Memories of Harry Potter

As I see teen girls laughing and imagining over Twilight, I gag. It is nothing compared to the series I grew up with. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, is the single greatest teenage novel series of all time.

            My mother used to read them aloud to my sister and me. She would create voices for the characters and even attempt a lame British accent. We would gather every evening and listen to the book. When we were learning how to read my mom would trick us into reading a page and then she would read a chapter.

            I liked it because it was such a colorful and descriptive book. It put me in the story and made me almost feel as if I knew the characters myself.

            Reading these chapters was how we ended the day. When other kids wound down with TV, we read Harry Potter. My family only had five channels on the television and so we turned to other methods of entertainment. From this book my sister and I even played “quiddich” with brooms and rubber balls.

            Eventually, we got the books on tape and listened to them in the car on the way to school. It was a really good way to start the morning. The magical tale really lifted up your spirit, and put you in a good mood. Sitting in the blue BMW, listening to the cool and calming British accented guy speaking throughout the car, made it seem all the more real.

I still go back and read these stories, but it will never be the same as being read to as a child.

--Yorgo Kalaitzandonakes