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Photograph by David Heller
Tome Time: Dressed up like as Potter protagonist, Willow Glen Middle School student John Vlkovic, 13, gets his first look at the book.
Hyped for Harry: The fictional boy wizard arrives at Hicklebee's
By Kelle Schillaci
With such a big crowd outside Hicklebee's Children's Bookstore at 7 a.m. Saturday, it might have looked like a bunch of eager young readers and their parents were under some kind of spell.
And they were, turning the Willow Glen children's bookstore into the epicenter of weekend Potter-mania in the South Bay.
The release of the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series had been hyped for weeks, and when the July 8 release date finally came, so did the crowds. To make things run faster, the store sold pre-ordered books from the back door.
What's so special about this Harry guy?
"He's cool!" said 8-year-old Bobby Espinosa, who arrived at 5:30 a.m. to be first in line for a pre-ordered copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The pint-sized wizard is certainly cool enough to cause a commotion, but the store was well prepared for the passionate Potter-heads as it has been covering the phenomenon since the early days when struggling-single-mom-turned-publishing-powerhouse Rowling released the first in what would soon become a record-breaking series. (The first three Harry Potter books sold 30 million copies and have been translated into 31 languages.)
"We pre-sold 800 copies," said Hicklebee's co-owner Valerie Lewis. "And we have another 200 on the racks." Rather than hosting a midnight release party, Lewis and staff opted to open the store Saturday at 7:30 a.m. They sold everything, but quickly got another order.
"We followed the rules," Lewis explained, alluding to the strict release regulations issued forth by Scholastic Publishers that some bookstores disregarded in order to get a jump on sales.
"As an independent bookseller, we're very strict about following orders," Lewis said. "That way, the publishers continue to send us the books." And given the number of small, independent bookstores in San Jose that have gone under, it's no small feat that Hicklebee's continues to grow in both size and reputation.
Boxes of pre-sold tomes formed balloon-decorated boundaries in a Harry Potter maze staged in back of the store, and the shop's interior featured streaming video of author interviews and other Potter-related material. "I like when he flies on the Griffin," said 5-year-old Tara Franklin, who also hit the midnight Barnes and Noble party, arriving at Hicklebee's promptly at 7 a.m. She was dressed in witch garb with her very own owl--all the fictional kids at Harry's Hogwarts Academy have messenger owls.
"I love the part when he blew up his aunt," said 11-year-old Spencer Hames.
Some teenagers proved that it was still "cool" to love Harry. Willow Glen Middle School student John Vlkovic, 13, even arrived looking like a dead ringer for the story's star, donning a red cape, owl-eyed glasses and a lightning bolt emblazoned on his forehead.
While the wizard may be causing a stir, parents don't seem to mind the Harry hype.
"It's encouraging reading!" said Cindy Schmidt, who ordered a copy of the new book for her 9-year-old son in front of the television cameras.
"This one book will be all he reads all summer," said Schmidt. At a whopping 734 pages, it's no small task for a fourth grader.
"I can't believe how big it is," marveled fifth-grader Matthew Salwasser. "This will take me all summer to read!"
If his parents don't get a hold of it first, that is. "Don't tell my 10-year old, but this way I get to read it first!" said Terry Reilly, who had somehow ended up at the bookstore while out to pick up bagels.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
