Blogger: Rachel Kent
I came across this article on Yahoo yesterday, and I’m not sure what to think of this mom’s efforts to “fix” Harry Potter by writing a “reverse fan fiction” on fanfiction.net.
https://tv.yahoo.com/news/mom-rewriting-harry-potter-replace-witchcraft-christianity-221000371.html
I agree with her that we do need more moral, Christian books for children to read, but I don’t think she has the right approach here. Not only is she setting herself up for mockery, but she’s wasting time (in my opinion), re-writing a book that is already written when she could be writing something original.
This must violate copyright laws, too. I know that those writing the smashups of Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility got away with it because the works are public domain, but Rowling is very much alive, and the Harry Potter series is still protected.
I do have a soft spot for Christian YA fantasy, and I know that many of the books I read as a teen changed my life. I think this mom could find some great alternatives to Harry Potter for her kids to read that are already published in the CBA market.
How do you feel about the Harry Potter series? Would you let your children read them? Why or why not?
What do you think of this article about the rewrite?
As a writer, how would you feel if someone did this to your book? What would your response be?
What good Christian fiction would you suggest for children who want to read Harry Potter?
I wouldn’t want someone to do this to my writing, which–legal issues aside–raises the “do unto others” red flag. Perhaps it would be better to shift the exercise to the reader, asking “how would this scene play out from a Christian perspective?”
We didn’t read Harry Potter together, but my kids and I had conversations about good and evil in other books (Tom Sawyer inspired some interesting discussions about slavery). I vote for teaching children to think it through for themselves instead of handing them a repackaged version.
I agree, Rachel. This mother reminds me of people who protest against politicians all the time but are never willing to get involved in their own hometown government and run for office themselves.
This writer should spend her energies creating her own characters in their own world. If she wants to allude to the storyline of that series so badly, one of the characters she creates could be helping a friend who is hooked on Harry Potter. If I were Rowling, it would irritate me that someone is changing the characters that I created.
As an alternative to this series, I suggest The Giver by Lois Lowry and the other books connected to it. Those books, although not Christian, could easily be discussed by comparing characters to the messages of Christianity.
That can be done with the Potter series as well. Any book, secular or Christian, that gets the reader to think about what they believe and why they believe it is well-worth the time to read.
Maybe this mother should spend her time writing a discussion guide where Christian parents/teachers can discuss books like this with young readers.
Ohhhh, rant coming…
I have this thing about setting people apart and thus setting them up to fall. When people raise children in a rigid, legalistic bubble, only letting them have Christian friends and only letting them read certain books and refusing to allow as much as mascara on a girls face, I call that trouble.
We have four kids, 23, 20, 16 and 11. One is just getting her act together after a 5 year run at open rebellion, and one is training to become an RCMP officer. How’s that for a dichotomy in da house? But they were raised in the same home. Same rules. Same access to books, although the police officer had a think for spec/fantasy YA and his rebellious sister used to do Bible studies on the phone with her best friend.
Force feeding kids treacle is fooling them into believing the world thinks as they do. Umm, there are gay people in the world. And my gay friends are nice, kind people who just want to have a happy life. There are other religions in the world, and yes, there are even really, really sweet atheists, some of whom are my friends. They respect me and my beliefs, because we are open and honest with each other.
Filling our kids with solid Biblical teaching and arming them with a Christ-centered battle plan *is* ‘putting on the full armour of God’. Learning to be critical, analytical thinkers who ask polite questions and engage in informed debate in a world that sees faith as weakness is far more benefit to them, and those with whom they discuss their views, than re-writing Harry Potter and restricting access to YA fiction.
Yes, there were things we refused to allow, but those were easily outweighed by the things we did allow.
Maybe she should re-write Lord of the Rings? Hello? Gandalf was a what? A WHAT? A wizard!
And given that she engaged in this literary fiasco in a culture that is somewhat litigious, I’d sue her sorry hide if she did ths to me. Because it takes a village to get a book pubbed, and don’t think my village would lie down and let you steal or mock our hard work.
Why, why, WHY do SOME Christians feel the need to thump those with whom they disagree over the head with a Scofield reference Bible?? Especially to a woman like JK Rowling? Who, by the way, spends millions of her own pounds building transition homes for Eastern European orphans.
Recommendations? Ted Dekker, Carla Laureano, Donita K Paul.
