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Speaking of shallow crap and Harry Potter (two barely distinguishable items)...
The nine-year-olds whom I know (who frequent my library), have read the fantasy novels of Diana Wynne Jones, and recognize the crap of Harry Potter by contrast.Check out DWJ's stuff -- which preceded JKR's measley offerings by a generation. DWJ's novels have complex *characters* -- JKR's Harry Potter books have formulized caricatures with predictable reactions to predictable situations.-- Nanaea
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Harry Potter has been described as Billy Bunter on broomsticks ... however, if it gets 'em reading better stuff that we see summarised here by unimaginative authoroids, why not?Have you read Phillip Pullman (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass)? I find it amusing that all the God-squad sites scream the place down about Hogwarts, where Christmas is celebrated, and seem not to notice the blessed St Phillip's remarkable take on God-is-dead.
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I'm definitely in favor of anything that gets the little moppets reading. In my public library, I have a book display titled: "If You Liked Harry Potter, Try THESE!", and it features the fantasy novels of Diana Wynne Jones and others. I personally view Potter as a "gateway drug" to the better stuff.Oh, and the god-squad I've encountered is protesting even C.S. Lewis' Narnia series these days. What is this world coming to?-- Nanaea
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Very good! But if they check out all the books in the display, restock it with The Satanic Bible and anything by William Burroughs...
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LOL!
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