On Beyond Potter: life after harry

I am going to skip the part where I lecture about how and why it is important to read. We've all heard it. But I will say that it is important for parents to read to, with, and in front of their kids to set a good example.

A woman I work with was telling me about how her family "only" has two copies of the new Harry Potter book. Her daughter had finished it already, her sons and husband were in the middle somewhere, and she was only on around 30 because she was graciously letting others read it first. As I listened, I thought enviously how great it would be to have something the whole family was so into. My husband and I tend to have different preferences for books. I hope, as our children grow, we can find things that attract us all, so we can eagerly read and discuss as a group.

A lot of people (adults and children) are mourning the end of the Harry Potter series. What next? I also am greiving on behalf of my son and unborn children; though they will probably (hopefully) read the books, they will most likely know the basic plot and maybe have seen the films ahead of time. They won't know the fun and excitement of waiting and waiting for the next book's release. They won't have the option of NOT having the ending spoiled for them. It's like Star Wars. There was never a time when I didn't know Vader was Luke's father--how cool would it have been to be in a theatre on opening night and hear that line? Dang.

Sad though it may be, we do have to move on beyond the Harry Potter series. Fortunately, there are lots of great books available that parents and kids together can read, or that can be read by either adults or grown ups alone. This is a great time for adolescent literature.

My suggestion, if you have kids you want to get (or keep) engaged in reading, is to hook them on a series. One reason Harry Potter was such a phenomenon was because readers got involved with the characters and the quest. There are loads of fantasy series people can use to fill the void. My personal favorite is the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. The first book, Seventh Son, is one of the best books I've read EVER--and I've read a lot of books. The books do not come off as childish or adolescent, but they are something young people could read and understand well, if they were able to handle the later Harry Potter books (which were pretty complicated, actually).

If you google "What to read after Harry Potter," you will find that there are lots of experts trying to help readers cope. For example, you could check here and here and here. Good luck, and keep reading!! It is good for you, your kids, and the world in general.