Book Worm

One of the biggest and most anticipated book that is being released this year is the last installment of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, which most of us are sad to see end. Fans and booksellers are preparing for the big opening day, which is likely to be a crazy night. It’s been a long hard road for Harry Potter and after ten years J.K. Rowling is closing the series.

The unvieling of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” will be on July 21st at midnight. It’s a date that readers such as Michael Lattimer, 12, of Wausau know as well as their own birthdays. The sixth-grader at Horace Mann Middle School can’t wait to read the book and see how the story ends. “The plot continues to thicken in each one,” Michael said. “You get hooked on it, and you want to find out what happens.”

Michael is just one of millions of Potter fans who are waiting with a bittersweet mixture of anticipation and sadness. Since Rowling first introduced Harry and his fellow students at Hogwarts to the world 10 years ago, the books have sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages, broken countless sales records and shattered assumptions that young people, especially boys, don’t like to read.

A few die-hards already have reserved copies of “Deathly Hallows” at Janke Book Store in downtown Wausau, said Jane Janke Johnson, co-owner. “That will pick up as momentum builds.” She’ll be ordering hundreds of copies in preparation for the fervor. Lynne Lattimer, 40, also is looking forward to the new book. She got hooked on the series about four summers ago when she started to listen to the books on tape.

“I think it’s fascinating,” she said. “It explores good and evil from both an adolescent’s and adult’s perspective. And it’s good entertainment.” As excited as Michael is to read the last book, he knows there will be a letdown when he finishes it. He has a plan for that, too. “First I’ll read the whole series again,” he said. “And you know there will be more movies to come out yet. I’ll be happy to go see those.”