by Pam Pollack
Not long after Jo got the idea for Harry Potter, her mother died. Even though Anne had been sick for a long time, neither Jo nor her sister or father had ever really believed she would die. It was too terrible to imagine. Now it had happened.
Jo hoped living in another country would lift her spirits. So she took a job teaching English in Oporto, Portugal. She also hoped that her new job would leave her more time for her book. During her first weeks in Portugal, Jo wrote a new chapter that became one of her favorites in the whole series.
In this chapter, Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised. The mirror shows anyone who looks in it their greatest desire. When Harry looks in the mirror, he sees the mother and father that he never knew. If Jo could have looked in the Mirror of Erised, she thought she would probably see her mother.
While in Portugal, she met a journalist named Jorge Arantes. They fell in love and were married a few months later in 1992. The next year Jo had a baby girl named Jessica. Jo loved her new baby, but her marriage didn’t make her happy. She left Jorge and Portugal in 1993, taking baby Jessica, boxes of Harry Potter notes, and three completed chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Chapter 4
First Draft
Jo and baby Jessica went to live in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jo’s sister, Di, was already living there with her husband. More than anything, Jo wanted to finish her book. Every time Jessica fell asleep, Jo pulled out her notes and wrote—usually in coffee shops and cafés. She wrote as much and as fast as she could.
Because she didn’t have a job yet, Jo lived on public assistance. This meant that the government sent a check each month for rent and food. Sometimes there was only enough money to buy food for Jessica, and Jo went hungry. While Jo was struggling to make ends meet, the government in England started a campaign called Back to Basics. It said that single mothers like Jo were something the country should be ashamed of. Jo vowed that if she ever had money to spare, she would use it to help women like her who had to take care of children on their own.
Luckily, Jo had friends to help her. When she needed a place to write, she went to Nicolson’s Restaurant, where the owner, Di’s husband, let her sit for hours with Jessica. Jo’s old friend Seán lent her money to get a flat. With her friends’ and family’s encouragement, Jo finally finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It was only a first draft. She knew she would have to make a lot of changes before it was good enough to be published.
She shared it with Di, who had always been the first to hear her stories. Di loved it. Jo got a job as a French teacher. When she wasn’t teaching, she spent time working on her manuscript. She worked very hard. She wanted to make it as good as it could be. Jo wrote and rewrote every chapter. Finally, seven years after Jo first had the idea of Harry Potter, she was ready to show her book to the world.
Chapter 5
The Slush Pile
Jo printed out the first three chapters and put them in a plastic cover. She sent them to an agent. If the agent liked the first three chapters, then Jo would send the rest of the book. An agent is a person who sells books to publishers for authors. Agents have the contacts at publishing companies that beginning writers don’t. The agent gets a part of whatever money the author makes. Jo knew that she had a much better chance of selling her book if she had an agent. Only a couple of days after she sent it, Jo received her manuscript back in the mail. The agent did not want to read the rest of it.
Could all her hard work have been for nothing? What if nobody ever wanted to read the story? But she had come so far, she couldn’t imagine giving up. She looked for another agent. She found a man named Christopher Little. Jo had always loved names, and she especially liked his name because Little sounded like the name of a character in a children’s book. Jo put her three chapters into an envelope again and waited.
CHRISTOPHER LITTLE
The manuscript landed in the slush pile at the agency where Christopher Little worked. A slush pile is the name for the many books and stories that just arrive in the offices of agents and publishers. Nobody has asked to see them; the stories in the slush pile are almost always by beginners who haven’t yet had a book published.
Slush piles can be very large. Usually Christopher Little wouldn’t spend too much time going through the slush pile. But one day as he was heading out to meet someone for lunch, he picked up a story from the slush pile that other people in the office had liked. He took it with him to the restaurant. When his friend was late, he pulled it out and started reading about a boy wizard.
Little was quickly sucked into the world of Hogwarts. When he got back to the office, he sent Jo a letter. In it, he thanked her for sending the story and said he was eager to sell it. When Jo received the letter, she couldn’t believe it. It was only two sentences long, but it was the greatest letter she’d ever received.
