Weekend Update

We went to Chicago this weekend and saw the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was well done. They had costumes from all the characters, props, magic wands, quidditch equipment, and so on. If you're a fan of the movies, you'll recognize most of the items and get to see them up close. If you're not familiar with the movies, they have some video screens showing scenes from the movies that are relevant to the items nearby. My favorite parts were the animated portraits and seeing the magic wands up close.

A few years ago, we saw a similar exhibit with props and costumes from the Star Wars movies, which we all liked.

Our kids are Harry Potter fans and are reading the books, but we're having a problem with the movies. The first few are rated PG, but the next ones are rated PG-13. They get pretty scary, and since the PG movies are already plenty creepy, we're reluctant to let them see the next ones. Some of the characters like the Death Eaters are scary, even for adults.

J is working in a middle school media center (formerly known as a "library") and she says this is common for book series aimed at youth readers - they start off written for middle/high school, and they get more serious and more violent/scary/adult as they go. Harry Potter books start with a little violence and death, and incorporate more and more as they go along. This is because a book series has to grow with its readers - as those middle and high school students read the next book in the series, they aren't interested in reading more books aimed at younger readers - they want grown-up themes and situations. The Twilight books are another recent example -the first book is OK for middle school readers, but subsequent books have more serious things happening, such as naked people hugging and such, things that are not considered appropriate for middle schoolers. This is a dilemma for new readers whose parents may not want them reading the newest books in the series, but it's aimed at faithful readers who have been with the books at the start.

It's too bad they can't make two different versions of the books - one milder version for new readers, and the more grown-up version for older readers.

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I signed up on MentorNet as a potential mentor for a college student. I was just matched with a student, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Most of the communication goes through email, so it does not take a lot of time.

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I'm looking forward to a relaxing Memorial Day, I hope everyone is taking it easy and getting outside to enjoy the weather!

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