My Declared Love for Harry Potter (the books, not the character)

What I Read that Mattered: Harry Potter
Please comment! I'd like to hear about your experiences of growing up with Harry.

                Harry Potter has always been an experience rather than just a series of books. I remember picking up The Sorcerer’s Stone as a 2^nd grader trying to understand everything it said. I remember being excited for the The Goblet of Fire  to be released and, eventually, The Deathly Hallows. I grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and saw the physical evidence as Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson aged with me.

                Harry Potter has shown me how much power a book can have on you. Books can pull you from reality and into a different world. In Harry’s world, I was able to attend Hogwarts and see the beauty of magic. I fought alongside Harry as he fought Lord Voldemort. I laughed at Harry’s awkward moments with Cho Chang. I awed when Hermione and Ron finally declared for each other. I cried when Dumbledore died. I was shocked when the truth of Snape was revealed. I loved every second of it.

                What I also appreciate about Harry Potter is the movies. Of course, the books were better, but the movies also had a special place in my heart. The actors became icons of Harry Potter, people I will never forget. Harry Potter marathons on ABC Family were always my favorite. It was nice to turn on the TV during holidays and knows that I can always enjoy some Harry Potter at any time. Like the release of the books, the releasing of the movies were annual events that I looked forward to. 8 times I have sat in the theatre with my popcorn and icee squirming with excitement as the Warner Bros. logo finally popped up with the Harry Potter melody.

                The end of a series is always hard. It’s the goodbye that you knew would come, but shoved to the back of your mind because you thought you would have more time. I remember reading the final page of the last chapter of Deathly Hallows and feeling my heart stop. I turned the page and smiled as I saw just a few more paragraphs. It was an epilogue of Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione’s kids. It was a bit silly, but it made me realize how time has truly flown as the J.K. Rowling has written 7 treasures. Although I was sad, I was excited for the films and was relieved when the producers decided to split the last book into two parts, just because it would give me more time to say goodbye. When the movie of Deathly Hallows: Part II finally ended, I didn’t know how to react. How do you let go of something that you’ve grown up with? It’s different from losing a person, because we experience it all the time. But a series. It was a world, a different reality, that I had leave.

                It’s been a while since the movies and books have ceased and I’m doing fine. Sometimes I revisit Harry’s world for old-time’s sake, but realize that it’s just not the same as before. Since then, I have found other books and series that I also enjoy, even though none of them match up to Harry Potter. But life goes on and I am fortunate for growing up in a generation shaped by Harry Potter.

-Stephanie Kim

Dracula: Better than Twilight?

After the numerous vampire books (Twilight, Vampire Academy, Marked, Vampire Shrink, Vampire Diaries, etc) I have read, I'm finally reading Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I initially chose this book to fulfill the 19th century novel requirement and Dracula seemed much more interesting than the other classic books. So far, I like the book. It's really interesting reading a book that I have so much prior knowledge about. Dracula set the standard for a classic vampire: sleeps in a coffin at night, no reflection in the mirror, and, of course, sucks blood. Modern vampire novels never fail to point out that the new vampires are not like Dracula. In Twilight, when Bella went over to Edwards house, he reminded her that they do not sleep in coffins (insert awkward Bella laugh). The most important detail in Dracula that makes it so different from modern vampire novels is the atmosphere and mood of the story. Jonathan Harker, the prisoner of Dracula, is scared out of his mind; he is not captivated by the vampire's extraordinary beauty nor under some mystical spell. After all, I'd be pretty scared too if a vampire was going to suck my blood and slowly kill me. Furthermore, the author does a good job of this scary mood. It feels like I'm in some horror movie. While I'm reading the book, I imagine that I am locked up with Jonathan too and when I hear the door unlock and open by Dracula I feel fear.

P.S. The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead are still the best vampire novels ever written.

-Stephanie Kim

Look to the Future, Leah Harlow

Look to the future
Detach from the past
Let the people go
Start a new this time
Look to the future
Love like it’ll last
Dream like it’s forever
No move envy
Look to the future
Have the star life
Learn from others
Take it in
Look to the future
Be proud with yourself
No more lies
No more disguises
Look to the future
Solve the unresolved
Be someone’s firefly
Stop living for yourself
Look to the future
Be the person
You dream to be
Stop fantasizing
Look to the future
It’s only gets brighter
From here on out
Detach from the past
Look to the future

This was the poem I used for my video. I chose this poem because I liked the message: look to the future. In life, we constantly dwell on the the past, obsessing over mistakes and regrets. However, because life is so short, we have no time to do this. The future is what we work for and holds all our dreams and success. In this time of our lives, the future consumes our daily life. College is the gateway to our future. Sometimes, I feel like I think about the future more than I do of the past. Maybe I should look to the present instead.

-Stephanie Kim

Wintergirls #2

Sorry for the late update. There has apparently been some confusion since I didn't spend much time writing the last post. Cassie started seeing Lia, like if someone was seeing a ghost. She talked to her often and even played crosswords with her. At times I really believed that Cassie was seeing her, but then had to question myself since Cassie was at such a vulnerable state. I think Anderson incorporated this just to show how stressful and overwhelming it is to go through what Cassie is going through.

In the end, we are forced to make up our minds through two polar perspectives. 1. Cold Society: "We can't believe that a mentally unstable person was actually seeing her dead friend." 2. Naive Crazy Person: "She was seeing her. It was real. But what's the point? No one will believe me."

-Stephanie Kim

Wintergirls

I have recently finished reading the novel, Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak. The book is about a teenage girl, Cassie, who suffers from eating disorders. The story starts off with her after she left the rehab center. Her weight is monitored and is forced to attend therapy sessions. To top it off, her best friend Lia, who also had eating disorders, committed suicide. What truly haunts her, however, is the fact that Lia called her 33 times the night she died.

Throughout the book, I was able to experience Cassie's emotions and struggles as she continued to starve herself and attempt to find peace with Lia's death. Along the way Cassie begins to cut herself as her guilt and stress increases.

I have read many books that deal with serious issues of divorce, drugs, eating disorders, self harm, etc, but what I truly appreciate about this book is its ending. Other books have some ridiculously happy ending that seems a bit unrealistic. Anderson, on the other hand, was able to incorporate scenes involving Lia that leaves the reader wondering if what Cassie saw was real or not. Instead of ending the book with Cassie declaring that she is all better, Anderson shows the reader how Cassie is trying and still fighting a difficult battle, which is in my opinion pretty realistic.

-Stephanie Kim