthusiasm for Harry will prove helpful in working the stories into the

everyday learning of children.

Georgia Bately already reads Harry Potter to her students during reading

period, and plans soon to read the books to her entire cluster.

When asked if she thinks her class enjoys the tales, she exclaims, "Oh my god,

there are 40 kids that are silent when I read it!" Along with reading the

tales, Mrs Bately plans to have her students write fantasy stories "in the

tradition of Harry."

Retired high school teacher and Newtown resident Liz Arneth plans to start a

Harry Potter club at Booth Library, where students can come in and read the

books, while discussing thematic issues such as loyalty, good versus evil,

right versus wrong, mercy and justice.

While movie deals are being sealed, and both libraries and book stores clamor

for more copies, it is the prevalence of realistic issues throughout Harry

Potter that will prove to be the series' greatest strength; themes that lend

themselves well to discussions around the dinner table, to family bonding.

Nowhere was Harry's wizardry more apparent than during Middle Gate School's

recent grandparents' night, when many students sat in rapt attention as the

words from between the book's hard cover poured out of their grandparents'

mouths. Feeling almost left out of the action, students often took over

reading responsibilities.

Perhaps the literary bridge that Harry is building between young and old

readers is the greatest magic of all.