March Madness: The Winner

And the YA Series March Madness winner is unsurprisingly:

Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the outcome.  Mr. Potter won't compete in next year's tournament, essentially guaranteeing a Hunger Games victory in 2014. 

Series Woes

As a child, I absolutely adored series books.  Nancy Drew, The Baby-sitters Club (and all the spinoffs), Sweet Valley Twins (and all the spinoffs), Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen, etc. etc. etc.  Whenever I'd go to the library, I would just head over to the familiar shelf full of yellow Nancy Drews and grab a couple at random.  Same with the other series.  There was a seemingly infinite amount of books at my disposal.

Then I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  Then I FLEW through Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban.  Then, when I went back to the library for the next book.  I couldn't find it.  So, I asked the librarian if I could put a hold on it.  She gave me that "oh honey" look and told me it wasn't even written yet.  This was me:

This had NEVER happened to me before.  Consequently, it's one of the top 3 library moments from my childhood (the other 2 are better memories). 

Last week, I was the librarian in this situation and let me tell you, it was heartbreaking on this end too.  A student who recently began Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy came in to return Insurgent and pick up the third (unwritten) installment.  When she couldn't find it, she asked if anyone had checked it out or if it was maybe part of the new books display.  Throughout her entire question, I was reliving this in my head:

So I told her, as delicately as possible, that the book isn't finished yet and is due out next year.  Yes, she was devastated (and I can't blame her, it's a great series).  But to keep her spirits up, I gave her recommendations for other series she might enjoy while she waits for the final Divergent installment: Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (the first in The Seven Kingdoms trilogy), Matched, by Allie Condie (the first in the Matched trilogy), and The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott (the first in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series). 

She ended up selecting Graceling and loved it.  That trilogy is complete (phew), so it was great when I got to hand her the second book when she finished Graceling. 

Moral of the story: always be prepared to comfort a saddened patron who just wants to know what happens next. 

#TheList No. 697: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Unless you've been living under a rock, you most likely know that J.K. Rowling's first novel purposely for adults, The Casual Vacancy, came out last week.  I started it yesterday, it's very different from HP and I really like it so far.  To get prepped for the new Rowling book, I decided to skip ahead on the List, and go for my favorite Harry Potter book.

The Prisoner of Azkaban is usually everyone's favorite of the series.  Whether it's the new information about the death of Harry's parents, the introduction of the Marauder's Map, or simply Sirius Black's amazing entrance, it's one of the most revered of the HP world.  What's interesting is that the movie version of this book was the least successful financially.  It doesn't make sense because look at that picture of Gary Oldman as Sirius.  Siriusly, guys? Have you seen this wizard? Yes I just made that bad joke. Moving on.

Rereading Azkaban, I noticed that there is still a lot of explication of previously introduced concepts.  The whole, "you see, Harry isn't like other boys. He's a wizard" concept is still evident (I paraphrased there, obviously) and that can drag the book for a tiny bit because we already know this information.  Forgetting the scoring system of a Quidditch match? Maybe. Forgetting that Harry is a wizard? Not going to happen.

But that aside, the book is incredible.  It is fast paced, funny, moving, and filled with adventure, friendship, and consequences.  And, of course, magic.  In case you forgot.  The lessons the trio learns about second chances (time-turner business), different outlooks (Malfoy's view of Hagrid and Lupin vs. the trio's view), and skewed histories (Snape's account of James saving his life vs. Lupin's account) are often implicit, which gives levels to the reading experience.  The books aren't about magic.  The books are about these lessons. Magic is just something they know how to do.

Happy Valentine's Day!

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord. 

I logged on to post my favorite literary valentine; it shouldn't be any surprise that it was HP related.  

What did surprise me was this mini-essay written way back in 2001 (yikes!) about how we don't actually know who wrote the valentine's poem.  I always assumed it was Ginny, and I assumed everyone else assumed this too.  But it could have been anyone!  The purpose of this scene is for Harry Potter's bag to break and the diary to fall out.  Ginny then freaks out, not because of the valentine, but because she thinks Harry now knows she's the one who reopened the Chamber.  This then sets up the rest of the novel.  Could she have written the poem? Sure, but now my money's on the Weasley twins.

