Science Fiction Writers Workshop

Anyone reading the Harry Potter series? (or maybe, is anyone NOT reading the Harry Potter series?)

I started reading them recently, to keep up with my kid. I can highly recommend them. They are imaginative and fun for all ages. They are a good influence on kids. They show children acting like children who are naive but intelligent, and brave when it counts. They are polite, unlike the precocious brats portrayed in American television and movies, where they show a ten year old kid acting like a smartass to adults and everyone laughs. Or the kid in commercials, where Mom just smiles while following her five year old around with a bottle of some miracle cleaner while he's drawing on walls and furniture.

Rowling's kids face bullies, peer pressure, anxiety, prejudice, temptation, just like real kids. In a fantasy setting she can explore these issues in a way that's interesting to children, and the life lessons don't come off all preachy.

Plus it gets kids reading again. My eight-year-old just finished the fourth book. He read it all himself -- all 600+ pages -- and he can tell you all the characters and what they are like and what they went through. He has Playstation and TV and other distractions, but he still likes to read.

As for the writing, she is definitely hitting her stride. The first two were charming but a bit amateurish (they are children's books, after all). The third one was much more involved, and the 4th one was her best so far. I am about halfway through the 5th one, and it is a real page turner. The plot is twisted, and woven with that from previous books. Snowballing sequels.

I wonder if it's going out of scope though. Is she trying to appeal to an older audience now, on purpose?

Although, my kid seems to be following it okay. The point of view never changes (always looking over Harry's shoulder), she keeps the words and sentences short, and finds opportunities to explain things, but the plots are getting more complicated. Then again, one reason kids like these books is they aren't so kiddish.