<p>With the last Harry Potter book coming out next month, and many of our sons and daughters having followed the series for the last 10 years–is your child, or other teenagers or young adults you know, interested in the series? Was s/he ever? If not, why not; and if so, how so? It strikes me that the series is ending just as many of its young readers are going off to college, which could be another rite of passage out of childhood for some of them. For others, like my S, I have to say, it’s no big deal.</p>
<p>My D and several of her freshman college classmates are still into HP. We live in Europe and as favor to her we are going to London for the HP release weekend so that she can enjoy at least once the excitement of a big midnight bookstore party–even bought a “sorting hat” to wear for the occasion.</p>
<p>pyewacket–See, I find that interesting, and I have a theory about this. Thanks for your post. The young adults I know (19-early 20s) are more into HP than my S (h.s. senior) and his friends are. I’m wondering if there is a small difference in ages between the young people who felt like they “grew up” with HP and those who aren’t as connected (if at all). If you were 11-13 when the series started, I’m wondering, rather than say 7 or 8–did that make you feel more connected to the whole thing as a young reader (again, if you read them, at all). I’m wondering if 20-year-olds remember HP in a different way because they started reading the series before any of the movies had been made yet and they were closer in age to the 11-year-old Harry when his story first came out.</p>
<p>That’s neat about your D and the trip to London–what fun for her!</p>
<p>My nephew is now finishing his 3rd year of college. I bought the first Harry Potter novel for him, and it made him into a reader. Thank You JKR! ! His little brother, a HS sophomore, is the one who is really, really into HP. My daughter has yet to show an interest.</p>
<p>My 19-yr old S just finished his first yr in college and has been counting the days until the new book comes out. We pre-ordered and it is supposed to be delivered the day it comes out. He has already called first dibs (I am also a BIG fan!) and has “blocked out” time to read it that day (something he would never do for anything important, like homework or chores!!). </p>
<p>He is not a big reader to begin with and the fiction he does read is generally more adult suspense (the last book he read was by Tom Clancy, a far cry from Harry Potter) so I have never understood the fascination for him given who he is (I know that for me it’s probably a way of reliving childhood fantasies–going off to boarding school, and the magical aspect combined with the mystery/intrigue. These were exactly the kinds of books I loved as a child!). It will be interesting to hear his perspective now that he has lived away at school for a year himself…</p>
<p>Thanks for your post, Treetopleaf–Your h.s. sophomore nephew being really into the series begins to build evidence against my hypothesis. Ha! Maybe it has nothing to do with age at this point, and it is really just if the kids like the story and its characters or not. I’ve heard the story of HP motivating young people to read more than once. That’s another interesting angle.</p>
<p>Big Harry Potter fans here! My daughter will be working at college this summer, so I have already arranged to have a copy reserved for her.</p>
<p>And I’ve never seen my son read anything as fast as he does the HP series. Since he just finished his HS sophomore year, and his friends are also eagerly awaiting the last book, that may disprove your theory, DrMom.</p>
<p>scansmom–Thanks for your post! See, your S must have been about 9-ish when it started. The books were originally marketed in the 9-11 age group, I believe. I should look up when the first movie came out. I know the book came out in the US in 1998 (1997 in the UK).</p>
<p>I don’t know about the kids (I think older daughter’s not that interested anymore), but I pre ordered it for myself!!</p>
<p>According to IMDB, the first movie was released Nov. 16, 2001. So that’s at least 2-3 years of books with no movie tie-ins. That can be a long time for young readers to “bond” with books at the ages they were then. I can remember some of the young readers I knew back then not wanting to see the first movie when it came out and feeling betrayed by it. Those kids would be in their late teens/early twenties now, I think.</p>
<p>audiophile–I don’t know where all the adult readers such as yourself fall into my little theory–ha! :)</p>
<p>My rising h.s. senior S read the first Harry Potter book in 4th grade. He is a boy who never liked reading at school, never reads for pleasure at home. Scored below average on the SAT CR section. Yet, he has read every Harry Potter book, even the last couple that were huge books, in record time and loved them. I always hoped it would spur him on to reading other books but there has never been anything else that caught his interest like HP.</p>
<p>Now that he is 17, I asked him reecently if he’d like to read the new HP book when it come out and he said “might as well since I’ve read all the others and this is the last one”. That doesn’t sound too enthusiastic but admitting a desire to read any book is great for him! </p>
