News & Articles related to harry Potter - Page 6

06/07/2005 - 11:23:47

Four young Harry Potter fans have reached the finals of a competition to carry out the UK's only TV interview with JK Rowling.

The youngsters will battle it out in an ITV1 show to prove which of them knows most about the schoolboy wizard.

Whoever wins will land an exclusive interview with Rowling at Edinburgh Castle on July 17 – the day after her latest book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is finally published.

The finalists are Kallum Peel, 11, from Bradford; Lily Adams, 10, from Bournemouth; Owen Jones, 14, from Cardiff; and Helen Carron, 13, from Liverpool.

They will appear in the ITV1 show Harry Potter at the Castle: The Quest for the Ultimate Harry Potter Fan on July 10.

Presenter Ben Shephard will quiz them on their Harry Potter knowledge and test their journalistic skills.

He said: "There's a lot at stake for the four contestants. To get this far is an amazing achievement but to be crowned the ultimate Harry Potter fan, to meet JK Rowling and attend the book launch is a chance in a lifetime."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is expected to smash first day sales records. More than 200,000 copies have already been pre-ordered on amazon.co.uk.

Harry Potter gives Grayson County residents a sixth reason to celebrate

By Jerrie Whiteley
Herald Democrat

More than 10 million copies of the 672-page book have been printed and will be available to readers of all ages.

"We will sell about 50,000 copies per hour in the first 24 hours," Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio told CNN. "Less than 1 percent of all books sell that many in their lifetime."

Locally, the area's newest bookstore Books-A-Milion plans to have a midnight release party for those J.K. Rowling fans who just can't wait to get their hands on the newest Potter book.

The store will have Harry Potter trivia contests and crafts sessions.

"They're (going to make) wizard hats," said General Manager Kenny Glatt. He said the festivities will start at 9 p.m. on the 15th and will continue until the books go on sale at one minute after midnight.

"We will stay until the last customer has their book."

Glatt said what started as a children's franchise has really become a "family book" with adults making up a large percentage of the buyers. "And they are buying it for themselves."

Locally, those adults, and their younger counterparts, can find festivities at a couple of stores.

At Hastings in Sherman, Krista Schnitker said her staff is eagerly expecting the midnight release party.

"Several of them read the books (themselves) and they are in charge of the costume contests," Schnitker said. She said the store will also have a trivia contest with prizes. But, the real prize that night is the book.

She said the store has pre-sold around 50 copies so far but is expecting that number to go up as the publication date draws closer.

"Last time, we sold about 300 copies of the book (early)," Schnitker said. She said she expects the enthusiastic crowds to gobble up this edition of the Potter series just as quickly and eagerly.

Although they won't be holding a midnight release party, the staff at WaldenBooks in Midway Mall is equally excited about the events they have planned for July 16.

"We have never done anything on this scale before," said Store Manager Sonya Coleman. She said the bookstore, in conjunction with Spencer's, is taking over the store next door.

"It will be decorated like a Harry Potter castle," said Coleman. Her store will actually have two different parties. The first will start at 8:30 a.m. and go until 10 a.m. for the "kidgits" group sponsored by the mall.

Then the party will start at noon for the general public and run until 2 p.m.

"We want to encourage kids to come dressed as their favorite Harry Potter character and get involved in all the activities," Coleman said. She said the party will feature around 22 stations that will allow children to take part in activities such as face painting, mask making and other crafts. There will also be a trivia contest. Coleman said the general public can begin buying the book at 8:30 a.m.

Wal-Mart in Sherman has been pre-selling the book and plans to start selling the book just after the midnight hour.

"We will have a big television playing Potter movies," said Manager Donny

Movie Mistakes

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tops list of bestselling writers

NEW YORK (AP) - J.K. Rowling tops the list. Dan Brown is ranked very high. William Shakespeare just missed out.

