From: Alicia Ahlvers <alicia>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 22:11:07 -0500

I recently gave Harry Potter to my nephew for his ninth birthday. I was worried that it might be intimidating so I suggested that we read it aloud together. It turned out to be a wonderful experience for my whole family. My parents, sister, nephew and I spent a week reading aloud together as a family and it has become one of my favorite family memories. This experience so aptly demonstrates the "Crossover Appeal" of Harry Potter to me. My nephew, who is having difficulty with a teacher at school, re-read the Diagon Alley chapter several times and kept telling me he wished he could go to Hogwarts School and have his own Nimbus 2000. He also expressed deep sympathy when Harry was treated unfairly by Professor Snape. When we were reading the section in which Harry cause his house to lose points, my mom mentioned that she can still vividly remember how it felt when she was in grade school and thought that no one liked her and my dad, a former Superintendent of Schools got a kick out the creative punishments awarded to kids at the school.

I think that everyone remembers wanting to be the school hero and falling short of that goal. Even with the problems, this is how I wish my school experience had turned out.

Alicia Ahlvers Kansas City Public Library
Received on Wed 09 Jun 1999 10:11:07 PM CDT