Hermione/Emma Watson (Re: The Romance (was HBP))

[sistermagpie]

> Miles
> But if you know what the philosopher's stone is, you know  it's closely 
> connected to wizardry and magic, at least in modern fantasy literature. It 
> does not exist, it was a dream of ancient alchemists, and if a story deals 
> with an existing PS, it obviously is not a story taken from our world.
> 
> So, the preconception behind changing the term was that "philosopher's 
> stone" is unknown to the average buyer of fantasy for kids and teenagers. 
> And I do hope this is an insult.

Magpie:
The original book is middle grade fiction, so I don't think it's insulting to want to let third graders who haven't yet heard of what the Philosopher's Stone is that the book's about magic. These are kids who quite possibly haven't read modern fantasy literature yet. This could be their first. There's plenty of kids who might know at that age, but removing that one extra barrier doesn't have to be insulting imo. They might only have a minute where the kid's passing over the titles and they want to grab him/her.

-m