Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli

All of us led other lives, with work and school and families who didn't understand how we could love anything as much as we loved Harry Potter, who even, at times, made fun of us for devoting so much time and energy to it- but then would spend six hours shouting themselves hoarse at a football match, and five after that shouting themselves hoarse at each other as they discussed the same game.

I picked up Harry, A History at LeakyCon when I attended last year. The author, Melissa Anelli, runs the convention and I'd heard her speak a few times (and even met her once) when I saw this in the LeakyCon bookstore. I figured it was worth a read and added it to the stack books I had in my arms at the time.

I still hadn't managed to read it a few weeks ago when I was getting reading to go visit my family. It was about that time that news got out about the stalking case going on with Melissa Anelli. To make a long story short, Melissa has been stalked for the past five years by a mentally unstable woman who has threatened both her, her family, and her friends. Though this has been an open case for a while, no justice has been brought to the situation yet.

There isn't much of anything I can do personally for this lovely author, but I wanted to show some sort of solidarity with her. I wanted to show, in some small way, that I support her and my thoughts and prayers go out to her in this rough time. So I yanked this book off the shelf, settled it into my carry-on, and spent most of my ten hour plane ride tearing through it.

In Harry, A History, Melissa Anelli documents the Harry Potter movement, showing the numerous ways it impacted a generation and launched more than a few people into following their dreams and making the difference they had always hoped to make in this world.

Anelli tells her own story of falling in love with the Harry Potter series, all the while weaving in the stories of the people she has met- from the brothers who started the band "Harry and the Potters" and thus started the Wizard Rock (WROCK) genre to telling us about the popular Draco Malfoy fan fiction written by Cassandra Claire (who now goes by Cassandra Clare and is the author of the Mortal Instruments series, with its first movie adaptation coming out in the fall). She even takes a full chapter to  detail how she met with Laura Mallory, one of the top spokespersons for the banning of Harry Potter in the United States.

This book was incredibly interesting. As someone who really only entered the Harry Potter fandom about two years ago, I really missed out on a lot of the excitement of waiting anxiously for the release of each new book. The closest I managed was seeing the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on the night of the release (and I hadn't even read the books yet!). I really enjoyed having Melissa Anelli take me back to when Harry Potter was a bit more underground and not that book series that nearly everyone has read by now. She let me experience that excitement and that thrill with her.

If you're a fan of Harry Potter or even want to see what all the chatter is about, I definitely suggest that you give this book a chance. It's absolutely worth it and will draw you in from page one.

Rating: ★★★★★

What does [J.K. Rowling] hope people will take with them about this time?
She pauses, but the answer is right on her tongue.
"When all the fuss and hoopla dies away, and when all the press commentary dies away, I think it will be seen that this phenomenon was generated, in the first instance, by kids loving a book. A book went on shelves, and a few people loved it. When all of the smoke and lights die away, that's what you'll be left with. 
"And that's the most wonderful thing for an author."