So what, finally, was it about Harry Potter that captured so many readers' imaginations?
The New York Times asked a few writers, librarians, bloggers and kids what they thought the secret of Harry's success had been. Joining the discussion are Lois Lowry, recipient of the 1994 Newbery Medal and the 2007 Margaret A. Edwards Award; Orson Scott Card, author of "
Ender's Game," "
Ender's Shadow" and "
Speaker for the Dead," ; Kimberly A. Patton, Young Adult specialist at the Lawrence Public Library in Kansas; plus others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lowry
... Even in a Potteresque world there are the same things that exist in ordinary, unmagical life: the same uncertainties, missteps and pitfalls, the same mentors, villains, and conflicts between light and dark: all writ large by the nature of the genre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Card
I'm amused when litterateurs sneer at the Harry Potter books, assuming that a big thick children's book must have been "marketed," once again proving that the mass audience is stupid. The opposite is true. ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patton
... Readers who began the story as children were treated to a story of a lonely boy who found out that family were the people who loved you, not necessarily those related to you.
Read their full quotes in
The New York Times.