Spoiled Harry a Hero for 'Entitled Generation'

Nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance uses books as inspiration

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter’s battle against injustice in the wizarding world has prompted fans to take the fight to the Muggle universe, the Los Angeles Times reports. Inspired by moral teachings of Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance has registered voters, collected some 13,000 books to donate to community centers, and raised $15,000 for displaced persons in Darfur and Burma. More»

Sixth installment is one of the best in the series

(NEWSER) - Our sixth cinematic trip to Hogwarts holds onto the magic with stunning visuals, great acting, and a maturing storyline:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is “spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments,” writes Claudia Puig in USA Today. “The cinematography is stunning, and the story unfolds in a stately and unhurried fashion.”

Rumor has JK Rowling writing crime novel

(NEWSER) - J.K. Rowling has been spotted writing something in an Edinburgh cafe like the one where she penned the first Harry Potter book, and fellow author Ian Rankin says she's moving in on his territory—crime fiction. Rankin admits he hasn't personally talked to Rowling about her next project; it was his wife who saw her "scribbling away." More»

Record orders for boy wizard's final book flood publisher

(NEWSER) - Advance orders for the final book in the Harry Potter series are up 17% over the last installment, British publisher Bloomsbury reports. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will bring down the curtain on one of the biggest money makers in publishing history on July 21. The latest Potter movie, which has already premiered in Tokyo, is also casting a spell on fans. More»

More than a popular book, Potter transformed literature, says critic

(NEWSER) - With the release of the eighth and final movie in the Harry Potter franchise, stories about the famous young wizard may be over, but the series' legacy—both cultural and literary—will live on, writes John Granger in the Washington Post . "[JK] Rowling transformed our idea of what stories can do," he writes, thanks to the sheer scale of her books' success—her seven books sold 500 million copies in 67 languages (not to mention a few movies you might have heard of). More»