Harry Potter And The Court Of Public Opinion Remarks on the hysteria that has accompanied this new generation children's classic

Harry Potter is "the boy who lived." Anyone might know this, who has not been sequestered in an underwater dome for the last couple of years. The young orphan, rises above his lowly station in life by receiving a scholarship to the wondrous Hogwart's School for Wizards and Witches, where he embarks upon a journey of magical discovery. Harry's adventurers are Oliver Twist, Tom Sawyer, and Captains Courageous all rolled up into a tidy, properly …

…to grow like algae on a summer pond. The most precious gift that adults can give to children is the ability to see wonder in literature. Whether it is the brooding dark disintegration of society mirrored in "Lord of the Flies" or one of the myriad youthful voyages of self discovery that grace every school library, society must be an ever vigilant Rikki-tikki-tavi to the venomous cobra of censorship. We owe the kids that much.