Just yesterday, Muluken and I finished the Harry Potter series. Seven books. Thousands of pages. More than a million words. It was quite an experience. And an accomplishment.
Tricia started it all about a year ago when she read the first (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and second (Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone) books to Harper and Muluken. I had already read the first book years ago during my first year teaching. Although I loved the book I resisted reading more due to the overwhelming popularity the young series was enjoying. It became a craze that I didn't care to become a part of.
However, after more than ten years the opportunity arose to give it a second chance - Harper and Muluken wanted me to read them the third book (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Trying to read aloud a 448-page book half an hour at a time is a rather slow process. It seemed to take months but, in reality, probably took five or six weeks.
When summer rolled around we all made a trip to the library to pick up four copies of the fourth book (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). The four of us read separately and together, as well as listened to a significant portion while in the van on vacation. Ainsley put in her earphones when the story became too dark or scary and Ty even cried near the end. We figured out not to listen too close to bedtime. By the time we returned from vacation there were only a few chapters left to read and everyone finished nearly as soon as we got home.
Muluken and I then went to the library to get the fifth book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). At 870 pages it felt as though we were carrying around dictionaries. Still, we each finished it within a couple of weeks. There were days when Muluken spent three or four hours reading. I remember seeing him sit and read as those around him played video games, watched television, and threw toy airplanes. Certainly there's far more to life than reading a book but I have to admit that it was awfully fun to see him so engrossed.
It would have been nice to discuss the book but it seemed as though we were forever a hundred pages ahead or behind one another and fearful of learning something we shouldn't know yet. We both finished on the same night - staying up later than we probably should have - and were excited to finally talk freely about favorite parts the next morning.
Around this time we returned home from another of our summer trips and went back to the library for the sixth book (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). We were taking our final trip of the summer (the Appalachian Trail hike) and used our time in the van to push toward that inevitable end - the final book. If we could have fit the massive books into our backpacks during the hike I'm sure we would have. Once home we dug back in and finished the book within a week. Muluken was now reading for about two hours every night before bed and then waking up and reading another hour or so before coming down for breakfast. I struggled to keep up. I found that with preparations for the quickly approaching school year I had to steal as many small moments for reading as I could. While brushing my teeth. While eating lunch. While waiting for the kids to get their shoes on to go somewhere. Soon we had finished and I wondered if we might just take a break.
The next day I was told that Tricia had requested the seventh book for Muluken (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). I was hesitant to begin the book because school was starting, I had a graduate course set to begin, and there were a number of teaching texts I wanted to read. Time for recreational reading (beyond the newspaper and blogs) was scarce. Still, I couldn't see coming all this way - four books in four-and-a-half months, and then letting Muluken finish alone. So I started to read from Muluken's book after he had fallen asleep. Realizing there was no way I was going to keep up, I checked out my own copy from our school library last Friday. How in the world we were able to finish the book in these past seven days I do not know but I can say that the mere fact we wanted to is quite a credit to JK Rowling. Every chapter, every page made you feel as though you were mere moments from finding some secret or clue. You felt as though you were just a paragraph or two from a crucial confrontation. There was a night or two when Tricia fell asleep and I kept telling myself "Just one more chapter!"
While I would not say that Harry Potter is the best children's book(s) of all time I'm more than comforable stating that it's the most important. Thousands upon thousands of kids have learned to love reading because of Harry Potter - many of whom were not ready for such a challenging text but, driven by the engaging story and characters, persevered so that they too could find out how it would all turn out.
Muluken was not ready for this challenging of a text. Not completely. He knew all the names and understood the majority of the storyline. He made predictions as to what he thought would happen next and developed a strong affection, as well as hatred, for certain characters. Still, the vocabulary was tough and there were many parts where he failed to pick up on smaller storylines. He missed the meaning of a few parts. But this I know...it was worth every minute, every page he spent reading because he loved it. And because we were able to share it together.
I don't know that there will be another series that can so deeply consume the both of us - that will bring us together in this unique way. Time will tell. But in the meantime I can be thankful for Harry Potter. Because despite trips to the Virginia highlands and St. Louis, fifty miles on the Appalachian Trail, and a wonderful birthday trip to Lake Jocassee, my most lasting memory of this past summer just might be "The Boy Who Lived" and how he was able to weave an entire summer together for us.
