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CNN Live Today
Harry Potter Fans Give New Book Glowing Review
Aired June 23, 2003 - 10:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Harry Potter fans don't have time for a movie at all. They're back under the boy wizard's spell as they eagerly read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." The fifth installment set sales records around the world when it went on sale Saturday. And let's find out what the fans seem to think about the book.
Fourteen-year-old Kaitlin Webster joins us from Orlando. Good to see you, Kaitlin. She got one of those accidental advance copies of the book.
Eleven-year-old Jake Strong-Jones is in London. Good to see you, Jake.
And right here in Atlanta, right by my side here, is David Jackson.
All right, you guys, I'm going to begin with ladies first. Wouldn't that be the nice thing to do? All right, ladies then first then. Kaitlin, I understand you've read the book already a couple of times or you've gotten through it once already?
KAITLIN WEBSTER, 14-YEARS-OLD: I've gotten through it once and I'm starting to read it again.
WHITFIELD: OK. And do you find that this one is as riveting as the others have been?
WEBSTER: I find it interesting. I find there's no place to actually put the book down and say, OK, I'm going to take a break for five or ten minutes.
WHITFIELD: And, you know, the author, J.K. Rowling had been boasting about the fact that this is going to be the book where you're going to see that Harry really is evolving as an adolescent. You being that you're about 14-years-old, right? You can really identify with the changes that he's exhibited in this book?
WEBSTER: Yes. He's a little sarcastic. He's getting some -- he's bitter. He's just not taking everything as is OK.
WHITFIELD: And are there any real surprises in the book for you that you were just aghast, just shocked that happened in the book?
WEBSTER: Yes. When Dudley (ph) was outside and he ran into some demeantors (ph), that really shocked me. I thought Dudley would never get a taste of the magical world. WHITFIELD: All right, Jake, in London, you're 11-years-old. You've all ready gotten through the book as well. Were you one of the first folks lining up to get the book?
JAKE STRONG-JONES, 11-YEARS-OLD: I wasn't, no, I'm afraid. My local book store wasn't open.
WHITFIELD: Oh. So you had friends, though, that have all been lining up and getting the books there. How did most people get their books?
STRONG-JONES: Most people that I know either went at midnight or at 8:00 in the morning.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And were you among those?
STRONG-JONES: Usually by midnight.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. Were you among those who was kind of staying up all night to read each book? I mean, read the book page by page?
STRONG-JONES: Well, I did read some of it on the night.
WHITFIELD: All right.
And, David, right here in Atlanta with me, you've already whipped through the book as well. You loved it? Thumb's up or thumb's down?
DAVID JACKSON, 12-YEARS-OLD: Thumb's up.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well what is that makes this particular book so unique and so fascinating to you?
JACKSON: Well, it's better than the fourth book, because the fourth book had a kind of a disappointing end for me. But this one, it kind of draws you on. You just read it and you can't put it down. You just can't ever stop.
WHITFIELD: Really? I hear there was a little romance too that Harry had in this book. How revealing was that about who Harry is? That maybe he's not as focused as the previous books had portrayed him to be.
JACKSON: He kind of got mad, his lost his temper, kind of got confused a lot. Just lost -- he just went nuts.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.
Well, Jake, let me ask you real quick, how nerve wracking was it for you to open up the book for the first time after hearing so much hype? You know the expectations have been building so much over the past few weeks. Were you a little nervous about opening up the book and afraid that you might be disappointed?
STRONG-JONES: I was very nervous. But my nervousness vanished as I started reading, and the book just got better and better. WHITFIELD: Wow.
So, Kaitlin, do you envision this as being just a great movie? Was it reading like a good movie?
WEBSTER: Oh, definitely. There's this one part with Fred and George Weasley who I could go to the movie theaters and just laugh my head off.
WHITFIELD: And so is it kind of the objective for most of you guys when you open up these books that you expect that you're going to read it over and over again? You really want to kind of go back and re-read just in case you forgot something? David?
JACKSON: Well, sometimes I re-read and sometimes I don't. The fourth one, I didn't really re-read it that much because I didn't like it at all. I liked some of it, but towards the end, it got disappointing.
WHITFIELD: And, Jake, do you see this as strictly a book for kids, or do you understand why there are a lot of adults who are just as fascinated as you guys?
STRONG-JONES: I think that it's a book for children and adults. Most of the language and some things are adult, but the children can understand them if they think about it.
WHITFIELD: All right. And so now, Kaitlin, you guys are anxiously awaiting book number six. You have any guesses of just where J.K. Rowling may go with Harry Potter's story?
WEBSTER: Not really. That was my only disappointment is I can't read the next one.
But no, I'm not really sure where she's going to go with the book. I think now the Ministry of Magic, everyone knows Voldemort is coming back. So there might be fear in some people and I think a lot of people are going to start seriously looking at what's going to happen. I mean, are people going to support or go against Voldemort? Are people going to unite and go against Voldemort in the next book? It's all up to what she writes.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well we've been talking about "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." And all of you are giving it thumb's up and we give you thumb's up for giving us your glowing reviews. David Jackson here in Atlanta, Jake Strong-Jones in London and Kaitlin Webster in Orlando. Thanks to all of you guys and happy reading.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 23, 2003 - 10:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Harry Potter fans don't have time for a movie at all. They're back under the boy wizard's spell as they eagerly read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." The fifth installment set sales records around the world when it went on sale Saturday. And let's find out what the fans seem to think about the book.
