Hershbergers discover Harry Potter

The hush-hush hype preceding the release of the fourth Harry Potter book captured my attention: closely guarded stacks of books awaited release, only a handful of people knew the plot, and yet families waited for bookstores to open Saturday to buy a copy.
My daughter was with me late Saturday when I saw a depleted display of the Harry Potter novels. I walked around and around the display. “I really do wonder what all the hype is about,” I said. “Just from a writer’s viewpoint,” I rationalized.
My daughter, the English major, urged me on, “Buy one. I’ll read it with you.” I bought the first book in the series and began reading. The next evening I handed the 300 plus page novel to my daughter knowing why Harry Potter is selling. It is everything that I love in a book.
David triumphs over Goliath again: the youngest kid successfully resists the evil forces of the most frightening big person. As in Cinderella, Potter is the much abused, maligned and unwanted intrusion in the lives of his aunt and uncle who dote on their overstuffed, spoiled son. Then Potter’s true identity is uncovered and he discovers he is famous.
Like the seven books in the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and the 14 books of the Wizard of Oz series, the Harry Potter series is pure fantasy. The impossible happens: cloaks make him invisible, a giant of a man with a magic pink umbrella befriends him and train platforms appear out of nowhere to take him directly to boarding school. Best of all, like any good children’s book, the ending leaves me with the warm fuzzies. Ahhh, the first of the Harry Potter series was a great read. Having satisfied my curiosity, I’m still working on finding a reason for spending more money to buy the rest of the series.
A good author is worth knowing and a little media hype or word of mouth goes a long ways to widening my literary experience. I discovered my favorite mystery author, Agatha Christie, after her death. I read her obituary in astonishment: she had written a book for every year of her life? Good mystery writers are compared to her? I had to read something by this author. Over the years I’ve read about half her books.
And then there is the current best seller on most book lists: the Left Behind series. I’ve read a couple of these suspense filled books. Before a recent trip, I borrowed the abridged audio tapes to while away the miles. My husband was hooked after the first audio book. He was so disappointed when he realized we only had the first four of the seven books that he began looking for a reason to spend his money on the rest of the series. The hype is not as intense, but I enjoyed reading the Jan Karon’s popular Mitford series. Through five books I followed the life of the unassuming parish priest living out the Gospel, touching the lives of abused children and their alcoholic parents, sharing tea and proverbs with eccentric old ladies and learning to live with diabetes.
As I said a little hype, followed by a satisfyingly good read goes a long ways towards connecting me with yet another author. It’s worth every cent and minute it costs.