Christopher Little sold Jo’s book to Bloomsbury Publishers. She couldn’t wait to tell her family, especially Di, who had always loved Jo’s stories more than anyone. With the money from the sale, Jo stopped teaching French and got right back to work on Harry Potter. She had big plans for her boy wizard.
Chapter 6
Pottermania
After years of dreaming and years of hard work, Jo was going to be a published author. She still almost couldn’t believe it. Then one evening, about a month later, she got more exciting news: Christopher Little told her that in the United States the book was being sold in an auction.
Jo was confused. Wasn’t an auction just for paintings or jewelry or expensive pieces of furniture? At auctions, people called out prices that they were willing to pay for things. These offers were called bids. How could anyone be bidding on her story?
Mr. Little explained that there were publishers in America that were interested in Harry Potter— very interested. So interested that they were competing with one another to buy it, each publisher trying to top the others’ bids. Just like in the auctions Jo knew. “The price is up to five figures,” he said. That meant over $10,000. Two hours later Mr. Little called back. The price was now up to six figures. That meant Jo’s book would be sold for over $100,000.
ARTHUR A. LEVINE
The winner was Arthur A. Levine of Scholastic. He was a little scared about spending so much money on a first-time author. But he loved the book so much. He thought kids in America would, too. His favorite thing about Harry Potter was “the idea of growing up unappreciated, feeling outcast, and then this great satisfaction of being discovered.”
Jo understood the feeling of being discovered. With her newfound wealth she bought a new jacket. It was strange for Jo to be able to spend money on herself and not worry about it.
In June 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling was published in the United Kingdom. Bloomsbury had asked Jo if they could use her initials instead of her name on the book. They were worried that boys might not want to read the book if it was written by a woman! Jo didn’t have a middle name, so she gave herself one: Kathleen, after her grandmother. That’s where the K in J. K. comes from.
Bloomsbury didn’t keep the secret of her being a woman for long. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was a big hit. Jo’s own daughter, Jessica, was only four—too young to read the book—but other children loved it. Jo was voted the winner of the Smarties Book Prize by schoolchildren all over the United Kingdom. They couldn’t wait to read her second book, which Jo had already finished: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It was published in July 1998.
Jo was also becoming famous in America, where her book was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Scholastic changed the title so everyone would know that the book had magic in it.
Americans and British people both speak English. But there are a lot of differences in the ways they speak it. For American kids, some changes were made in the Harry Potter books including Scotch Tape for Sellotape, parking lot for car park, and bag of chips for packet of crisps. This kind of “Americanizing�
� is done in many US editions of books that were first published in the United Kingdom.
In October 1998, Jo traveled to the United States for the first time for a ten-day book tour. At first Jo was worried that American children wouldn’t like her book as much as children in the United Kingdom did. But she was wrong. “When I did public readings,” she told The Scotsman newspaper, “they even all laughed in the same places as British youngsters.”
Jo was surprised that many of the children she met had already read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The book wasn’t even published in the United States yet. They had ordered the book from England on the Internet because they couldn’t wait.
Jo was more successful than she had ever dreamed—but things were just getting started. In the publishing world, no children’s books had ever been as popular as the Harry Potter books. Each book landed on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed there for so long that the newspaper started running a separate list for children’s literature. Even popular children’s book writers like Dr. Seuss (The Cat in the Hat), R. L. Stine (Goosebumps), and C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) did not sell as many books.
By the time she returned to the United States to promote her third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Jo was met by, not just children, but crowds of adults. Why were so many adults reading a book written for children? It’s because a really good story appeals to people of all ages. The press called it Pottermania. It meant that everyone was going crazy for Harry Potter. Jo’s life had changed beyond her wildest dreams. She traveled around the world and stayed in the best hotels. She could buy clothes made by famous fashion designers. Once, while going to a movie premiere, she wore a pair of gold shoes. They had six-inch heels and cost one thousand dollars.