Fourteen-year-old Kaitlin Webster joins us from Orlando. Good to see you, Kaitlin. She got one of those accidental advance copies of the book.
Eleven-year-old Jake Strong-Jones is in London. Good to see you, Jake.
And right here in Atlanta, right by my side here, is David Jackson.
All right, you guys, I'm going to begin with ladies first. Wouldn't that be the nice thing to do? All right, ladies then first then. Kaitlin, I understand you've read the book already a couple of times or you've gotten through it once already?
KAITLIN WEBSTER, 14-YEARS-OLD: I've gotten through it once and I'm starting to read it again.
WHITFIELD: OK. And do you find that this one is as riveting as the others have been?
WEBSTER: I find it interesting. I find there's no place to actually put the book down and say, OK, I'm going to take a break for five or ten minutes.
WHITFIELD: And, you know, the author, J.K. Rowling had been boasting about the fact that this is going to be the book where you're going to see that Harry really is evolving as an adolescent. You being that you're about 14-years-old, right? You can really identify with the changes that he's exhibited in this book?
WEBSTER: Yes. He's a little sarcastic. He's getting some -- he's bitter. He's just not taking everything as is OK.
WHITFIELD: And are there any real surprises in the book for you that you were just aghast, just shocked that happened in the book?
WEBSTER: Yes. When Dudley (ph) was outside and he ran into some demeantors (ph), that really shocked me. I thought Dudley would never get a taste of the magical world. WHITFIELD: All right, Jake, in London, you're 11-years-old. You've all ready gotten through the book as well. Were you one of the first folks lining up to get the book?
JAKE STRONG-JONES, 11-YEARS-OLD: I wasn't, no, I'm afraid. My local book store wasn't open.
WHITFIELD: Oh. So you had friends, though, that have all been lining up and getting the books there. How did most people get their books?
STRONG-JONES: Most people that I know either went at midnight or at 8:00 in the morning.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And were you among those?
STRONG-JONES: Usually by midnight.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. Were you among those who was kind of staying up all night to read each book? I mean, read the book page by page?
STRONG-JONES: Well, I did read some of it on the night.
WHITFIELD: All right.
And, David, right here in Atlanta with me, you've already whipped through the book as well. You loved it? Thumb's up or thumb's down?
DAVID JACKSON, 12-YEARS-OLD: Thumb's up.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well what is that makes this particular book so unique and so fascinating to you?
JACKSON: Well, it's better than the fourth book, because the fourth book had a kind of a disappointing end for me. But this one, it kind of draws you on. You just read it and you can't put it down. You just can't ever stop.
WHITFIELD: Really? I hear there was a little romance too that Harry had in this book. How revealing was that about who Harry is? That maybe he's not as focused as the previous books had portrayed him to be.
JACKSON: He kind of got mad, his lost his temper, kind of got confused a lot. Just lost -- he just went nuts.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.
Well, Jake, let me ask you real quick, how nerve wracking was it for you to open up the book for the first time after hearing so much hype? You know the expectations have been building so much over the past few weeks. Were you a little nervous about opening up the book and afraid that you might be disappointed?
STRONG-JONES: I was very nervous. But my nervousness vanished as I started reading, and the book just got better and better. WHITFIELD: Wow.
So, Kaitlin, do you envision this as being just a great movie? Was it reading like a good movie?
WEBSTER: Oh, definitely. There's this one part with Fred and George Weasley who I could go to the movie theaters and just laugh my head off.
WHITFIELD: And so is it kind of the objective for most of you guys when you open up these books that you expect that you're going to read it over and over again? You really want to kind of go back and re-read just in case you forgot something? David?
JACKSON: Well, sometimes I re-read and sometimes I don't. The fourth one, I didn't really re-read it that much because I didn't like it at all. I liked some of it, but towards the end, it got disappointing.
WHITFIELD: And, Jake, do you see this as strictly a book for kids, or do you understand why there are a lot of adults who are just as fascinated as you guys?
STRONG-JONES: I think that it's a book for children and adults. Most of the language and some things are adult, but the children can understand them if they think about it.
WHITFIELD: All right. And so now, Kaitlin, you guys are anxiously awaiting book number six. You have any guesses of just where J.K. Rowling may go with Harry Potter's story?
WEBSTER: Not really. That was my only disappointment is I can't read the next one.
But no, I'm not really sure where she's going to go with the book. I think now the Ministry of Magic, everyone knows Voldemort is coming back. So there might be fear in some people and I think a lot of people are going to start seriously looking at what's going to happen. I mean, are people going to support or go against Voldemort? Are people going to unite and go against Voldemort in the next book? It's all up to what she writes.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well we've been talking about "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." And all of you are giving it thumb's up and we give you thumb's up for giving us your glowing reviews. David Jackson here in Atlanta, Jake Strong-Jones in London and Kaitlin Webster in Orlando. Thanks to all of you guys and happy reading.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
