In my tenure at the library, I’ve facilitated quite a few book discussions for children and teens, and there has been one universal ingredient in all of those discussions.  It doesn’t matter the age of the book group members, or the book that is on tap for that meeting:  each time in the last two years that I have sat down with a book group, the conversation has turned at some point to Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter books have irrevocably, and I would argue harmfully, shaped the way that children and teens today read.  I should make it clear that I am not a snobbish hater of Rowling and her work, but my personal opinion is that Rowling’s strength lies in her plotting and overall vision for the Potter series, not in her writing style.  When library patrons, adults and kids alike, rave to me about what a fabulous writer Rowling is, I cringe inwardly.  How can an author who regularly produces wordy, under-edited 800 page tomes be considered a fabulous author?  Her plots are terrific, her fantasy world engaging, but her writing, in my opinion, borders on miserable dullness. Continue reading The State of Reading Today →