What was happening to Jo was a little bit like what happens to Harry when he first arrives at Hogwarts. He is surprised to learn he is famous. People he doesn’t know want to be his friend. Harry often finds his name in the newspapers. Now Jo was in the papers, too—and on the radio and on TV. Reporters even showed up at her house. Perhaps some of the reporters she met influenced the way Jo wrote Rita Skeeter, a devious reporter who makes up stories about Harry.
Jo did not know that being an author would be like this. In an article in the Independent newspaper, she said, “I imagined being a famous writer would be like being Jane Austen, being able to sit at home in the parsonage and your books would be very famous. I never dreamed it would impact my daughter’s life negatively, which at times it has.”
Jessica was now seven years old, and she still had never read any of her mother’s books. Jo thought the Harry Potter books were for readers who were at least eight years old. But Jessica could not stand being the only person at school who had never read them. So Jo read them to her—and she loved them.
Jessica did not love having strangers snap her picture without asking if they could. Neither did her mother. On a vacation in the Galapagos Islands, a photographer took pictures of Jo in a bikini. Jo didn’t like that, either.
Everyone wanted to know all about the Rowling family: Jo, Jessica, and Jo’s new boyfriend, Dr. Neil Murray. A friend introduced Jo to Neil in 2000. With his dark hair and glasses, Neil looked like a grown-up Harry Potter. When he and Jo started dating, the press began snapping pictures of him, too. Jo and Neil were planning a life together with Jessica. In 2001, they bought a nineteenth-century mansion on the banks of the River Tay in Scotland. Besides having a morning room, a drawing room, and 162 acres of land, the house was close to Castle Menzies. Castle Menzies is about five hundred years old. Many people think it looks a lot like Hogwarts.
Jo loved her new life, but sometimes being famous was hard. Jo was by nature very private, and it was scary to feel like she was being spied on. She had never planned on being famous. In an interview, she said, “I never wanted it and I never expected it and certainly never worked for it, and I see it as something I have to get through really.”
Pottermania was getting bigger and bigger. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood got in on the game.
Chapter 7
Challenges!
Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon by 2001. Four books in the series had already been published. When a new book came out, bookstores held parties. Fans lined up for hours, sometimes wearing costumes, so they could buy the book the minute it went on sale at midnight.
But Hollywood movie studios were not at all sure the books would work as films. Sure, people loved Harry Potter, but would they go to see a movie with no parts for American movie stars? Some people in Hollywood even suggested making Harry American. Jo would not allow it. Harry was British and so was his world. Also, there was so much magic in the books. Re-creating the magic through special effects would be very expensive. Film companies did not want to spend a lot of money on a movie without being sure people would pay to see it.
And not everyone was a fan of the books. In the United States, Harry Potter was one of the most challenged books of the decade. A book is “challenged” when a parent or a group of people demand that it be kept out of schools and public libraries.
CHALLENGED BOOKS
MANY OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN AND BELOVED BOOKS HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED AS BEING BAD FOR CHILDREN. BESIDES THE HARRY POTTER SERIES, OTHER COMMONLY CHALLENGED BOOKS INCLUDE:
ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN— THIS BOOK HAS BEEN CHALLENGED FOR ITS RACIALLY CHARGED LANGUAGE.
1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL—ORWELL’S NOVEL WAS BANNED IN THE SOVIET UNION FOR BEING ANTICOMMUNIST. IT WAS BANNED IN THE UNITED STATES FOR BEING PRO-COMMUNIST.
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA BY KATHERINE PATERSON—SOME VIEWED THE IMAGINARY WORLD BUILT BY TWO CHILDREN AS DANGEROUS AND UNCHRISTIAN.
THE GIVER BY LOIS LOWRY—THIS NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER IS MOST FREQUENTLY CHALLENGED BECAUSE IN ITS FICTIONAL WORLD, PEOPLE ARE KILLED FOR NOT BEING PERFECT.
IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN BY MAURICE SENDAK—THE TODDLER HERO IN THIS BOOK DOESN’T WEAR CLOTHES FOR MUCH OF THE STORY.
LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING—MANY PEOPLE OBJECT TO HOW VIOLENT THE CHILDREN IN THIS BOOK BECOME.
THE STUPIDS BY HARRY ALLARD—THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A VERY DIM-WITTED FAMILY. SOME FEEL IT ENCOURAGES KIDS TO DISOBEY THEIR PARENTS.
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS BY DAV PILKEY—THIS BOOK HAS TOO MUCH “BATHROOM TALK” AND BAD BEHAVIOR FOR SOME PARENTS.
Why did these people think the Harry Potter books were bad for children? It was because the hero was a wizard. They believed that Jo’s books were promoting witchcraft in real life. Of course, the magic in Harry Potter isn’t real. All the spells and potions in the books were made up by Jo. The names were ones she created, too. Spells like Accio (which brings an object to a wizard), Expecto Patronum (which calls forth a wizard’s guardian spirit), and Confundo (which confuses a person) are all based on Latin words. However, many of the ingredients that Harry uses in his potions class such as dittany, belladonna, and hellebore are real.
HELLEBORE
In Michigan, a school superintendent forbade teachers from reading Harry Potter aloud to their classes. School librarians were told to take it off the shelves. In Pennsylvania, a mother tried to get the books banned from all the schools in her district. A church in New Mexico burned copies of Harry Potter because they didn’t want anyone to read them. The books were also challenged in other countries, like the United Kingdom and Australia.
Many schools in America had “opt-out” policies. That meant that if parents didn’t approve of a book that was being taught, their children could leave the class. So in some schools, Harry Potter was only read to classes where every parent said it was okay. Other teachers and librarians stopped recommending Harry Potter to avoid trouble. But no challenge ever kept kids away from Harry Potter. Especially after Warner Brothers Studios finally took a chance on the books.
HERBS
JO LEARNED ABOUT MANY OF THE HERBS AND PLANTS MENTIONED IN HARRY POTTER IN CULPEPER’S COMPLETE HERBAL. IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE SEVEN
TEENTH CENTURY AND IS STILL IN PRINT TODAY.
BELLADONNA
BELLADONNA—IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THIS POISONOUS PLANT WAS THOUGHT TO BE A KEY INGREDIENT IN WITCH’S FLYING OINTMENT. AT HOGWARTS, IT IS A PART OF THE STANDARD POTION-MAKING KIT THAT ALL STUDENTS HAVE.
DEATH CAP—THIS POISONOUS MUSHROOM IS BELIEVED TO CAUSE MOST MUSHROOM DEATHS WORLDWIDE. IT IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN THE DEATH CAP DRAUGHT.
DITTANY—THIS FLOWERING PLANT WAS OFTEN USED FOR HEALING. SOME VARIETIES CAN BE USED TO FLAVOR FOOD. THE STUDENTS AT HOGWARTS USE IT TO HEAL CUTS.
DITTANY
LOVAGE—THIS PLANT IS A LOT LIKE CELERY. THE LEAVES ARE USED IN COOKING AND TO HELP DIGESTION. AT HOGWARTS, IT IS USED IN THE BREWING OF BEFUDDLEMENT DRAUGHTS.
LOVAGE
NETTLE—THIS WIDESPREAD PLANT IS KNOWN FOR ITS STINGING HAIRS AND IS SOMETIMES BREWED IN TEA. FRESH NETTLES ARE USED IN THE BOIL-CURE POTION.
NETTLE
The movie version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone premiered in November 2001. It was a hit! American audiences had no trouble accepting the very British story starring British actors. Every one of the Harry Potter books would be made into a film. One book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, would even be split into two films.
Jo was excited about the movie. But she was more excited about her upcoming marriage to Neil Murray. They planned to wed in the Galapagos Islands at the end of 2001. But they canceled that wedding when their plans were leaked to the press. Jo didn’t want any reporters spying on her on her wedding day.