Search - Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

First off, yes, I am a devoted Harry Potter fan and love reading The Leaky Cauldron so when I learned Ms. Anelli was writing about her experiences inside the HP phenomenon, I knew I would be reading it.

Just as I laughed and cried at Harry, Ron, Hermione and all the others, I laughed and cried with Melissa and Emerson and John and Jo. An aspiring writer myself, Ms. Anelli's way of sucking us in to her doubts and her dreams had me reading long into the night.

Is this book a tremendous literary achievement? Certainly not if set next to historians such as David McCullough and others. However, anytime I read a coming-of-age biography that is not filled with sex, violence, drugs and all the negativity many seem to feel are the "normal" rights of passage for young people today, I have a deep abiding sense of triumph in my soul. There are good young people in this world who can be trusted when it is time for us old fogeys to pass the torch--and may Melissa Anelli reign for many more years as one of those principled journalists who carries a sense of true pride in media accuracy and integrity. Write on, Melissa, through whatever the future brings!

Not a big fan of this book. She may be part of the team that created The Leaky Cauldron website, but I feel that her personal Harry Potter "experience" doesn't merit a published book. If anyone should be giving a personal account, it should be JK Rowling herself.