Okay….calming down…sorta.
And there is magic in Cinderella. 🙂
Exactly, Shelli. And in Chronicles of Narnia. And in many other beloved fictional tales. Good vs. evil.
That being said, there are many YA titles I would draw the line at for our daughter. For example, those with an endless stream of cursing or sexual innuendo. So much of that isn’t relevant to the story. It’s for shock value. And sales.
For me, a message with redemption is key.
Jennifer, I could not agree more.
As Christians we must be in the world, but not OF it. It doesn’t mean we are not to label “sin” as sin. However, some folks forget… we are judged in the same way non-believers are. If we’re too busy polishing the plank in our own eye, how will others see us as any different?
Good thoughts.
Hear, hear. Lovely. 🙂
All I can say is, “Amen, sister!”
I caught a glimpse of the article yesterday and was so bored, I stopped reading it. If I want to read HP, I’ll read the girls’ books.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about HP when the girls were little, and there was so much talk about it. I remember a speaker coming to our church … “How Your Kids Can Watch Harry Potter.” So, I waited for HP till the girls were teens. And after watching LOTR and Star Wars, HP paled in comparison. We loved it. It was fun watching the kids grow up throughout the series. But what I did have to ensure is that the girls weren’t “crazy” about it … and kept the movies/books in proper perspective. As with anything.
I walked into a Christian bookstore here in the Dallas area and was very disappointed at the YA selection. There was one shelf and absolutely no order to it. I picked up one book that shed adoption in a bad light (you wouldn’t believe how common that is) … girl seeking to find biological father (I could write a non-fiction book on this … makes me fume). Well, my girls are adopted. So I placed it back. We walked out with our new Bibles and that was all. Sadly and shamefully, teens don’t seem to have much selection in the Christian market. I seriously felt embarrassed for my girls to see that selection.
So before knocking Harry Potter, please realize there are not many options for kids. My girls still buy books in the tween/middle grade/classic section in B&N because the teen section is so dark … vampires dripping blood, ugly words used. Again, HP pales in comparison. And I may be totally misled here, too … but I look at the covers. And run.
Yeah, I run with you. It’s a disgrace.
For what it’s worth, when I was growing up I had a desire to read books that buttressed my faith.
I found them in nonfiction, the combat memoirs from WW2. These men were my real heroes. Witches, wizards, and Martians paled in comparison.
Andrew, my oldest loves WWII books, movies … John Wayne may be responsible! 🙂
Well, I read the article, and the writing excepts are…awful. If I were Rowling that would be the focus of my attack.
Reading it was embarrassing.
There’s a link at the end of the article to a Wikipedia article on religious criticism of the Harry Potter series, and it’s worth reading. Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_debates_over_the_Harry_Potter_series
Jennifer Major makes a good point about equipping kids with the full armour of God, and there is something we have to realize about armour –
Hard and impervious doesn’t cut it.
Effective armour has to deal with both penetration and shock, so the ideal qualities include a hard ‘face’ and a tough and flexible inner core (tough in the engineering sense, meaning that it can take a lot of deformation before rupture). Long before WW1 the Krupp company developed just such a steel armour, called “Krupp cemented” of KC armour.
In case you’re interested, Japanese swords were developed centuries before with similar properties; hard edge, tough blade.
Kids need this kind of armour in their faith, and the best stories are those in the Gospels. And I’m talking stories, not “sound bites”. I know that “all of the Scripture is useful for instruction…etc, etc”, but the whole point of faith is the story of God becoming man, being tortured and killed as a sacrifice for a sinful world, and rising from the grave to defeat death. It’s a story, not a collection of sayings, and Jesus taught in parables, and in His own actions.
We also should be careful in making sure that we, ourselves, understand the difference between faith and creed. I know a family that placed huge stock in the “young earth” model, and the geological catastrophism paradigm on which it’s based.
In high school their son wanted to be a preacher, but when he went to college, he became interested in geology, in which the model of uniformitarianism and the ‘ancient earth’ hold sway.
The boy’s faith was destroyed, So much depended on a tenet of creed that was central to the teachings of his family’s denomination, and when it came up against arguments that he found convincing, the armour shattered. He’s now a rather militant atheist.
I have no specific recommendations, because kids will find their own lines of reading interest (I know I did) and at some point parental recommendations will become counterproductive.
