And still a kid in a book store

Apropos of nothing, I figured it was time for a post on Harry Potter.

After nine months of me using Harry Potter for nearly every example in class, of me occasionally using a makeshift wand as a makeshift pointer, of me grinning wildly whenever a student opened Sorcerer's Stone for the first time, a student asked me,
"Have you read Harry Potter?"

I gave him a taste of this response:

I am the generation that grew up with Harry Potter, the generation that bought the book at midnight and finished by midnight, so no one could spoil the ending for us. I am the year that grew up with Harry himself. I met Harry when I was 11 and so was he. At 15, I understood my baseless teenage anger through Harry's well-earned fury. I was raised by Jo Rowling to know the subtle differences between selfishness and hate, tolerance and acceptance. I am the generation who knows what is worth sacrificing for without ever having had to sacrifice. We understood our wars through Harry's. The first article I published was about the release of the sixth book. I was 16; so was Harry. Harry grew up and left school, and so did I. And when my friends and I returned to our favorite haunt, the children's section of the bookstore by my house, and all the time and space that divided us that year blossomed before us, grew into a gulf between us, Harry was a bridge. And nearly a decade later, when I left journalism to be a teacher, Harry connected me to you.

Yeah, kid, I've read Harry Potter.

"But have you read the fourth book?"
Oh, 6th-graders.

Harry Potter was my childhood. It is an integral thread in the ties that bind my friendships. All of my memories from a certain time of life are tinted with the blues and oranges and greens of its covers. I don't dress up in costumes or practice spells by night, but I have a letter with my name on it inviting me to platform 9 3/4 on September the 1st (of what year, I don't know), and I keep it safe. I grew up in the dream that magic is real, and I have no plans to leave that dream world. It's such a joy to be a teacher and see my students enter that world on their own.

And now, just in case Jo Rowling ever reads this, I have a couple of questions. Harry Potter is a great way to teach inferences and predictions. The magical world is so rich in details that students can root their ideas in textual evidence and then let their imaginations grow wild. So I asked my students these questions, and I'd love to hear your thoughts:

1. How does the magical community know the details of Harry's first encounter with Voldemort just hours after it happens?
2. What does Dudley hear when the dementors draw close?

Finally, my students are now authors, too. We wrote a guidebook to NYC for kids and families. You can buy it online through this link. We'd love to give you the grand tour of our home.