I also consider the Harry Potter books to be just a very good read, rather than a masterpiece. That's not to say that I don't admire them. They're wonderfully enjoyable, and demonstrate a very fine imagination, and I've read every one of them and will read them again. But I don't think that they demonstrate any uniquely high level of accomplishment in any one area - they just achieve a consistently high level in many areas, book after book after book. And they manage not to fall of the edge in any of the ways that they might - no overpowerful characters (though Harry pushes it on occasion), no perfect characters, no abandoning the small stories for the sake of the large, no loss of a sense of humor and perspective, no resting on the laurels of the previous books. But to me, they don't reach the pinnacle of children's books classics - they're at least one level down from the top. I'm hoping that they're just the beginning of that author's career, not the end, and that she'll go on to make a place for herself at the pinnacle. ChickenFreak
I wonder if JK Rowling ever will write again, because every since HP ended she's seemed like a one-trick pony and I don't want that.
I think the Harry Potter series was a success because they were not only books kids enjoyed reading but also because they were books parents could get behind. Kids loved them because of the adventure and the horror elements and the whole adults are useless angle. Parent loved them because of the wholesomeness of the thing. I won’t argue that the whole marketing circus that came to surround the series made it the record-breaking smash hit that is was but I think even if you went back and striped it all away they still would have been a success of a much more modest sort.
[Referring to the part I bolded] I'm assuming you don't reach much YA fiction. If so, it would be wrong to base one book (or series) as "the writing style for YA fiction." The styles are as varied as what you would read in other genres. And within YA fiction, you have all the sub-genres such as YA fantasy, YA realistic, YA sci fi, YA romance, etc.
For the sake of both writers and readers, I would hope there is another phenomenon like Harry Potter. I would love for another series to pull me and fascinate me like HP did. Harry Potter made me look forward to reading again. I would skip meals when the new books came out, and wouldn't move until I finished it.