The important thing is to know what your kids are reading, to be able to discuss them,. and, yes, to invoke the authority to say, “You’re living in my house, and you will NOT read ‘Fifty Shades’.”
Jennifer’s also right in that a treacly worldview is a disservice to kids – and to us. Jesus was tortured to death, and eleven of twelve Apostles died at others’ hands. Being a Christian does not mean sweetness, light, and prosperity in the temporal sense – if it did, if there were “prayer secrets” that would guarantee business success, it would be a lot closer to witchcraft than Harry Potter ever was.
Here endeth my rant.
Many of us don’t set a very good example in regard to Christian stories in what we read and watch; “do as I say, not as I do” is hardly effective with kids.
Also, most of us have favorite Scripture verses…but how many can just as quickly answer a question about our favorite parable or Bible story?
Just read it…Yeah, she would definitely be better off just writing something new. As you mentioned, Rachel, I think she’s setting up herself–as well as other Christians–for mockery. And I would be worried about copyright issues, too. But I do agree that we need more quality Christian material for kids and teens.
Rachel, our son devoured the HP books. Loved them. Our daughter hasn’t read the books, but adores the movies. Our son is a teacher now, but from the time he was a youngster, he understood the good vs. evil concept and we talked about this as he read.
(And I’d be very dismayed–okay, upset in a Christian kinda way– 🙂 if I were Rowling and came across this attempt to rewrite my books to fit her model.)
Our daughter enjoys Lisa Tawn Bergren’s series, and of course C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Anne Elizabeth Stengl is on her wish list for Christmas.
As a former librarian at a Christian school, I did not put Harry Potter on the shelves, mainly because it would have made my life miserable.
My own kids read them, and in fact, when a new one came out, we passed it around between us all.
In the youth market, there is almost nothing out there that says ‘there is true evil in this world, and it is worth giving your life to fight that evil.’ So although I was not 100% comfortable with the magical aspects, I felt that a book which portrays good vs evil was important. The middle-grade and YA shelves are full of new-age, post-modern themes. I have a lot more problem with that.
I do think that the re-write is insensitive, unnecessary, and is an embarrassment to herself and to those of us who claim Christ.
My parents didn’t let me read Harry Potter until I was a legal adult and didn’t live with them anymore. But I wasn’t even interested in that kind of book. There are so many other great works out there. I even think of Narnia or Lord of the Rings if they want a popular “big book” to read. I don’t think she should have rewritten HP- I agree, original works inspired because she wanted her kids to read something different is probably the better option.
Anna E Meyer
I read the article yesterday, and part of the “re-write.” It was awful, and sounded a bit like it could be fake. I’ve seen other articles that point to this all possibly being a hoax someone wrote to try to get attention.
I’ve read all the HP series, as has my pre-teen daughter. I’m reading them (slowly) with my son. I loved the discussions that I had with my daughter about the themes of the books and the character development and the emotions that went with it.
I agree with you. Whether this is fake or real, writers should focus their attention on writing something original!
Many years ago, I got into a little tiff with my mother-in-law about the Harry Potter books. Though she had never read them, members of her church told her they were evil; so when I allowed my son to read them she pitched a fit.
I have never agreed with censorship. I also don’t believe that reading a book about wizards will turn a child into one. That would mean the child has no concept of reality. Maybe when a kid is three he thinks he can fly like Superman, but once he breaks his arm jumping off the roof, he figures it out.
As parents, we lead by example and pray for our children. We guide them and turn their hearts toward God. What this person has done makes no more sense than if an agnostic or atheist decided to rewrite the Bible chapter by chapter because he didn’t want his kids to read it.
I write fan fiction, so I’m not opposed to using another person’s characters. I am careful, however, not to change the personality of those characters in my stories. It is something my fan fiction readers have appreciated about my work.
I don’t read a ton of fantasy, but other than the Narnia books, Frank Peretti is an author my husband enjoys.
Hey! It’s Banned Books Week. http://www.ala.org/bbooks/ (I’m a librarian.)
She’s ridiculous thinking that her kids will turn into witches from reading Harry Potter. My opinion is we must teach our children to process what the world presents. We cannot shelter them. We must arm them with a strong faith and discerning hearts so they can handle life!
Harry Potter is such an insignificant worry – she should probably put her energies into bigger “evils!”
Thank you, Rachel, for this post and discussion.
