Thank you J.K. Rowling

Well, first a big thank you to the author for giving me and indeed the world, these wonderful friends. Harry, Ron & Hermione and many more of the characters in the 7 enchanting books of the Harry Potter series will stand the test of time and be a friendship that will live in literature, history and every day culture all over the world for a long long time.

Not since Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, in my opinion, has there been such a memorable set of fictional friends. Choices about doing the right thing and standing up with your friends in difficult times are key ingredients in both legendary friendships.

Number 7 was wonderful, thrilling, emotional, sad, and heartwrenching at times. Everything we hoped it would be! I won't tell plot. For anyone who ever reads this, there are other places to find plot summaries, but as I re-read the story I will post quotes from time to time. There are many quotes in HP7 that are memorable and will be starting points for discussion and storytelling and sharing. Enough to say that the end was satisfying and lives up to our hopes for the three friends and Dumbledore's Army.

Just a little over half of HP7

Well, despite my best intentions, I have not finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Access to book and audio in my "spare" time has still only got me to page 499. There has been excitement, danger, spells and sadness. And yet there is more to come. I savor each page and because I am listening and reading, I go back over some of it transferring from car to book and back again.
Harry Potter is truly much more than fantasy. It is about growing up, relationships, friendship, love and determination. The quest to follow through on the mission Dumbledore asked of the three friends is much more than they expected. Hardships abound. And yet, strength flows from the three friends back and forth and they continue on. I am enjoying every minute of the book. Jim Dale is outstanding with the audio version.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

759 pages of magic - Harry Potter volume 7 has arrived. I stood in line at Wal-mart just after midnight to get my hardback copy and the audio. Also got a poster and a bookmark and a trivia flier for my efforts at being in line at midnight for this momentous occasion. Understood from some teens who had been there earlier that they were given arm bands to keep the line orderly before midnight. I waited until midnight to get there - sure that check out lines would be long for a while and while there were lines, everything went smoothly and I was checked out and headed home by 12:35 pm. I read a few pages in the check out line but will have to travel Saturday so I got the audio to help me get along in the book so I can finish this weekend. Oh the joy of seeing that many people excited about a book. It was great fun just being at Wal-mart on a Friday night with Harry fans!
Donna Slaton ~ Miss Pockets

New blog for teens

Hello everybody,
This is Muhlenberg County Public Libraries new blog for teens. Students in grades 6-12 in Muhlenberg County - public school, private school or home school may participate. Send an email to tech.hmlib@gmail.com
for detailed information on how to post book reviews and local event news and comments. In order to be posted on the site you must have an MCPL library card.

This site will feature info about books and programs at the Muhlenberg County Public Libraries. We also want to know what's going on with teens in our community, so we hope you will send in announcements about your club, team and youth group events. We will be developing guidelines as we go along and see how we can best serve our teens by sharing information on the internet.

Suggestions for programs, book and media selections for the library and services will be discussed as well. Visit your Muhlenberg County Public Libraries and get a card today if you do not already have one --it's FREE! and loaded with valuable services for you!