Stories and reviews written by Richard Burnett

Well, after all of the hullabaloo in the mass media, the fourth book in the Harry Potter series is finally out.  You surely know by now that its title is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling and published by Scholastic, 734 pages, and listing for $25.95 in hardback.  These books are the rage with eight to thirteen year-olds, whether they can really read them or not.  Peer pressure makes the weaker readers pretend that they can read or have read the books.  A little better readers plow through them, missing most of the allusions, but picking up on most of the plot.  It takes really good readers in this age range, to pick up on the word play, the allusions, and the humor imbedded in the story line. 

In many ways these books have done more to promote parental involvement in their kids’ reading than any thing that has been published in a long time.  Kids want to share this reading experience with a parent because they want adult help to insure that nothing is missed.  They also want a parent to enjoy it as much as they do.  The books’ author is very much in touch with how kids feel and with what they enjoy.  Of course, Harry Potter is a temporary phenomenon.  The young reading public is just as fickle about its reading tastes as it is about music and favorite celebrities. Wise parents seize the moment and try to move their kids towards becoming lifelong readers of books.  The Harry Potter books provide the opportunity.  As sales figures show, lots of adults are enjoying them, even without sharing them with children. 

One mother, in an interview, provided a blueprint for use of the books.  She said she encouraged her ten- year-old son to read a page and she would read a page.  Two younger siblings, five and seven years old, listened and took part in the discussions.  All enjoyed the experience and profited from it. Priceless! 

Some have criticized the books because they deal with the occult.  Personally, I think they miss the point.  The series deals with the ongoing struggle between good and evil. It is clear-cut which side is which.  The evil characters are not presented sympathetically.  There are adult mentors that are presented as nurturers and protectors of the young characters in the stories. Friendships and loyalty to family and friends are presented in a positive light. If only we could depend upon today’s movies and television to instill the values that are presented in the Harry Potter series. 
 

Shiloh, a story about a boy and his efforts to take an abused hunting dog away from a cruel owner, has been one of the most popular books for kids in recent years.  Shiloh Season is the second book in what the author planned as a trilogy. The 120 page paperback version by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor appeared in 1998, was published by Aladdin Paperbacks, a division of Simon and Schuster, and sells for $2.99. 

Shiloh Season begins with Marty Preston’s already having turned the abused Shiloh into a trusting and loving family pet and companion.  The problem is that Judd Travers, the mean-spirited, beer-guzzling poacher who formerly owned the little hound dog, is still a close neighbor and poses a continuing source of concern to Marty, Marty’s family, and to Shiloh.  There are some gritty elements in the story.  The basic theme, however, is that persevering in trying to do the right thing can lead to surprisingly happy outcomes. 

The little book is easily readable for most kids in the middle grade range, tells a story that boys as well as girls can enjoy, and is short enough to not be overly threatening for a reader who may not want to make a long-range commitment to finishing a book.   Another plus is that the author won a Newbery Medal, an annual prize for the best writing for children, for the first book in the trilogy. 
 

Isabel, Jewel of Castilla in a number of ways stands out among the books in the intermediate section of the local bookstore.  Even though it has a colorful cover and is found among the dozens of paperback books on the shelves, it is a hardback book with gold leaf on its page edges.  At $10.95 it is two to three times as expensive as most of the small books published for children.  The heroine it deals with, the young Isabel who was to become the Queen of Spain, is a historical figure that most of us heard about in our schooling.  Although it is a fictional diary of the teen-age princess, it deals with actual historical events, including the Spanish Inquisition, and presents them in a way a young girl of the period might view them. 

In addition to the fictional diary entries running from February 1466 to October 1469, the book includes a family tree that shows Isabel’s connection with other European royalty, including Catherine, the first wife of Henry the Eighth of England. It also includes an Epilogue and Historical Notes that place the events of the book in a broader historical context.  A section that includes pictures of actual engravings, tomb sites, maps, and castles of the period adds to the book’s coverage of Isabel.  In effect, the accounts of the coming of age problems of a young girl are used to provide a motivating connection to a serious study of history. 

The author, Carolyn Meyer, has written more than forty books for middle grade and young adult readers.  This particular book would make a great gift for a serious-minded pre-teen or early teenager who is looking ahead to her higher education. 
 

Antarctica, Escape from Disaster is not a fun-and-feel-good book like the Harry Potter books.  It a book for a boy that is mature enough that he is ready for hard-to-take reality and not just fantasy.  There is no profanity or obscenity in the book, but there are some gut-wrenching scenes of what Antarctic explorers went through in the early days of exploration and the race to be first to the South Pole.  The book is fiction but it is based on the accounts of those explorers and adventurers who survived to tell about what it was like. 

The author, Peter Lerangis, is credited with movie adaptations including The Sixth Sense, El Dorado, and Sleepy Hollow. This guy can get your attention and hold it until he wants to let you go.  For that pre-teen or early teenager who thinks books are for sissies, this might help change his mind.  For only $4.50 it would be a good investment to leave it lying around the house for him to stumble over.