I wrote a long rant then erased it. Christians who are uncomfortable with either reading about witches and wizards or who are philosophically opposed to having their children read books that have some form of wizardry / witchcraft in them have a right to feel / think that way and they should be respected for sticking to their convictions. Hopefully they will be mutually respectful of those Christians who do not have an issue with books, such as the Harry Potter series, which may have witches and wizards in them but which also promote Christian ideals. I believe the Harry Potter books do a powerful job of promoting two messages I think are very Christian: 1) good will triumph over evil and 2) one should be willing to sacrifice, even die, in order to save others and in order to stop evil. Harry knowingly and willingly LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE not only for his friends, but for the whole world once he realizes that this is the only way to stop evil from winning. Gee, that story sounds familiar…. Okay, in order not to rant, that’s all I’ll say about the Harry Potter series.
I read the piece from the woman who wants to rewrite Harry Potter and I agree with Andrew; the writing is pathetic. Also, I agree with others who have already commented. If she wants to write a good, Christian YA novel, let her write her OWN. But, in truth, I think she has another agenda.
How would I feel if someone did this to my work (which is possible since I am working on a YA fantasy novel which I hope will become a series)? I definitely would consider it copyright infringement. Would I sue? I don’t like the idea of suing anyone, at the same time, it would depend on the circumstances. I don’t think this woman’s work will be any threat to J.K. Rowling. I do think most people will laugh off her piece. If, however, someone were to use the Harry Potter characters, settings, ideas and create something marketable and money-making, I think that would be the time to sue–at least to get an injunction to have it stopped. No one should be able to make money from her ideas without obtaining her permission. It would be the same for me. I could shrug at someone spoofing or satirizing my work in an article or on a tv show as being a part of being successful. For someone to present a “new” project–a novel–based entirely on my ideas, characters, plot–that, to me, would be the equivalent of grand larceny and I would need to respond. I would not be interested in money so much as stopping the person from using my work.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Wikipedia has an interesting – and complex – article about the legality of fan fiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_with_fan_fiction
If someone decided to fanfic something I wrote, I’d let it go. The law seems to be kind of murky, and it would be easy to spend an enormous amount of time and money chasing ghosts.
Time that could be better spent doing something else. Like writing.
My daughter read all the Harry Potter books when she was a kid, and I was never afraid she would become a witch because of them. My daughter is currently at Biola University, one of the best Christian Universities around. (Okay, slightly biased. Biola is my alma mater!)
I think that mom needs a new hobby. Or even better, write her own book.
Some day, when Rascal is older, I might read Harry potter to him, but for now, it would give him bad doggie dreams.
He would just be dreaming of chasing Crookshanks the cat! 🙂
I thought it was horrible. You are very kind in this post. She did not change the story to be more moral. She changed to include a particular political agenda. I will try to follow your kind example and refrain from expressing MORE of how much I disliked this.
Yes, write something original.
I don’t like the idea of taking someone else’s characters or plot or anything and making it something else. Austen and Rowling created those stories for their purpose- their agenda if you will- and it is just bad…manners… to mess with them.
This woman’s approach did make me nervous how I will respond to criticism of my writing. Is someone going to dislike it so much they feel compelled to REWRITE it? Ouch.
I read some of this story. Its style makes me think it could be some sort of joke since it’s so preachy it feels off.
If someone did this with my book, I’d be very annoyed. Then again, I don’t see it as any worse than the fanfics that ship characters, especially when they’re shipping characters of the same gender together. (For those who don’t know, shipping is an internet term used to describe when people pair up characters from a TV show, book, or something else.)
I don’t have kids yet, but if I did, I think I’d allow them to read Harry Potter once I thought they were mature enough to not be influenced by the witchcraft or disrespect for authority. (I think the second issue is the more worrisome one since it’s a lot easier for kids to imitate.)
For good alternatives to Harry Potter, I’d suggest Bryan Davis, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, Jill Williamson, or one of the many other Christian fantasy authors out there. It’s really not hard to find Christian books for children.
Jessi, I thought too it almost sounded fake. It’s so “over the top.”
Hater fic? Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it 😉 I guess I’ll read the article in a minute, but if she’s only just now getting started she’s left it a bit late. If she really wanted to jump on a bandwagon she’d have had something ready while the movies were still out.
What she’s doing sounds rude and patronizing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is some over the top hoax.
