MuggleNet.Com's What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7?

Authors: Ben Shoen, Emerson Spartz, Andy Gordon, Gretchen Stull, & Jamie Lawrence (with Laura Thompson)
Published Date: 2006
Letter Grade: D+

Disclaimer: The opinions stated here do not reflect my feelings toward Harry Potter, MuggleNet.com, MuggleCast, or the authors in general.

That having been said (thought it should be included, since I am sending this to MuggleNet):

I've been a Harry Potter fan for some time now. Judy bought gave me Chamber of Secrets (COS) one Christmas, but I didn't actually read the series until summer 2000 when Goblet of Fire (GOF) was released, and pretty much had a Harry Potter filled summer.

I'm not sure when/how exactly I came across MuggleNet, except that I was already an occasional visitor by the time Half-Blood Prince (HBP) came out, and Spartz got to interview JK Rowling. (I am, of course, envious. Though, I'd have much rather interviewed KA Applegate.. but I'm usually alone in that sentiment when compared to JKR. Fair enough.) That, and I enjoyed the fanfiction section. Or at least, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed fanfiction.net's Harry Potter section. Some of those were just ridiculous. More recently, I've been listening to the podcasts (MuggleCast), which is how I heard about the book at all. I don't spend terribly much time in the Children's section these days, sadly. (Children's lit is grossly underestimated by some people, I think.)

To stay on topic:

I went to the Borders back home, found the book (it took a bit of searching. I wasn't sure what "Shelf H" was meant to signify. At any rate, there seemed to be more than 8 shelves) and was none too pleased to see that it cost $13.95. For a paperback in the Children's section. That's ridiculous. I bought Candice Hern's latest, which is 98 pages longer (I'm not counting the About the Authors page in WHIHP7) and it cost me only $6.99. Granted, I know what I can expect from Hern.

The price is a petty reason to give a book a bad grade. I take comfort in knowing that I'm helping to support a wonderful website, as I really do respect Spartz's work on it, and the work that the others have done on it as well. And of course, if I liked the book, it should be worth the price, right?

Right. The problem is, I didn't like the book.

I understand that the book is merely speculation, obviously. I bought it with that knowledge. Buuuut...

Okay, let me give you an example of something that drove me nuts:

The whole chapter on Dumbledore. This wouldn't be an issue if the book were written/published before JKR shot down the "Dumbledore's not dead" theory. I even hung on to the hope for all of ten seconds when Sarah mentioned it to me after my rant about people on neopets.com's NeoBoards spoiling HBP for me (and therefore strengthening my resolve to closet myself away for a week after Book 7 is released).

But she DID shoot it down. And the authors make reference to this. So why then is the issue even brought up? With all of the so-called "evidence" that backs it up? It goes on for seven freaking pages.

And then there's the chapter on Snape. Maybe I'm just thick, which is certainly possible, but I really don't get the whole "Snape's good" theory. I really don't get it. It just doesn't make sense to me. To take into consideration: Him killing Dumbledore. As Bellatrix said (and I don't have the exact quote, as OOTP is buried under a lot of other books enroute to Dad's new house at the moment) in order to cast an Unforgiveable Curse you have to really mean it. You can't just throw out a half-assed Avada Kedavra and expect it to work. It doesn't work like that.

Since I do actually have HBP with me: "Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in harsh lines of his face.
"Severus... please..."
Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!" (HBP, 595-696).

To be fair, I only read half of the chapter on Snape, I became so frustrated with it. Seeing as how I spent a whopping $13.95 on the book, I felt the least I could do was actually finish the book. Or, anyway, get to the end of it, having read and/or skimmed most of it.

I think I enjoyed all of two chapters of this book. The chapter on Love, and the chapter on R.A.B. That's about it. I did find it interesting that Spartz and Cassidy apparently go to the same university, if you count things that fall under the category of "Oh, isn't that a coincidence?"

That's about it. I spent $13.95 for two chapters and an About the Authors page. And I guess there wasn't anything wrong with the Foreword, either.

Also wasn't a fan of the theory that Snape loved Lily. The quote used as "proof" didn't prove anything in my opinion.

I won't get into how I feel about the "Harry's a Horcrux" thing. That's better left out of this review, if for no other reason than that things that make me want to bang my head against the wall I usually cannot express in a nice enough fashion. (See Disclaimer.)

Bottom line: With the exception of two chapters, the foreword, and the about the authors page, the book drove me out of my mind, saved from the garbage can by the horrific amount of money I had to spend on it.

Folks, I beseech you, the next time you want to write a book, go right on ahead, but if there's even the slightest mention of price going above $10... rethink it. Honestly. It's a PAPERBACK IN THE CHILDREN'S SECTION. And it's only 214 pages long, excluding the about the authors page, despite it's redeeming qualities.

Ah, another thing: there's a connection to King Arthur and Camelot (p. 184). I think it should be pointed out that Guinevere cheated on Arthur with Sir Lancelot. Not the greatest of comparisons to be making if you want to assert the idea that Ginny and Harry will make it (not arguing that they shouldn't, but it's a bad connection to make if you want to support the idea.) Suggested reading: Le Mort D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory.

I did like one thing besides the aforementioned chapters, to be fair. In the chapter "What About Everyone Else?" under Voldemort: "What do you think is going to happen to Voldemort?" (p. 181)

That made me laugh. Bonus points for making me at least crack a smile at a point when I'd pretty much given up all hope.

The Silent Boy

Author: Lois Lowry
Published: 2003
Letter Grade: A+

Y'all know by now that every book worth reading in my opinion has a story behind it.

So, about seven years ago now, Steve told me about this book that I just had to read, called The Giver. It should be pointed out that, back then, if Steve had told me that spinach tasted like candy I would've believed him and ate it. (My mother's been overlooking a great method of persuasion for YEARS.)

But yeah. I read The Giver, loved it, still count it as one of my favorite books. Didn't touch Lowry again. I have the tendency to do that when the first book I read by an author is an instant hit with me. Though, there is a method to this madness, if I was late in finding it.

Anyway. I'd contemplated a few of Lowry's books over the years, never buying them. For some reason I decided to pick up this one, though. Found it at Borders recently, and decided, why not?

It's been years since I read anything by Lowry at all. My memory of The Giver has become limited to the basic plot, and Gabe waving "bye bye" which, if memory serves, was my preferred method of saying goodbye to Steve when one of us logged off for awhile afterward. That, and general fond memories of stuff happening around that time put it in a better light.

So I get to The Silent Boy, not all too sure of what to expect.

The basic synopsis: It's about Katy Thatcher, a little girl living during those last few years
before the first World War. A girl named Peggy Stoltz comes to work for Katy's family so that she (Peggy) can send money back to her own family, back on the farm. Her sister, Nell, works next door for the Bishop family. The "Silent Boy" in the title is Peggy's younger brother, Jacob, who, as the title suggests, never talks or really respond to anything anyone says to him, but has a wonderful gift with animals, and Katy forms a friendship of sorts with him when comes to their barn during his "roamings" to visit the Thatchers' horses.

It's a sweet story in a lot of ways. Just the interactions between the characters, and the everyday extraordinary events. There are bits and pieces that seem like they would be unimportant, but turn out incredibly important to the ending. Lowry manages to weave it all together expertly, even for such a short book. I've read enough short books that were too rushed, with storylines better suited for a longer book, but Lowry actually knows what she's doing.

It doesn't take much guess as to why this book got the grade it got. There wasn't a thing to dislike. Though, is it bad that I wasn't unhappy to read what became of Paul Bishop at the end?

Since he's a fictional character, I'll just assume yes.