Hooked on Harry

Ortonville- Claire Pincumbe might be at the Port Huron to Mackinac sailboat race today, but whether she will actually watch the race is questionable. Her eyes will likely be on her new copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,? which she planned to pick up at Meijer’s at its midnight release.
‘I’ll be done reading it by Sunday,? says Pincumbe, who will be a sophomore at Brandon High School in September.
The avid Harry Potter fan owns all six books in the series and says she has reread each one ‘zillions of times.? She has also listened to the audio versions, seen all the movies, and has an extensive collection of Harry Potter figurines, Legos, and games. Her family no longer plays the Harry Potter trivia game with her, because Pincumbe ‘always wins.?
Pincumbe, 15, received ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,? the first book in the series, for her 10th birthday, in February 2002, when she was in fourth grade. She had seen the movie version of the book a few months earlier. She enjoyed the film, but after reading the book, she was hooked. Within the next few weeks, she read the rest of the books in the series in order: ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,? ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,? and ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.? She had to wait a year for the fifth book, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,? which she says shares the honor of being her favorite book in the series with the sixth book, ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.?
‘The mood of the whole series is good, and (Rowling) writes it so it’s not too magical, corny, or unbelievable,? Pincumbe said. ‘The books are still in touch with real things and believable.?
Cindy Rocheleau, media specialist at Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School, is not a big fan of fantasy for her own reading material, but is a fan of Harry Potter because ‘the kids love to read them and anything you can get them to read is great.?
The books are great for fourth grade and up to read on their own and Rocheleau says the books are well-written. The BFIS library has at least five copies of each book in the series and Rocheleau stocks more when the books are newly released.
‘I have to have quite a few on the shelves to make the kids happy,? she said. ‘They’re good books for the kids. They love them, so they want to read. It catches their imaginations and they get other kids excited about them and it grows from there. Adults are intrigued with the Harry Potter books, not just children.?
Pincumbe’s favorite part of the books are the conversations that her favorite character, Professor Albus Dumbledore, has with Harry Potter near the end of every book, particularly the talk they share in the fifth book, when the Prophecy is discussed and Harry gets upset.
And after finishing the last book, she plans to go back to the first one and reread them all again.
By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer
Ortonville- Claire Pincumbe might be at the Port Huron to Mackinac sailboat race today, but whether she will actually watch the race is questionable. Her eyes will likely be on her new copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,? which she planned to pick up at Meijer’s at its midnight release.
‘I’ll be done reading it by Sunday,? says Pincumbe, who will be a sophomore at Brandon High School in September.
The avid Harry Potter fan owns all six books in the series and says she has reread each one ‘zillions of times.? She has also listened to the audio versions, seen all the movies, and has an extensive collection of Harry Potter figurines, Legos, and games. Her family no longer plays the Harry Potter trivia game with her, because Pincumbe ‘always wins.?
Pincumbe, 15, received ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,? the first book in the series, for her 10th birthday, in February 2002, when she was in fourth grade. She had seen the movie version of the book a few months earlier. She enjoyed the film, but after reading the book, she was hooked. Within the next few weeks, she read the rest of the books in the series in order: ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,? ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,? and ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.? She had to wait a year for the fifth book, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,? which she says shares the honor of being her favorite book in the series with the sixth book, ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.?
‘The mood of the whole series is good, and (Rowling) writes it so it’s not too magical, corny, or unbelievable,? Pincumbe said. ‘The books are still in touch with real things and believable.?
Cindy Rocheleau, media specialist at Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School, is not a big fan of fantasy for her own reading material, but is a fan of Harry Potter because ‘the kids love to read them and anything you can get them to read is great.?
The books are great for fourth grade and up to read on their own and Rocheleau says the books are well-written. The BFIS library has at least five copies of each book in the series and Rocheleau stocks more when the books are newly released.
‘I have to have quite a few on the shelves to make the kids happy,? she said. ‘They’re good books for the kids. They love them, so they want to read. It catches their imaginations and they get other kids excited about them and it grows from there. Adults are intrigued with the Harry Potter books, not just children.?
Pincumbe’s favorite part of the books are the conversations that her favorite character, Professor Albus Dumbledore, has with Harry Potter near the end of every book, particularly the talk they share in the fifth book, when the Prophecy is discussed and Harry gets upset.
And after finishing the last book, she plans to go back to the first one and reread them all again.

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