HP as Coming of Age Series

[plinsenmayer]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6918
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: RE: HP as Coming of Age Series
Date: 8/15/00 4:30 pm  (ET)

Hi:

Ebony wrote: <<<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.>>>>

Thanks for confirming that Ebony. That's what I suspected, but I'm
certainly no expert in childrens' lit. I read all the Judy Blume books
when I was 9-12 myself (even the "adult" ones and boy my mom would have
*flipped out* had she known what was in those "adult" books I can assure
you!). But, the characters & themes are all completely different, and
they are even shelved in different areas in bookstores & libraries.

<<< 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.>>>

True enough. But, of course, it's hard to say whether Book 7 will be
a "walk in the park" compared to GoF for example. I think that will
ultimately fall to the parents to decide.

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

Ooh, I hope you didn't misinterpret *my* earlier statements. I was in
no way advocating censorship; I'm definitely against that. I think if
individual parents want to censor their childrens' reading material,
that's their choice. Schools, libraries, govt agencies -- none of these
entities should, in my mind, have any say in what I read or what my
family reads.

As I mentioned above, I myself read some books that my parents would
have had a complete conniption fit over had they known. Neither of them
were big readers (an understatement), and after talking to our elementary
school librarian, they opted to take the "no censorship" approach. They
never questioned what I read at all. I, on the other hand, *am* a big
reader. So, it will be interesting to see how I will handle it with my
children. I'd like to think on an intellectual level that I *won't*
censor their reading. I'll probably want to discuss things with them
though, and that ultimately seems like the sanest approach. Believe me,
if I had a 10 yr old daughter and she picked up Judy Blume's "Forever,"
I'd want to chat with her about it. <vbg>

My comments earlier had more to do with the interesting & unique challenge
presented by HP -- for parents who are inclined to censor their childrens'
reading material. And, as I noted, the children themselves may simply not
have any interest in reading the later books -- they may be too dark,
complex & "old" for *some* of the 9-12 set. Nothing to stop them from
reading the first 3 HP books when they're that age & picking the series
back up when they're older though.

Will answer your JKR bio question in my next post -- this one is
getting long.

Penny