'Potter Fever' Hits Island With New, Final Series Book Out
By Eric Fish

Nineteen-year-old Tyler Jones (left) dresses as a wizard in anticipation of the seventh and final book release in the Harry Potter series, while 17-year-old Katie Minard dresses as a witch and 17-year-old Cassidy Warner dresses as a Hogwarts student. Both women work at Professor Harry's Old Time Photos. "We're dedicated," Mr. Jones said of their reason for waiting for the 12:01 a.m. release of the book Saturday, July 21.

On the dark night of Friday, July 20, the Island Bookstore and the mall area from the store's entrance to Main Street was temporarily transformed into Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as dozens upon dozens of people lined the area in anticipation of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series.

From adults to young children and from costumes of Sirius Black to Harry Potter himself, the mass of people gathered in excitement for the final chapter in author J. K. Rowling's immensely popular fantasy series, the last read heralded as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The area surrounding the Island Bookstore was packed with fans from about 10 p.m. to the official release at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 21.

Store manager Tamara Tomac offered special activities to keep people entertained while they waited. They ranged from quizzes and readings to a special Harry Potter cake.

"Everybody's happy and they can't wait for the book," said Mrs. Tomac, who has hosted similar events on behalf of the Island Bookstore for past Harry Potter releases.

But there was something different about the hype around this book. Author J. K. Rowling speculated in past interviews that there would be many deaths throughout the text as she wraps up the series, more than enough to make fans nervous about the fate of Harry Potter.

"Some are upset and some are nervous," Mrs. Tomac said. "They want to know what's going on."

Ten-year old Kiera Malone sat with her mother, Kim, outside the Island Bookstore Friday night in anticipation of the release. The party for the book's release capped off months of waiting and weeks of related festivities for the two. The Malones, who visited the Island over the weekend from Monroe, participated in Monroes Harry Potter Festival the previous weekend in celebration of the series.

Kiera began reading the books when she was in second grade. She wasn't worried about the outcome of the series, but was eager to begin reading it.

"She loves to read," her mother said. "Her nose is always in a book."

The Malone's copy of Deathly Hallows was among a pre-sale order at the Island Bookstore. Other advance orders on a larger scale have swept the nation by storm.

Pre-sales for the book reached the top spot on the bestseller lists of national companies like Amazon and Barnes and Nobles just hours after the release date was announced February 1. The two booksellers reported that more orders had been placed for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows than any other book.

"I'll be sad to see them end," said Mrs. Tomac, who received many pre-sale orders, too. "It's been such a phenomenon, I don't know what can compare."

The series originally began as a children's book and was published by the small British publishing company Bloomsbury. It has since taken off as an international wonder, selling more than 325 million copies worldwide and appealing to adults as the series evolved, becoming darker and more mature. American publishing rights to the series were obtained by Scholastic, which has printed an initial run of 12 million copies for Deathly Hallows.

Because of the small space inside the Island Bookstore, Mrs. Tomac only allowed 10 people inside at a time after 12:01 a.m. Patrons held numbers for their entry, and Fort Mackinac interpreter Trace Dominguez held number one.

"I'm going to try and make it last as long as possible," he said, noting that he was going to limit the number of chapters he read so as not to finish the book too quickly. "I'm not one of those people that's going to go home and read it cover to cover" immediately.

He also plans to stay away from the Internet spoilers, book reviews, and friends who may already know the ending.

"I try to avoid it because I like to be surprised," he said, noting that he attended the Island Bookstore's party for the previous two Harry Potter book releases.

Mr. Dominguez was swooned by the Harry Potter hoopla around 1998, when his mother gave him the first book, which he read in one night. He attended the Deathly Hallows book release party dressed as Sirius Black, a wizard friend to Harry who was also well documented for his imprisonment in a previous text, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

"The books are just incredibly visual," Mr. Dominguez said. "They're really easy to crawl into. The characters are developed well and have a good dynamic. They're fantastical but believable. At the same time, you kind of want it to be believable."

Mrs. Tomac credits the texts for introducing a new generation of children to reading.

"It's pretty exciting," she said. "It's taken off and had so many kids read that don't read. It's great."