Tag Archives: J. K. Rowling

Unexpected Book Bans

By Robin Bates | Published: September 15, 2024

Book bans were on the rise in the 2023-24 school year–sometimes for understandable reasons, sometimes not.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "The Hille We Climb", Amanda Gorman, Anne Frank, banned books, Better Living through Literature, censorship, Charlotte's Webb, Diary of a Young Girl, E. B. White, Edgar Rice Burroughs, freedom of speech, Harriet the Spy, Harry Potter, James and the Giant Peach, Louise Fitzhugh, Maurice Sendak, Maus, Roald Dahl, Robin Bates, Tarzan, Trumpism, Twelfth Night, Where the Wild Things Are, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Alexei Navalny as Harry Potter?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 18, 2024

Some Russians saw Navalny, recently killed by Putin, as a Harry Potter “boy who lived.” That dream is gone but others live on.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "meeting after the savior gone", Alexi Navalny, authoritarianism, Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, Lucille Clifton, Martin Luther King, Vladimir Putin | Comments closed

The Bard, Rowling, and Trans Identity

By Robin Bates | Published: June 15, 2020

The Supreme Court has just ruled to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination, showing Shakespeare to be centuries ahead of his time. J.K. Rowling, on the other hand, needs to catch up.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Christian fundamentalism, Donald Trump, LGBTQ rights, Trans rights, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort Enabler

By Robin Bates | Published: September 12, 2018

To understand Republicans enabling Trump, imaging Lucius Malfoy enabling Voldemort.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Agatha Christie, DOP, GOP moderates, Harry Potter, Murder on the Orient Express, Trump enablers | Comments closed

Twitter: Shorter Is Sweeter

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2017

Responses to Twitter increasing its character limit to 240 have often been quite humorous, including some limericks. And speaking of limericks and twitter…

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged limericks, Matsuo Basho, Stephen King, twitter | Comments closed

Hillary Clinton Is Hermione Granger

By Robin Bates | Published: September 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton is like Hermione Granger in many ways, but there is one very important difference.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump, female ambition, Harry Potter, Hillary Clinton, presidential debates | Comments closed

Class Warfare in Harry Potter

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2014

J. K. Rowling’s leftwing politics shape the Harry Potter series.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged class politics, class warfare, Harry Potter | Comments closed

Voldemort, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2013

In terms of developmental psychology, “Harry Potter” is structured around a clash between successful and unsuccessful identity formation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged developmental psychology, Erik Erikson, Harry Potter, identity confusion, identity diffusion, identity quest | Comments closed

Parents, Kids, Schools & Banned Books

By Robin Bates | Published: May 23, 2012

Parents pressure schools to ban books because they want to protect their children. Their children want the books because they have a different set of needs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged adolescence, Are You There God It's Me Margaret, Book banning, Catcher in the Rye, censorship, Education, Harry Potter, J. D. Salinger, Judy Blume, Perks of Being a Wall Flower, Stephen Chbotsky | Comments closed