Oh, J.K.  You're a genius.

Chamber of Secrets

I've argued before why this is one of the most underrated books by HP fans.  No one seems to love this book.  I just finished rereading it and I have two hypotheses.  I feel like it could possibly have something to do with how Rowling re-explains concepts introduced in Philosopher's Stone.  It's like those 4 pages that are in every Baby Sitters Club book: they explain how the club was formed, who's in the club, and what they do.  I used to be able to recite those pages.  They served the purpose of familiarizing readers who didn't start with book one, because it wasn't a plot heavy series.  You find it in practically every long running series out there.  It makes sense.

But with Harry Potter, there's really no way you can just pick up a random book and start reading, so there's no reason to have all of this extra explication.  Even if you've seen the movies and think you'll be able to understand, you won't.  Your first question will be, "who the hell is Peeves?"  It's like trying to understand an episode of LOST if you've never seen it before.  The only difference is that a LOST fan will punch you in the face if you try to ask a question while it's playing.  True story, we punch.  

Anyway, after I finished rereading, I realized just how much the cover art gives away.  The cover is practically the entirety of the last 3 chapters of the book! What's there: Fawkes, the sword of Gryffindor, snakes galore, the basilisk's eye, Harry, Ron, and Ginny.  Then there's Mrs. Norris, which makes no sense whatsoever, but oh well.  

Going into the book, there's really no question about what's going to happen.  The other books all have cover art related to their endings as well, but they're a little more cleverly disguised, with the exception of Harry and Hermione riding Buckbeak on the cover for Prisoner of Azkaban.  So was it because we unconsciously already knew that nothing bad was going to happen in this book? 

I can never convince anyone that Chamber of Secrets is better than it seems, but that's okay.  One last thing though: Hermione saves the day whilst unconscious.  What did Bella do when she was practically comatose in New Moon?  Nothing.  Trees were killed so that the months she did nothing could be marked by empty pieces of paper.  Even if that's an unfair comparison, an unconscious Hermione accomplishes more than Bella on her most active day.  Just sayin'. 

Adults Judging Childrens Books: Complexity

Whenever I tell people that I'm close to reaching my goal of reading 110 books this year (6.5 to go!), I tend to get a response along the lines of: "But those are easy books. Those are way beneath your level. So why bother?"  Putting aside the obvious problems of them taking the liberty of knowing what my level is and assuming I'm not reading books that I actually enjoy, who is to say that children's and young adult books are beneath anyone's level?

While some "grown-up" books may not be appropriate content-wise for young'ns, readability statistics for some of the most popular adult fiction is right on target for a children's audience.  The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level ("FKGL") test is a readability test that measures total number of sentences, sentence length, and syllables to assign a grade level to a selection of writing.  If you're a student, you're most likely familiar with this test from seeing it after spellchecking your papers in Word (...and then furiously hitting shiftF7 to use the thesaurus to find longer words, yeah don't deny it).  Obviously assigning grade levels is making an assumption about where each grade should be, but let's experiment.

Read this:

"'All your old drinking habits, too. Chewing Excedrin. Wiping your mouth all the time. Cranky in the morning. And you haven't been able to finish the play, yet, have you?'"

According to the FKGL, that's at a 2.8 grade level.  It's also a quote from The Shining, one of the most popular "adult" books of all time.  That quote isn't even as bad as this:

"The wedding. Her father had been there. Her mother had not been. She found she could live with that, if she had Jack. And then Danny had come. Her fine son."

That has a 0.0 rating.  Seriously. 

Now this:

"'From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork.'"

Yes, that's right.  Dumbledore speaks at a 13.2 grade level.

While the subject matter of Stephen King novels may not be appropriate for a second grader (depending on how liberal you are), they can definitely read it.  So should second graders deem you lazy for reading something way below your level?  I mean, it's a pretty easy read, so why bother?

