Harry getting Killed; Books as "Childrens' Books"

Thu Mar 29 13:06:13 UTC 2001

No: HPFGUIDX 15500

Hi --

To Doreen -- JKR hasn't, to my knowledge, ever used the word "never"
with respect to killing off Ron.  She's just said that she won't divulge
details about the fate of the main characters, especially our favorite
Trio.

meckelburg at foni.net wrote:

> Another reason is, that, even if we enjoy the canon so much as
> adults, the books are "children's books". JKR wants to show children
> the fight between good and evil and good has to win. To sacrifice
> Harry on this battle would be very disturbing to the 9 to 13year old
> kids, who are the avarage-aged Readers.

The books are *not* "children's books"!  JKR has said repeatedly that
she had no target audience; the publishers *marketed* them to 9-12 yr
olds because Harry was 11 in Book 1.  Harry will be 17/18 in the last
book.  Is that really a "childrens' book" if your main characters are
all adults?  Is GoF really a childrens' book appropriate for all 9 year
olds?

Heidi posted a demographic study result a few weeks ago that indicates
that a majority of the HP books sold in 2000 were sold to people over
the age of 14.

I posted two very detailed messages in this regard this past weekend --
See Message #15132 and Message #15201.

Penny

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