books

How books changed my life

This time, Abbie, our guest author, talked to us and also wrote about how these books changed her life.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has been a big part of my life (not only that, it has changed my life) since I first started reading it when I was eleven. My sister (who is three years older than me), started the series when she was eleven as well. My younger brother also started the series when he was eleven.

This was a tradition my dad started; when we turned eleven we were able to start the first book in the series, when we were twelve we started the second, and so on. He said this way each time we started a new book in the series, we would be the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Even though I was frustrated by this tradition at first (I mean, who wants to wait a whole year before starting the next book in a series?), looking back, I’m so glad I experienced the Harry Potter series this way.

By waiting a year, there was more anticipation when finally starting the next book. Also, by continuing to be the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermione in each book, I was able to feel as if I was growing up with them. Almost as if we were all friends experiencing similar thoughts, feelings, and changes. I believe I was able to relate to and identify with them much easier this way than I would have been able to if I read one right after the other.

Every time I opened a book from the Harry Potter series I was transported to a whole new world full of possibilities, imagination, and magic. I was able to experience adventures beyond my wildest dreams through Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I laughed, I cried, I shut the book too afraid to read the next page, and I enjoyed every second of this emotional roller coaster.

I also learned valuable life lessons, such as it takes courage to stand up to enemies but in some ways more courage to stand up to friends. Loyalty can be shown by helping a friend even when you are mad at them. Love means never giving up and staying together through the darkest times. I also learned that being self-sacrificing is one of the most honorable traits a person can have. These experiences and lessons helped shape me into the person I am today.

I have many fond memories of my siblings that are tied to the Harry Potter series. I remember staying up late listening to my older sister read the books to me because I loved the way she used different voices for each character. I remember getting to do the same for our younger brother when he started the series. Even to this day, we are creating memories around the Harry Potter series, by laughing and talking about all our favorite scenes from each book, and dreaming about going to Universal’s Harry Potter World together.

Even though the three of us are so different, and are continuing to grow and change in our own unique ways, the love of this book series is still something we have in common. I’m thankful we have this shared experience to look back on and reminisce about.

There are so many more ways the Harry Potter series has changed my life. It put into words thoughts, feelings, and changes I was experiencing growing up but didn’t know how to express. It broadened the realm of my imagination and opened a whole new world of possibilities and adventures I could have never dreamed of. It was a bonding agent for me and my siblings and gave me many memories I will cherish forever. It also changed my life by being an inspiration to me in my own writing career.

I hope to have as much attention to detail and to be able to create as much depth to each of my characters as J.K. Rowling did in this series. I hope to write as authentically about life’s struggles and heartaches, and I also hope to change at least one person’s life, the way J.K. Rowling changed mine through the Harry Potter Series.

 

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About the author

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