Harry+Potter+Discussions

//**Thought we could use a Harry Potter Discussion area in the Wiki. Please be kind and warn of spoilers if you need to discuss/comment upon some aspect that others may not have come to as of yet.**//

I just finished the book in the wee hours this morning. My son (aged 9) asked me if I thought it was good and I gave a resounding "Yes!" There haven't been a lot of series that have pulled me in so thoroughly--Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series being the only two I can think of at the moment. Of course, I wasn't waiting on pins and needles for the next installment of those series. I inadvertently went to a HP release party at a local Barnes and Noble (hadn't planned to go, ended up there--had pre-ordered the book from Amazon). I was thrilled to see that many people of that many different ages all gathered in one place, eagerly anticipating a book. I had to laugh though--in line waiting for a HP themed balloon, I eavesdropped on a couple of early-teen girls who were trying to figure out how long they were going to need to wait--they assumed that we, a friend and I, were only in line with our children--not to get balloons ourselves. I think they were surrprised when we got balloons--for ourselves. People can say what they want about the series and its potential influences--but in MY book, any series that inspires this kind of creativity and interest in people of so many different backgrounds, interests, and ages--is a wonderful thing--and I have a niece who was a confirmed non-reader--didn't read well or easily, didn't like to read--//until// she started to read the Harry Potter series. She's now 20 and she'll tell anyone--Harry Potter is what got her reading. Yay J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter!!!