Okay yes, obviously I picked specific quotes that would prove a point.  But if you put The Shining as a whole up against this test, it averages out at about a 7th grade level.  You know what else does? The Harry Potter series.  So stop judging people for reading things "beneath their level" because guess what? Chances are, so are you. 

Day 16 - Favorite female character

Duh Bella Swan, because I love characters who have names that are questions. Isabella Swan? No. No, it is not.

Kidding, clearly.  I'm just procrastinating before I have to declare either Hermione Granger or Luna Lovegood as my favorite.  I don't think it can be done.  So I'm going to completely copout and say "Hermuna" is my favorite.  I don't know about "Hermuna" being the right name choice.  "Grangegood."  "Lunione."  Heh "Lover" might be the best combo for their last names, but that's just silly...

Grangegood

Sooooo Lover is my personal favorite female character.  She's super smart, believes in zany things that may or may not be true, gets her friends out of trouble even when unconscious, doesn't care what people think of her, has wonderfully frizzy hair, loves her friends unconditionally, punches Malfoy, and gives the best broadcast of a Quidditch game, or any game, ever.  I love Lover.  

But if I have to pick (and I technically don't have to because it's my blog and I can do what I want), I would pick Hermione.  <3

Also, a Google image search for Hermione and Luna leads to slash fanfiction.  Duly noted.

Day 07 – Most underrated book

Alright, ask any Harry Potter fan what their least favorite of the seven is and most likely s/he’ll respond with The Chamber of Secrets.  It’s my least favorite too, but I don’t...hate it.  When I read it I don’t feel any sort of negativity towards the book, but when I think about HP as a whole, this book just doesn't stand out.  

It’s crazy though because it's actually a fairly important book in the HP world.  It might not be the stand out book of the Harry Potters, but it doesn't deserve the hatred that it seems to get from most readers.  It doesn't make "The List," which is fairly rude because  even Twilight made it.   

The Chamber of Secrets really shouldn’t get the shaft (p.s. whole bunch of spoilers coming ahead, I guess).  The first horcrux is destroyed here, guys.  That's kind of a big deal.  Not only does 1/7 of Voldy’s soul go to pieces, but Harry’s destroying Riddle’s diary with the basilisk fang clues in the trio on how they can destroy the remaining six (or at least five of the remaining six).  

Peeves breaks the Vanishing Cabinet that ends up being an intricate plot point in The Half-Blood Prince, bringing the Death Eaters into Hogwarts from Borgin & Burke.   

The Chamber of Secrets also serves as an introduction to the dark world that exists within HP.  The first book really only contains a small introduction to Voldemort and the knowledge that he had/has followers, but in The Chamber of Secrets, Harry's accidental landing in Knockturn Alley really cements the fact that this dark world still exists.  Plus, while he's there he sees the Hand of Glory Malfoy uses while carrying out his plans and the necklace that almost kills Katie Bell in The Half-Blood Prince.  Aaaah foreshadowing.  

So yeah, this book serves to set up a lot that happens towards the end of the HP series.  And yet, it gets no love.   Maybe because it's followed by the book most fans consider their favorite (yay Sirius), I don't know, but it's an important book and shouldn't be discussed with such disdain. 

Harry's 31st!

Harry Potter (if he were a real person and it pains me to type that) is 31 today!! I'm so glad that Rowling decided to give Harry a birthday so far in the past.  This way, he'll always be older than the majority of his readers who won't have to be jealous of the fact that he saved the world at 17 and can instead wonder what it's like to peak at 17. 

Dear Mr. Potter...

Early this morning, I brought in the 3 newspapers waiting by my office's front door.  Each front page boasted something about the HP craze coming to an end this week.  The rant about how that's not true is for another time.

One article lead me to Dear Mr. Potter, a collection of fan written letters to J.K., to the characters, to the actors, to anyone who made the experience of reading and/or watching the series a significant one.  Those who know me probably found out within 5 minutes of meeting me that the HP experience is something I hold near and dear to my heart.  Ask my boss, I once sent him quite the e-mail exchange (more like a thesis) defending how the series is amazing.  So I figure this letter business is something I should do.

