Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site

#302
Title: Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site
Authors: Emerson Spartz & Ben Schoen with Jeanne Kimsey
Publisher: Ulysses Press
Year: 2009
205 pages

It's an interesting idea--debate topics related to the Harry Potter books and films. The reality, however, doesn't live up to the potential of this adequate but ultimately superficial book. Questions of the form "Which is better/worse/more courageous, X or Y?" ultimately polarize rather than lead to a more nuanced exploration of the Potterverse. The "verdicts" rendered are brief and read more as further pronouncements of opinion rather than a weighing of the evidence mustered by the proponents of the opposing perspectives.

Perhaps in an attempt to sound contemporary., or perhaps because the authors are young, much of the text has an annoying attempting-to-sound-cool tone. In addition, there are problems with felicity of expression (such as awkward or ungrammatical sentences and the use of homophones). Some of the factual information is incorrect (for example, Neville's birthday is not June 30 as reported, but July 30).

The most enjoyable way to read the book would be to pose these questions to young (or not-so-young) readers for discussion, including points of comparison as well as contrast. This conversation ultimately may be more satisfying than a passive reading, and will make the book more useful as a conversation starter.