It's Amazon.com's top 25 bestselling authors. The online retailer, celebrating its 10th anniversary, announced its biggest sellers Thursday, with Rowling no surprise at No. 1. The Harry Potter author was followed by Spencer Johnson of Who Moved My Cheese? fame, romance novelist Nora Roberts and The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dr. Seuss, John Grisham, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Left Behind novelists Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins and business writer Jim Collins.

Shakespeare was No. 26, one notch below Tom Clancy

Pre-release bash -- Whether by 'floo powder or broom,' Potter fans will converge on mall

By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer

At the Quidditch World Cup, witches and wizards began Apparating long before the first Quaffle was thrown.

And Saturday, Muggles may need a Memory charm at the sight of witches and wizards Apparating earlier than usual inside the Prince of Orange Mall for what has become the annual Harry Potter Celebration.

While the latest J.K. Rowling creation, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," won't be released for another week, local festivities are being held tomorrow from 11 a.m. until the last wizard Disapparates from the mall, which is being magically transformed into a virtual Diagon Alley.

"We actually wanted to split it up, there was so much chaos," Waldenbooks manager Tabbetha Williams said of what was in years past a combined book release and celebration party. "And then next Saturday, we can focus on the book."

In addition to Apparating, portkeys, floo powder, a broom — or perhaps to fit in with Muggles, a car — are acceptable modes of transportation, mall officials say, to join in the festivities that will begin with a costume contest at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"I'm very excited about teaming with Waldenbooks," Prince of Orange Mall property manager Sylvia Krajna said. "I'm also looking forward to getting my copy" of the new book.

No Muggle coins are needed to participate in the costume contest, other activities or for the light refreshments like those at Honeydukes, Krajna said.

With Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall a bit preoccupied locating another Defense Against the Dark arts teacher, local magician Russell Anderson will be in charge of "Spells and Illusions 101," with participants being invited later to compete for the title of "Master Wizard."

Following Anderson's class, a man some say could be related to Hagrid will be available for autographs. "The Barbarian," thought to be one of the few remaining giants and a wrestler with the CWA Pro-Wrestling Association, will be at GNC from 1 to 3 p.m. for signings.

At the release of the last Harry Potter adventure ("The Order of the Phoenix," 2003), Waldenbooks had ordered 500 copies for initial release that served as a focal point for a mall-wide party attended by hundreds.

"The Order of the Phoenix" set a worldwide record for the most copies sold in a single weekend at 8 million books. This go-round, the local book store has notified Flourish and Blotts they'll need more copies to handle the reserved list and walk-ins.

"We've ordered extra," Williams said.

"I don't know how many are on the list, but we did order extra."

A rising 10th-year at Edisto High School, Shane Barber says he's on that list. Not only does he have the five predecessors to "HP and the Half-Blood Prince," he said, but a few knick-knacks to boot — a Wizard's chessboard, the soundtrack CDs, calendars, action figures, posters and the like.

"I'm real excited about the new book. I just know it's going to be cool if it's anything like the ones before it," Barber said. "All the books and movies are cool, but I'm looking forward to finding out who the Half-Blood Prince is."

As to any ideas as to who the Half-Blood Prince may be, Barber's guess leans toward "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

While activities at the Prince of Orange Mall begin Saturday at 11 a.m. in center court, the latest Rowling adventure will not be sold before its release date of July 16.

The books have not arrived in Orangeburg yet, Williams said, and a delivery date is under the tightest security out of a fear of Dark Wizards lurking about.

According to a press release issued by the publishers of the book, Scholastic Press, more than 5,000 stores across the country will hold a midnight party to celebrate the 12:01 a.m. July 16 release date of the book

Laurie Christy, who works at the Morse Institute Library in Natick, thought a similar event at the library would be exciting.

Both girls have been fans of the books for seven years, and Anderson's tee-shirt reveals that the hysteria does not end upon reaching the last page of a Harry Potter book.

Her shirt reads, "Harry and the Potters," which refers to the band from Norwood whose songs are based on events which occur in the Harry Potter books.

The Half-Blood Prince follows Harry, Ron and Hermione in their penultimate year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry