In the fall of 1998, my sixth-grade teacher recommended a new book that had just come out. It was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I took my teacher’s advice. And I was instantly enchanted by the magical world J.K. Rowling had created. I desperately wanted to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I also wanted a pet owl and my own wand.
That was the start of my lifelong love of Harry Potter. I wasn’t alone. The seven Harry Potter books have become the best-selling series of all time. More than 500 million copies have been sold worldwide. The books have been published in 80 languages.
I remember having to wait a year or more for each new book. It was so hard not knowing what was going to happen next! People would line up to buy the books as soon as they went on sale at midnight. I’d get each one the day it came out. I wouldn’t stop reading until I had read every last page. And while I waited for each new book to be released, I reread the others over and over again.
When I first met Harry, we were both 11 years old. As I got older, I noticed he was dealing with many of the same issues I was. He tried to be a loyal friend and struggled to stand up to bullies. For a shy muggle (or nonmagical person) like me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt more like my friends than like fictional characters. It was as if we were growing up together.
Harry is still a huge part of my life. I even ended up working at Scholastic, the company that publishes the Harry Potter books in the U.S. Someday I’ll read the stories to my own kids. I can’t wait to tell them what it was like to be part of the first group of kids to grow up with Harry.