<p>Older S, age 20, a voracious reader read the first couple of HP books but was never really turned on by it like so many others.</p>
<p>My kids are 18 and 20 and both have been into Harry Potter from the start. They are of the age that they read the books before any movies came out. Both always had to read the book as soon as it came out. </p>
<p>I recall a few certain moments. One was when either the first or second movie came out…this was approximately six years ago so I can’t recall which movie that would have been. But when my younger D (the one more into HP) learned of the day the movie was to open in theaters, she was beside herself. She was to perform with the Toronto Symphony that day and would not be able to see the movie on its debut day. This was like the worst thing in the world to her. She was so upset. I went with her to Toronto for her performance. We also bought tickets to see Harry Potter there the second day it came out. She loved it and it was at such a big theater, nothing like what she’d have seen it in here in Vermont. Then, on our flight back home, we had a layover in OH. She composed a letter to the editor for our local paper. This was just before Thanksgiving. She had opened a fortune cookie that said something about how you just have to look and fortune is around you. It gave her some pause. She had been seeing on the news that weekend about children in, I think it was Afganistan, who were starving and what not, and she realized that her big fuss about having to wait a day to see Harry Potter while she was put up in a very fancy hotel (by the Symphony) was no big deal and that she should be thankful for what she has…a roof over her head, a family, an education, etc. This letter was published. So, I can’t forget this whole flap over the HP movie release! </p>
<p>I recall the last book, when it came out…she was 16 and was in NYC for the night. I had let her go by herself to New York for an audition and to stay with older friends for one night. I was nervous about it (it was a new experience for me) and wanted her to call when she got in for the night. But lo and behold, that was the night that the HP book came out and she was online to buy it late at night and so I called her as it was late and she told me she was online to buy the book with a bunch of friends!</p>
<p>She has already mentioned to me that when she is in NYC this July when HP comes out, she already has plans to go buy it at midnight with friends and then go read it in Central Park :D. Other D will be in Paris and I wonder if she will have to buy it in French, though she is fluent in French. </p>
<p>So, my kids are still into HP, though the younger one is much more tied to it and having to read it right away or see the movie right away.</p>
<p>My friend’s 13 year old son is an avid fantasy reader.He read HP a couple of years after the craze began and liked it–did read before seeing movies, though.</p>
<p>So maybe the difference is whether your first experience with HP is from a book or a movie? I would think that stronger emotional connections would be made from reading the book first, since you can more easily personalize/internalize the story whereas if you see a movie first, you may enjoy it but really, it’s just another cute or fun movie…and for many kids, they would not even bother with the books after that point.</p>
<p>My S, who is admittedly a little quirky, will actually re-read the last book right before the newest one comes out, and I think this is to start to get HIMSELF back into character! It will be interesting to see if he does that again this year…</p>
<p>I’m not sure how we’ll get through July 21 without a fist fight. I pre-ordered Deathly Hallows from Amazon with guaranteed delivery by 7pm. D 18 and S 15 couldn’t believe we might have to wait until 7pm. We’ve gotten most of the previous books at midnight, after attending parties at the bookstore.</p>
<p>Our entire family has listened to all the books on tape during family driving trips. It is a precious part of our family history. </p>
<p>D started reading them in 4th grade, S in 1st. I didn’t start until the 3rd book was out. </p>
<p>I think JK Rowling has a wonderful way with words. The movies don’t even begin to compare. </p>
<p>The fan fiction world of HP is amazing. My D wrote a story that describes how Lily was one of the few people who was nice to Snape and Loona Lovegood’s father.</p>
<p>I am saddened that the series is ending. There are going to be so many unanswered questions… What happened to Lily and James’ parents, for example? In my rational mind I know they never existed. But my heart wants to know why they are never mentioned.</p>
