LET Research quality of literature

I am responding to the letter by Alisson Veldhuis about the Harry Potter books not having the quality of literature she's accustomed to.

She's failing to realize that it's not the literature that's making everyone read these books. It's that people can relate to certain characters and situations in the book. There are people in today's society who are brave and courageous like Harry, simple yet friendly like Ron, nerdy yet loyal like Hermione.

It really upsets me that, being a 16-year-old, she feels she's well-versed in English literature. I've got news for her -- she's not as educated in English literature as she may feel. Let's take for example the several books she grew up on and is still reading, "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Sherlock Holmes," "Tom Sawyer," and "The Count of Monte Cristo." Despite the fact that each of these stories is wonderfully written, obviously Alisson hasn't done her homework. Each of these books has in the last century been either burned and/or banned in libraries or schools.

"The Chronicles of Narnia" challenges Christianity; "Sherlock Holmes" talks about death, murder; "Tom Sawyer" talks about racism; "The Count of Monte Cristo" talks about a guy being buried alive in a wall. I hope that the next time she judges a book by its cover, she does a little research first.

Ally; Kraai

Rochester;