Harry Potter casts his spell over Blazers

A fierce lunchtime debate has broken out on Blair Blvd on Nov 21.

"Some little short kid with glasses going off to wizard school? There's no point! One book was actually good, but then it's just the same stuff," says sophomore Jessica Jones.

Junior Andres Beriguete and his sister Anleny, a sophomore, adamantly disagree. "I wish I could make my sister float—that'd be tight. And playing Quidditch . . . how fun would that be?" asks Andres.

The pastimes to which they refer are some of the favorites of international phenomenon Harry Potter, the adolescent hero of J.K. Rowling's bestselling series. To date, Rowling has sold more than 150 million Harry Potter books, which have been translated into 50 languages and spawned two multi-million-dollar feature films (see reviews in Entertainment at silverchips.mbhs.edu). And though amazon.com may list the reading levels of the four books as "ages 9-12," many Blair staff and students would argue otherwise.

Harry Potter, skinny, bespectacled and shy, made his book debut in 1997 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This and the three books that followed traced Potter's magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"[The books are] an extraordinarily beautiful, vivid, fascinating way for people to lose themselves, and the movies are beautiful visualizations of this world that's just a joy to sink into," says English teacher Judith Smith.

Smith, a self-professed Potter fan, says that Rowling's writing style is appealing because it fits the pace of modern media. "In this age of TV and video games, she's writing to the nature of the attention span of contemporary people. She uses simple language that captivates younger, less experienced, less mature readers," she says.

However, the appeal of the books transcends maturity levels. "[The books] can be appreciated on many levels, though younger readers wouldn't pick up on parallels to Nietzsche or the lure of the darkness," jokes Smith.

The true value of the books, says media specialist Robert Lasco, might be something that becomes clear to the reader over time. "I do get the sense," he says, "that the kid that reads Harry Potter at 11 will like it better when he reads it again at 22."

Sophomore Fidan Kerimova agrees with Lasco's analysis and believes strongly in the universality of the Potter message. "No matter how old you are, you can appreciate a book about finding the best in people," she says, extolling Rowling's treatment of friendship.

In general, says Smith, the books reflect "a great presentation of the classic struggle between good and evil."

Junior Sam Feinstein has read the books multiple times, has an instant messenger screen name related to the series and owns all Harry Potter mp3s, two of the books on CD and a bootleg copy of the first movie on DVD. He says that anyone who would call Harry Potter a children's book "obviously hasn't read it."

The series appeals to anyone who loves a good adventure, says Kerimova. "The excitement, the mystery . . . [Harry Potter has] the whole nine yards."