The "Hellaballoo"over Harry

One had to be living under a rock not to have heard about "Harry Potter and the controversy surrounding this best selling phenomonon.

The controversy arises from the fact that Harry is a young wizard in training who attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. This boy wizard has taken the world by storm and has turned even the most reluctant reader into Harry Potter fans.

Over 8 million copies of the Potter series have been sold. There are three already published with four to follow, the next coming out July 8. The other two books, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" amd Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" have been on the New York Times best seller list for months. Adults as well as children have become enamored with Harry. J. K. Rowling, the author says there will be seven in the series, each one getting darker and darker and perhaps even a death of a beloved character.

While Harry has created a phenomenon, not everyone is enthusiastic.

Elizabeth Morence of Columbia, South Carolina said, "The books have a serious tone orf death, hate, lack of respect and sheer evil". She is pushing hard to get the books out of the South Carolina public schools. Other parents in the Bible Belt also feel threatened and are trying to ban the books because they feature witchcraft and evil. these well-meaning parents quote from the book of Deuteronomy 18:10, which states "There shall not be anyone found among you who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft or who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell or a medium, or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord." Not all fundamentalist Christians share this view of the Potter books. Chuck Colsen, a prominent Christian preacher disagrees with the Potter critics. He believes Harry and his friends, "develop courage and display a willingness to sacrifice for one another... Not bad lessons in a self-centered world."

The author, who is British is J. K . Rowling. She states that she is still in shock "over the response to her Harry Potter books. Harry Potter has been on the cover of Time and the books are being compared with children's classics like C. S. Lewis, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and J. R. R. Tolkiens, "The Hobbit". The Potter books have been translated into more that 25 languages.

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