Thank you J.K. Rowling.

 

       I was eleven years old when my parents gave me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for Christmas. I was an avid reader but the book just didn’t interest me much. A month later we were taking a long car ride and Harry Potter was the only thing in our house, including cereal boxes, that I had not read yet. I started the book in the car and finished the entire novel twice before we got to our destination. It was the best book I had ever read in my entire eleven years of life. It involved magic, which always interested me, but also good vs. evil, amazing characters who were my age, and an amazing world that I still love to this day. I have cultivated my closest group of friends based on Harry Potter and my entire childhood was spent being in love with those novels. J.K.Rowling’s napkin scribblings have become more than a fiscal wonderland; they have become an inspiration to people all over the world to pick up a novel in the age of electronics.  From children who never before have been interested in reading to people who have never before had access to books in third world countries. Even adults have become obsessed with the stories after reluctantly picking them up.
       On December 6th, 2008 J.K. Rowling published the Tales of Beedle the Bard. It coincides with a fictional book in the Harry Potter series and she has decided to publish it and make it a reality. I bring this up because when the book was only in pre-orders it was already set to be published in 63 languages. Rowling has reached an international audience like no other ever before. There are even countries that are so desperate to publish the book they translate the novels themselves, unauthorized. I think it is amazing that Rowling has been able to essentially bring the world together, over a novel. Even people in countries as remote as Nepal are reading these novels! Rowling has accomplished this much with a series of books during a time when novels are so easily disregarded.
       Harry Potter has changed my life. When I was a freshman in high school I felt it was uncool to love reading, and especially to be so in love and obsessed with a novel such as Harry Potter. That was before I discovered, in the beginning of the year that I was not alone.  I met others just like me; we spent hours discussing theories on the books and even reading them together. We went to every single midnight release party and based our friendships with people and even relationships on how the other person felt about these novels. I was talking to a friend the other day when I said “I think the reason we became friends in the first place, is because of Harry Potter.” She agreed and we just went on, but that revelation hit me like a ton of bricks. I have J.K. Rowling to thank for a large amount of people in my life whom I treasure. There is even a Facebook group called “I only know you because of J.K. Rowling.” Her novels have inspired music, called “Wizard Rock Bands” which are brilliant, and websites galore. All of us Harry Potter fans feel connected to one another because of our love for these novels. Whenever I am talking to someone new and they mention that they like Harry Potter I feel relieved because I know that on some level we are already connected and understand one another.
       Many people laugh at the idea of changing the world, especially with a novel, which unfortunately is a medium that seems to be becoming more and more antiquated. I think Rowling has accomplished it. I believe that inspiring children to read is an amazing accomplishment all on its own. These children will now go out and read other novels because of Rowling, hoping that they will also love them as much as they did Harry Potter. The whole world has been influenced by these novels that I will treasure forever and I feel indebted to Rowling for giving me something that has truly shaped who I am and changed my life for the better.