Flying through Ella Enchanted

When I left home for college and moved my already ridiculous collection of books out of my moms house, I purged the stacks of good young adult books that I nonetheless knew I was never going to read again. While they were good, enjoyable, well written books, I knew then that I had outgrown them. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, however, made the cut. Along with The Two Princesses Of Bamarre, also by Levine,  I simply could not part with it.

The characters and story had enchanted me as a 6th grader, and years later I still knew that stories of this sort were far too important to set aside. Through my high school and college years, Levine's stories were my guilty pleasure. They were lighthearted, innocent, and genuinely fun good reads.

Years later I picked the book up again and was exceedingly amused to discover that my middle school self had written  my name along with the name of my then crush and some stereotypical hearts on the inside cover of the book. I read almost all of the book in a single day, mostly in airports and on planes as I flew to California for my cousin's graduation, and I found it as enchanting this time as all the times before.

While my younger self merely liked the book and had no need to ask why, my (hopefully) somewhat more mature and intelligent mind now recognizes the greatness in Levine's writing and art. She masterfully weaves together a story very much of her own original creation with a tale as old as time.

Somehow she manages to take typical fairy tale tropes like fairy godmothers and magic and flip them on their heads, while simultaneously staying completely true to the story of Cinderella. With the expected evil stepsisters, greedy and cruel stepmother, pumpkin coach, and midnight expiration of spells come  dangerously persuasive ogres, gnomes that can see the future, princes that slide down royal banisters, and fairy godmothers that cook in this wonderful tale of a cursed girl with just the right amount of spunk.

Levine even stays true to the original tale's three balls instead of one. And the touch of naming the prince Charmont (Char for short) and the heroine Eleanor (Ella) is as charming as the prince.

Continuing the Harry Potter theme….

this was an assignment promt to “write a letter to someone who does not like Harry Potter/in defense of the books” I had a little bit of fun with it….:)

Dear Bibliophile,

It appalls me that they can continue to release Harry Potter books. That witch JK Rowling is just promoting her Satanism and turning our innocent children on to her occult. How can the publishers allow this catastrophic immorality to go on and what can we do about it?

Sincerely,

Harry Potter is the Antichrist

Dear Antichrist,

I have to disagree with you for several reasons. Number one, JK Rowling is just a regular old human being like the rest of us, albeit a brilliantly intelligent one with a knack for successful and enthralling story telling. But that is the extent of her “witchy powers,” the ability to weave a story so intricately as to appeal to children aged seven to 99. Secondly, there is nothing in the entire Harry Potter series that even hints at Satanism, let alone encourages our young children to practice it. Have you actually read even one Harry Potter book? Yes, there is magic in the books. But that is why they are categorized as “fiction” instead of “non-fiction.” Neither Rowling nor any of her supporters ever claimed that children in London actually receive letters by owl at age 11 that whisk them away to a mysterious boarding school to be taught magic tricks. Rather, Rowling, like so many other fantasy writers, presents the world with a fresh new canvas on which to examine themes like good and evil, friendship, laughter, justice, self sacrifice and death. The magic is that she is such a good storyteller that we hardly notice we are learning a thing until it is all over. This point also refutes the argument you may have that fantasy literature causes our children to loose touch with reality. When you finish a Harry Potter book, you are not left with a confusion as to what is real and what is not, but rather, you are left with profound knowledge and lessons to help you deal with the very real evils in the real world. No, Lord Voldemort and house elves do not exist. But Hitler did, and Stalin did, and Mussolini did. Slavery did exist, and similar evils and people exist today and will exist in the future. By watching Harry grow and learn, you learn along with him. As Harry learns the value of friendship and loyalty, so does the reader. As Harry stands up for what is right, not what is easy, the reader learns to do the same. As Hermione stands up for elfish rights and Voldemort ignores them entirely, we learn the value of not mistreating our inferiors. Rowling teaches us to value friendship and family, she teaches us that “it matters not who or what we are born, but who we grow to be.” She teaches us that “it is our choices that matter far more than our abilities” and that “we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” She teaches us to greet death as an old friend, for that is the only way to truly “conquer” it. She teaches us to laugh even in the darkest of times, to never give up, and most importantly, that love is the most powerful magic on earth.

Ephriam Biblow has done a study that proves “contrary to popular belief, frequent trips into the land of faerie make for creative thinkers and problem solvers who are less physically aggressive” (Levine and Mass 153-154). Harry Potter is no different. Rather than instilling a love of Satan, the books instill a love of reading and goodness, which results in knowledgeable, intelligent, savvy, kind adults, and isn’t that what we all want our children to become? Defending fairy tales and fantasy in general, C.S. Lewis famously stated, “Since it is so likely they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage” (156). Many writers have pointed out that fairy tales and fantasy deal with basic good and evil, which are the most universal core human issues. In this way Harry Potter is universal in a way that the Bible can never be. Harry Potter does not demand that you believe. It does not require you to be Christian, Catholic, or Jewish. It extends universally to all humans, believers and non, and in a very clever way, teaches our children how to be good and fight evil, which, after all, is what Christ teaches his followers as well. I cannot see God taking issue with a story that extends a message of general goodness, bravery, and most of all, love to anyone willing to pick up the book. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I suggest you now go do.

Sincerely,

Bibliophile

this is legitimately my favorite movie, the live version of peter pan. i love it!