Challenged Book

The book I chose to reread was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I love the HP books so much, I have read each one about five times now. Although this seems like a cliche one to use, I feel very passionate about the fact it is on the challenged book list.

Although I am a Christian, and it is the Christian community that seems to challenge the series, it shocks me every time I hear someone who is against it. I think of challenged books as books have to much or inappropriate sexual content, language, violence, drugs use, racism, controversial subjects, exc. After all, these are topics I have either felt uncomfortable reading or would vbe wary of my own children or students reading. If I really think about it and put myself in their shoes, I can see how parents who tend to fear witchcraft and that sort of thing might be concerned, but if they read it, I don't see how they could really think it is a bad book for kids to read. This is of particular interest to me, as most of my family members and church friends love HP, but that a few won't even read it themselves because it is bad.

I do believe we need to respect everyone's beliefs, but if HP was challenged, I would definitely have some food for thought to challenge it! First of all, many of the parents or people I hear complain about HP are hypocritical to me. I would be much more concerned about my kids watching some of the tv shows they do with a lot of sex, playing violent video games, or seeing gory movies. Now, many of these same people don't do these things, but many do! That to me is so hypocritical.

I truly see HP as a fantasy genre, and it is obvious JK Rowling designed it to be fiction. If my child started getting involved in witchcraft then I might be concerned, but studies show this is generally not the case. And if it was, I highly doubt an entertaining children's book would be the only motivating factor. I would talk to my child, not blame a book. I believe if you atatck HP you might as well attack every fantasy and sci-fi movie or book-is Star Wars suggesting there are aliens? (Another subject of the debate in the Christian community, but not one people usually associate with all of the popular sci-fi out there). I am not attacking Christianity, I am a Christian, but I am saying some Christians over-censor.

How about Lord of the Rings? The author was Christian so it appears to be okay within the entire Christian community, but how is the magic of Frodo and his ring any different than witchcraft, when it all comes down to having special powers? In the world of Hogwarts, there is good and evil, a theme you can even find throughout the Bible. Some could even parallel Voldemort to Satan, a fallen angel. Rowling also effectively combines her boundless imagination with that of folklore-she is making all of these characters up-dragons and centaurs and other creatures are part of the world's history and mythology; the debate shouldn't be about if they are real or not and if we are teaching them to students-these were myths that people did believe once and something we can learn about. And if that still offends people, people need to remember it is a story. It is not teaching students anything controversial about sex or drugs, but about pretend witchcraft they can only do at home. In the Deathly Hallows in particular, Harry, Ron, and Hermione struggle with many challenged youth face and can relate to-relationship problems both with friends and in dating, feeling lonely and inadequate, absence of parents, and a whole host of other growing up problems.

Not only does Rowling create a seemless and brilliant blend of fiction and mythology, she is a really excellent writer to. She does something most authors can only attempt to-writes a highly engaging story that readers of all ages, backgrounds, and reading levels can read. She made my own brother who hated reading absolutely love it, and go on to read other books. Her dialogue, word choice, and style is something students can both admire and learn from. It would be a huge shame to not let children read these books.