Arthur Levine, editor of the Harry Potter books forScholastic, was interviewed this morning on CNN. Try as he might, the interviewer was unable to get Mr. Levine or Barbara Marcus, also of Scholastic, to say much about what lies ahead for readers in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. However, Arthur Levine did confirm the identity of a new character thatJo spoke about in Edinburgh last year.
Video links:
Low res
A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've gone straight to
the top to uncover the secrets of the next Harry Potter book. Here at the
publishing company's own book store, we tracked down the publisher of installment
No. 6, "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince." The magic trick we try to
perform is to get even a hint of what's in the story.
(on camera): Have you read the book?
BARBARA MARCUS, SCHOLASTIC: And it has a -- I'm not at liberty to
tell.
HAMMER: You're not at liberty to tell me if you've read the book?
MARCUS: No, we're not at liberty to tell.
HAMMER: Well security pretty tight around here.
(voice-over): The editor wasn't much help either.
(on camera): Does anyone die in the next Harry Potter book?
ARTHUR LEVINE, EDITOR: I can't tell you that.
HAMMER: OK, I can see where this is going to go.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMER: Do Ron and Hermione actually get together finally? There's
been sort of this, you know, a little tension between them. Are they...
LEVINE: You know it's interesting that you should ask that because I
can't tell you that.
HAMMER: OK. Well, here's one for sure you can tell me. Who's the new
minister of magic?
LEVINE: I can't tell you that.
HAMMER (voice-over): There are some facts out there. The sixth book
in the series releases July 16 worldwide, and preorders for the book have
already put it at the top of BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com's best seller lists.
It has been two years since the fifth book, which has sold more than
16 million copies in this country alone. And just like the last time,
bookstores are planning parties and events to handle the crowds.
MARCUS: Last time, booksellers sold five million books over the
first weekend. We, right now, have 10.8 million copies that are going to be
coming off the press and being sent to book stores, because we know that there are
millions and millions of families and children waiting to read the next Harry
Potter.
HAMMER: But as for what's in that book.
LEVINE: Well, I can tell you that there is a new character named
McLeggen
(ph).
HAMMER (on camera): We got a little something.
LEVINE: You got a little something, something.
HAMMER: McLeggen. And McLeggen is?
LEVINE: McLeggen. I'm not going to tell you that.
HAMMER (voice-over): In this case, fans of the story will just have
to read all about it.
A.J. Hammer, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
