My Literacy Story

The Harry Potter novels are one of the most popular book series in the world, and in my life. The book series has played an important role throughout my life.

helina01. (August 29, 2015). i love hp photo (photograph). Retrieved from
http://helina01.deviantart.com/art/i-love-hp-photo-556958097 

The Harry Potter novels were really the first series of books that I read independently that other people I knew read. I always read a lot as a child, but the books I read weren’t the same books that other people I knew were reading, if they were reading at all. My best friend growing up didn’t read a lot, and my sister and mom were reading books above my reading level. I never had anyone to talk to about the books I read until the Harry Potter books starting coming out. When the books were first released, everyone was reading them, regardless of age, gender, and previous reading habits as they appealed to a wide range of people. I was finally able to have deep, in depth conversations about what I was reading, which was very meaningful to me.

helina01. (August 29, 2015). I'm part of the harry potter generation photo (photograph). Retrieved from http://helina01.deviantart.com/art/I-m-part-of-the-harry-potter-generation-photo-556958781

When I was younger my sister was more into the series than I was, as she was the age of the characters when the books came out. I was a few years behind her, both in age and in reading the books, so I got them once she was done with them. I was still early on in the series when the final book came out. The book came out in the summer, and I remember my sister having her nose stuck in the book while we were at the cottage. We slept in bunk beds there, and being the little sister I was stuck on the bottom bunk of our rickety bed. I remember I was annoyed with her keeping her reading light on late into the night so she could finish reading the series. I was annoyed that not only was the light was getting into my eyes, preventing me from sleeping, but that she allowed to stay up late to read and I wasn’t. When she got to the end of the series she shook the bed with her sobs over the deaths that happened, and of the ending of the series as a whole. I was shocked as she didn’t cry a lot, and I had never even come close to crying over a book, so I didn’t understand how a book could influence such emotions. Of course, by the time I finished the series for the first time, I was also in tears, and often am even now rereading the series finale!

helina01. (August 29, 2015). we are the harry potter
generation photo collage (photograph). Retrieved
from http://helina01.deviantart.com/art/we-are-the
-harry-potter-generation-photo-collage-556958549

At the end of high school I went to visit a high school friend who was currently in her first year of university. I took the first Harry Potter book with me for fun, light reading for the trip, and I wound up reading the whole book part way through my trip. I ended up not having a lot of fun with my friend, as she had changed a lot in the few months since she left for university, but I really bonded with her dorm roommate. Her roommate and I talked a lot about Harry Potter, and she let me read the auxiliary Harry Potter books, like the Tales of the Beetle the Bard. We even went out together for me to buy the second Harry Potter book so I had something else to read. I was disappointed that I didn’t enjoy my time with my old friend, but I was glad to meet someone new that I could talk about Harry Potter with, as well as learn new things about my favourite book series.

I enjoy listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks as well, as I can listen to my favourite story as I do other things. My favourite book is the seventh, so I often have it downloaded from the local library’s website onto my phone. One time my whole family was driving up to my cottage together, and we were getting restless on the last hour of the five hour trip. I was listening to the audiobook on headphones already, so I suggested we plug it into the sound system and listen to it as a family. I remember feeling really joyful that my whole family was enjoying my favourite book together with me, and that I could help entertain everyone on a long trip.

helina01. (August 30, 2015). potter generation photo (photograph).
Retrieved from http://helina01.deviantart.com/art/potter-generation-photo-557147740

The Harry Potter series means so much to me that I completed my undergraduate thesis on the first three books. We were told at the beginning of the thesis course to pick something we enjoyed, since we were going to spend a lot of time with the subject, so I picked Harry Potter because I know how much I love the books. I explored the adult-child relationships in the novels, to see if the interactions were negative or positive, and if the interactions impacted the children’s problem-solving. I really enjoyed not just reading the books but really analyze the relationships in the books, and to really think about how they might impact the readers when they read the books.  

helina01. (September 11, 2015). read harry potter photo (photograph).
Retrieved from http://helina01.deviantart.com/art/read-harry-
potter-photo-559615318

The nice thing about your favourite books is that they are there for you throughout good or bad times. This is true with my relationship the with Harry Potter series, as whenever I am sad or sick I can pick up a Harry Potter novel and feel better pretty quickly. It’s a series that has been with me since I was little, and will continue to play a role in my life as I get older and become a teacher and parent, as I will be able to share my love of these books with a new generation of readers.