Harry Potter Mania!
posted 07/23/2007
Don’t worry I am not writing about what happened in the new Harry Potter
book. I won’t spoil anything. I have only just started it myself so you
are safe to read on. I won’t even try to convince you to read it if you
have somehow managed to escape his spell. But I couldn’t let the release
of the seventh and final Harry Potter go by without any acknowledgment in my
column.
The release of this book is being touted as the biggest publishing event
of all time. Parties at bookstores and libraries around the world released
the book at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. This has been a truly singular event in
publishing history. Here are some reasons why:
- The original U.S. printing of the first Harry Potter book was 50,000
copies.
- The original U.S. printing of the final Harry Potter book is 12 million
copies.
- From 1990-1999 the Harry Potter books were the 48th most challenged book.
- From 1990-2000 the Harry Potter books were the 7th most challenged book.
- From 2000-2005 the Harry Potter books were the 1st most challenged book.
- From 1990-2004 J.K. Rowling was the 4th most challenged author.
- In 2006 the Kids and Family Reading Report conducted by Yankelovich and
Scholastic found "just over half (51 percent) of Harry Potter readers ages 5-17
say they did not read books for fun before they started reading Harry
Potter, but they now do."
- The New York Times Best Seller List created a new list to account for
Harry Potter books.
- As part of the 2006 banned book week celebration readers voted Harry
Potter their favorite challenged book.
- At our last county fair the Harry Potter books were voted the favorite
book of the last 100 years.
In case you lost track the seven books in order are:
- "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" ("Harry Potter and the
Philosopher’s Stone" in England) (1997)
- "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)"
- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)"
- "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)"
- "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)"
- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)"
- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)"
If you didn’t stay up and get your own copy at one of our bookstores at on
Saturday at12:01 a.m., be sure to place your hold today!
Laura Tretter, Director
San Juan Island Library
360.378.2798
ltretter@sjlib.org
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