Dear Mr. Potter (but technically Rowling, because c'mon, she's the strong woman who invented you):

Very, very often I think about how lucky I am to have had one of the best teachers ever when I was in the 6th grade.  Mr. Vendetti believed that being read aloud to was one of the greatest gifts a person could receive and give.  While we 6th graders were anxiously waiting to graduate during the last few days of the school year, stuck on the highest floor of one of the oldest buildings in the city (read: no AC), he read to us the most boring book in the world.  With only 3 days left, he decided to abandon whatever it was he was reading and switch to a new book he stumbled upon: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  We only made it through the first few chapters, but I was already sold (I think it was the Put-Outer...or what we later learned was called the Deluminator, but I digress). 

Within days, I was at the library and I took the book home with me to finish.  Honestly, I had read everything else on the children's side of the library and that's what was left.  No exaggeration.  As soon as I finished, I dragged my parents right back to the library to get Chamber of Secrets and snagged Prisoner of Azkaban at the same time.  Within 4 days I was ready for the next one and it broke my heart when I found out it didn't exist yet.  I had never encountered this problem before.  There was always an endless supply of Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, Baby-sitters Club, Anastasia Krupnik, Alice, etc. books for my enjoyment, how could there not be a complete HP series for me? Yes, I was already that selfish and thought in such ways.  Waiting for that book was the longest year of my life. 

Pottermore?!

The wondrous J.K. Rowling has posted a link to Pottermore.com, which features a countdown to an announcement just over 5 days from now, and people are already going crazy trying to figure out what it could be that merits such hype.  This is where I laugh at the people who say the Harry Potter craze is over.  HA! 

My first thought, or hope rather, was that it would be the announcement of a release date for the much anticipated encyclopedia.  I'm sure I'm wrong though. 

Most people seem to think that it could be a huge Harry Potter based online role-playing game, which would mean that my nerdiness is going to skyrocket, something most people wouldn't deem possible.  It could also very well be a regular website, an announcement of a new textbook along the lines of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, something charitable because we all know Rowling loves her charity work, or even a personal statement declaring me as her number one fan.  Probably not the last one. 

Let the 5 day waiting commence!

#TheList, No. 685: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This may have have the 67th time I read this book and I still found little bits of foreshadowing here and there that I had never noticed before.  Some are for things within the book itself (there's an owl flying toward Hogwarts carrying a note in its mouth that most likely is what brings Dumbledore away from the school), but there is so much just simply tucked away that connects to the last few chapters of the last book in the series. 

That's why J.K. Rowling is one of the best authors ever.  Not that I'm biased or anything.  I've been in love with Harry Potter since 1999, which coincidentally is also when my love for Britney Spears blossomed.  There may or may not be a correlation.

But anyway, Rowling knows that the details are important.  Children notice the little things.  So many people underestimate children's abilities and gloss over the details thinking that children can only see the larger picture.  Rowling not only builds this magical world with details, she is consistent with the details throughout the series unlike a certain Twilight author who negates half of what she's written when it doesn't help her story and creates loopholes when she's boxed herself into a corner. 

I never realized how much the Voldemort plot is on the backburner in this novel until this reading.  Even though there are small moments planted here and there of Harry's wonderings about what's in the off-limits third floor corridor, it's not until Harry's in the Forbidden Forest 265 pages in that he actually knows he's in danger.   Arguably he's in danger during his first Quidditch match, but he technically doesn't know it at that point.  Instead, the majority of this book focuses on making Harry a character worthy of readers' sympathy.

To do this, Rowling doesn't make him anyone special (aside from his amazing flying abilities), she just makes Harry a normal 11 year old boy.  His biggest worries aren't about dying at the hands of the most powerful dark wizard.  Harry's worried about fitting in at a new school, making a fool out of himself when playing Quidditch in front of a large audience, and beating Slytherin in the points race for the House Cup.  In fact, the way Rowling wrote this first book, it seems like Harry's victory over Voldemort at the end was not to save the Stone, but to get enough points to finally knock Slytherin out of its winning streak. The fact that Harry has magical abilities is just a way to tell a normal tale of childhood.

This book and series are amazing.  There's really no other way to say it.