New Harry Potter Book Enchants Local Readers

Amanda King: "All of a sudden it's not for little kids anymore." Michael Black: "Hermione is sort of a suck up." Peter Wakeman with his set of English-edition Harry Potter books.

The latest volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was published July 7 with the largest initial printing—3.7 million copies—of any book in the history of publishing.

The Seattle Press interviewed several local fans of the Harry Potter books and found that they love the language and they love the characters in the books, as well as the exotic adventures that unfold.

"Harry's not fake," explained Amanda Scott, 15. "He's not like Nancy Drew who was perfect-perfect. Even though he's a wizard, his hair's messy and he wears glasses. He seems like a real, honest person."

Amanda read the first three Harry Potter books, but The Goblet of Fire "was a really big leap," she said. "All of a sudden, it’s not for little kids anymore."

Amanda, who is in the 10th grade at Garfield High School, says many of her friends are reading it or have asked to read it.

Michael Black, a Whitman Middle School 8th grader, was on page 327 of Goblet of Fire when we talked to him. He said the book "is bigger and better than the other three books. More stuff happens; it has a lot more action."

"It's really well written," Michael said, "But there were a few words like 'vindictiveness' I didn't know and I had to ask my mom about." A supporting character in the book is Harry's friend Hermione, who many readers think is a stand-in for author J.K. Rowling.

Goblet of Fire Sets Local Sales Records

Secret Garden Book Shop in Ballard sold out their initial 400 copies of the book the same day it was released at a midnight costumed celebration in the store. Since then total sales at Secret Garden have climbed to nearly 1,000, far and away their biggest seller ever in children's books. At University Bookstore's University Way store, children's department head Patricia Johnson said they've also sold nearly 1,000 copies of Goblet of Fire. Nearly 700 kids and parents came to their 8 a.m. release party with free wands and a continental breakfast. "When we opened there was a line clear around the block," Johnson said. "Pretty soon, you could find a child curled up with a copy of the book in every nook and cranny in the store. Goblet of Fire is "darker with occasional blood and body parts," Johnson says. "It's written to an aging audience. Rowling's audience is getting older, experiencing new things, new problems, and so is Harry."

Michael found Hermione to be a very vivid character in the book. "She's very smart, sort of a nerd and a suck up. She hangs out in the library. She hates it when things don't go smoothly."

Michael's mom Julie Black is eagerly waiting to read Goblet of Fire and Michael has been forbidden to reveal any of the plot or action. "You know he's really into it when you hear him laughing out loud as he's reading," she said.

Peter Wakeman, a Whitman 8th grader, hasn't read Goblet of Fire yet. He is re-reading the first three books in the English editions that Peter and his mother Meg bought in a Paris bookshop when they were on a trip to Europe earlier this summer.

"The English editions sound better," Peter says. "In the American edition they changed a lot of the words so American kids could understand it more easily, like 'jumper' just means sweater in England, but here it means a girl's dress."

Peter says he likes finding and figuring out unfamiliar words like "crumpet" and "flabbergasted."

Peter has a lot of sympathy with Harry, an orphan who was thrust into the care of his detestably shallow and pernicious relatives, the Dursley's.

"His aunt and uncle think he's evil," Peter said. "He's not allowed to do fun things and they try to lock him in his room. I feel sorry for him, but I'd like to be him."

Peter thinks he and Harry have a lot in common: "He gets older in each book, so we're always about the same age. Whenever Harry hears something or sees something unusual, he wants to investigate and learn about it. I'm like that too."

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