<p>My DS and I have both read HP and I’m going to order the last in the series for us (I’d better get that done!) but its not a series we have an emotional attachment to. We are both attached to “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman. Last weekend he emailed me a link(<a href=“WarnerBros.com | Home of WB Movies, TV, Games, and more!”>WarnerBros.com | Home of WB Movies, TV, Games, and more!) to show me THE MOVIE is coming out. I called him and we talked about going to the premier and then when we found we could find out what our daemons are at the movies website we were like too little kids sharing our daemons (his is a lynx and mine is a snowleopard). So much for Harry - I think we’re both in love with Lyra from “The Golden Compass”. That series only has 3 books and we read them aloud to each other. When the last book ended we sat on the sofa sobbing our hearts out together. Second in our hearts to “The Golden Compass” is “Sabriel” and any book by Garth Nix. We’re actually both sharing a fantasy that after we see the Golden Compass movie, we’ll hop a plane to Alaska to see the northern lights!</p>
<p>All four of my Ds have read all of the HP books and two of them have read all of them several times each! I, too, have read all of them and two of them twice. They are all very excited about the last book and we each have pre-ordered our own copy to be delivered on the release day because none of us wants to wait to read it. The only exception is one of my Ds who will be in Spain this summer when it comes out and she is very worried that she will hear the details before being able to read it. When she arrives in Spain, she’s going to investigate where she might be able to purchase an English copy on the 21st. If all else fails, she’ll get one at her Heathrow layover on the way home the following week. I remember one year, this same D who is probably the biggest HP lover in our family, was at camp when one of the books was released and I quickly overnighted her a copy the day of the release. :)</p>
<p>I love the books, some more than others. I think J.K. Rowling has a gift that we have all been fortunate enough to share. The detail in the books is fascinating and I love how tiny, seemingly insignificant things in one book, can show up in later books. I look forward to reading whatever she decides to write in the future.</p>
<p>We all read HP here. DH gets it on tape for long drives (and he does a lot of them); I read the books (and just finished re-reading the first 6 in prep for 7); D just finished re-reading as well. S reads them on airplanes.</p>
<p>Okay, this may be weird, but I like to order the British editions from amazon.co.uk because they are lighter. Smaller print, thinner paper, smaller form factor. Easier to read in bed. But for HP7, I am ordering both so I can get in there early, before everyone tells me who died and how it ended.</p>
<p>I don’t think we fit your theory, Dr. Mom. My kids are 21 and 24, but they didn’t discover HP till Book 4. We’ve now all each reread each book a zillion times. And, also not in line with your theory, they were introduced to the books by their cousins, who are about to turn 16, so our cohort is both younger and older than your prime group. </p>
<p>None were introduced to them by the movies, though we’ve seen them all.</p>
<p>Our solution for July 21 is, I think, that we will have to buy at least 3 copies. H would be willing to wait, but that will mean we can’t talk about it around him.</p>
<p>My younger D- did not read- despite having a houseful of books- ( she was undiagnosed dyslexic) until she was in 3rd grade, and her teacher read the 1st two HPs to the class. She became interested enough to read it as well.
(A mom- in the class- gave the teacher the copies- I had looked at in the bookstore- but didn’t think it was that big a deal!)</p>
<p>She likes to attend the midnight parties held at childrens bookshops for the HP releases- she and her friends have attended special HP showings at the IMAX although she has taken the HP posters ( and even the LOTR posters) down from her walls. ( but thank god- they do not dress up-)</p>
<p>I admit she isn’t quite as obsessed as( some of my) adult aquaintances who have it marked on their calendar and are besides themselves with the upcoming book, but my older daughter enjoys them as well.</p>
<p>She knit Hogwarts scarves while she was at Reed, and they took turns reading aloud every Sunday , I think in the Winch dorm ( doesn’t that sound Hogwartish?) while others knitted. ( I believe older D even attended Harry Potter movies with her college advisor and his family-which she did for several of the movies- but nothing beat the Rocky Horror like showing of TROY for the Reedies)</p>
<p>We have many of the books on tape- or we get them on CD for long drives- which came in real handy when we were stuck on Stevens pass for about 4 hours late at night one winter. ( Ive heard the UK version is better- but my D likes what she is used to- I think I must get the UK version- Stephen Fry reads)</p>
<p>The HP series has followed younger Ds childhood- but she was much more into the LOTR series ( books and movies- she even read the Silmarlion which I found unreadable)- also read Golden Compass, and the Garth Nix and Tamora Pierce books.</p>
<p>I think HP is fun- but like many series books- some really don’t stand on their own- but frankly- I will always have a soft spot for a writer who inspired my daughter and many others to enjoy reading.</p>