HP as Coming-of-Age Series

[selah_1977]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6909
From: selah_1977
Subject: HP as Coming-of-Age Series
Date: 8/15/00 3:21 pm  (ET)

According to the facilitators of the conference I'm attending this week
(and last), there really isn't a comparable children's series to the
HP novels.

We discussed it at length. We agreed that there are at least two authors
(both American) who have successfully crossed the Age Line. Judy Blume
and Walter Dean Myers have written popular children's, YA, and adult
novels. However, the characters, settings, and themes varied from book
to book.

It seems that while in many series the characters age, the reading level
(and maturity of themes handled) stays virtually the same.

I spoke to the group about our discussion of GoF's darkening themes. The
consensus among both presenters and teachers was that this is nothing
new. We all could think of many adolescent books that had been "banned"
for one reason or another due to some of the same concerns that have
been raised about GoF.

One prominent example is Katherine Patterson's *Bridge to Terabithia",
which won the Newberry Medal (the Pulizter of U.S. kidlit). It is on
just about every fourth and fifth grade reading list in this country. The
character who dies is the narrator's best friend.

It also bears noting that the average American middle schooler watches
plenty of PG-13 and R rated movies that make HP look like a walk in
the park.

I'll admit that we are biased. You won't find too many English teachers
who think censorship is wonderful.

Age appropriateness is the key, IMO.

Again, I repeat: where can you find accurate biographical information
on Rowling? I feel quite embarrassed for thinking the unauthorized bio
contained legitimate information. I don't follow much JKR/HP-related
press offline--for one thing, I don't have the time. As for the book 4
title being inaccurate, this may not be entirely the author's fault. If
you look at the inside front cover, the copyright date is 1999.

--Ebony AKA AngieJ