I’m meaning to get a copy of The Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin by L. Jagi Lamplighter, which is at least written by a Christian in a similar vein as HP, so that may be one example of the well-written Christian YA you’re looking for 🙂
I look forward to reading the Harry Potter to my kids. At 6 and 4 they show an excellent ability to engage in fantasy play, and to know what reality is: They know that there was indeed a Santa Claus, a fourth century bishop in Asia minor who was generous to children, but who is long since dead and doesn’t come down chimneys.
We have read them The Hobbit, wizard, magic and all — by a Christian with Christian themes.
We have read them one of the Chronicals of Narnia, magic and all — by a Christian with Christian themes.
We are reading them A Wrinkle in Time, with its own kind of witches — by a Christian, with Christian themes.
I look at Harry Potter and see a fully developed fantasy world. Magic happens there — though it doesn’t in the real world. And it is a moral universe — there is good magic done by good people, and bad magic done by people who have become bad by allegiance to the wrong authorities. Choosing the good and sacrificial love matter in that world. There is a lot for a Christian to work with.
Smart kids, smart parents, and smart books. No part of that triad is faultless, but I can trust God for the outcomes.
After reading it this morning, I’m about 98% positive it’s a joke. It HAS to be. It’s so over the top.
I would much prefer the woman write something new. There is certainly plenty of room for new ideas and I love Christian speculative fiction. This also makes me wish again that just once we could have a bigger deal made over a Christian who is not doing something like an oddball. Sorry.
When the first Harry Potter book came out I read it before my son did, and then we actually read it together. He really enjoyed it, but he chose to stop at the first book. He was more into Tolkien and didn’t care to read more though he did enjoy the films (though he even tired of them near the end). If I am ever in doubt, I read the book first and always talk about subject matter.
When I consider that I read Stephen King’s “Night Shift” compilation at my grandmother’s when I had read everything else she owned and I still managed to love the Lord with all my heart and now work in ministry, I think my son will also be okay. In the long run our connection and conversations are what I count on most.
This was super embarrassing to read. It takes a special kind of skill to make the reader feel such awkwardness while reading your work. It has to be intentional.
I call fake!
This is typical fan fiction, not sure where the reverse comes in.
If her beliefs are so strong about Christianity that she thinks reading Harry Potter will turn her children into witches, then she has plenty of choice in Christian YA books.
The magic isn’t the only thing in the books that might disturb her children. Child abuse, bullying, stalking, murder, these might all need to be revised for her. So, if she does go ahead, I’m not sure that anyone would recognize the Harry Potter series.
Hi Rachel! It’s so funny you blogged about this because I was just discussing this with my friends. HP is really the first series I read that gave me a real hunger for reading. I was older at the time (18) so I think because of that I was grounded enough in my faith to know what I was reading, and it didn’t really bother me. I wouldn’t let my young girls read it only because they are at that sponge age where they soak up and believe everything.
I agree that this mom is going about it the wrong way. Her stuff in the article sounded super preachy and I don’t think kids and teens respond to that as well as subtlety. Some great YA fantasy reads of late that execute this well are “Doon” and “Storm Siren”. For younger kids (middle grade) I really enjoyed “A Door Within” by Wayne Thomas Batson and The Son of Angels series by Jerel Law.
It would bother me if someone did this to my book, but as an author I would have to remember there will always be people like this. People who bash and criticize. What makes me laugh is that this woman seems to think changing HP will keep people from reading it and then choose her version. All I could tell her is she can only control what her kids read. No matter what she writes, HP will always be popular. So it’s fine if she wants cleaner kids fiction, but she should be original and come up with her own idea, not try to change someone else’s.
Read the article and the excerpt. That excerpt was terrible in so many ways.
It might be one thing to want to rewrite HP with a more Christian slant, but in my eyes, that excerpt was an insult to both HP and Christianity.
Christianity should be about human empowerment by emulating the actions of Christ. That excerpt was doing the opposite.
Hadn’t the author ever read Proverbs 31?
I haven’t read the other comments–too pressed for time right now–but if anyone believes the Harry Potter series is immoral, anti-religious, or satanic, I’d like to recommend
Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger
J.K. Rowling, being well-versed in Classic literature, used a very Christian story form, both for each book individually and for the series as a whole. It is full of Christian symbolism, much of it hidden to our modern-day eyes and speaks ultimately to the triumph of good over evil.