Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Book Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author: Based on an original new story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and was excited to hear about this new book. The amount of time it took me to actually read the book is not an accurate indication of that excitement. My wife and son wanted to read the book first and since I was in the middle of reading another book at the time, I was good with that. After they read it and the reviews weren’t as high as the original seven Harry Potter books it put a little bit of a damper on my excitement level.

As a result, I put off reading the book in favor of other books. I had the book sitting on my office desk and a couple weeks ago I saw it and thought to myself, “Why haven’t I read that book yet?”  I decided then and there to pick it up and start reading.

I did enjoy the story. I wasn’t a big fan of reading it as it if were the script of a play. It slowed me down and just didn’t flow as smoothly as I’m used to. After a while though, I adjusted and was able to focus more on the story which takes place roughly 19 years after the final battle at Hogwarts in book seven of the original series.

I always thought a cool book would be highlighting what the cast of Harry Potter was up to after the original book series ended. The characters are so beloved that it seemed like a natural next step in the franchise.

In this book, Harry’s son, Albus Severus Dumbledore takes after his father and creates all the excitement. In my mind, as I read I still pictured the original actors as the main characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione. The script was very specific about the “new” actors that played these characters in the play which I didn’t care for.

This book depicted Harry as a father that was struggling to connect with his son. The book portrays both sides, the father and the sons and their own thoughts on their relationship.

Like I said, I really enjoyed the storyline, but could have done without the script version of it. I liked reading about what Harry, Ron and Hermione were up to and what they ended up doing with their careers and lives.

I hope if they build off this book and write another one that Rowling will go back to the original style of storytelling.

I would recommend this book to others but would temper it and try to manage expectations so readers wouldn’t be expecting the same type and style as the original series.

Book Review: Michael Vey The Prisoner of Cell 25

Book Title: Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25

Author: Richard Paul Evans

I thought for this book review I would copy the one my daughter and I did for her fourth-grade book report. I read this book with her and it was the first time she’s let me read with her. It was awesome. Listed below is the report she put together for school. I couldn’t have said it better.

Rate this book: 1-10 (1 is the lowest)

10

Give a 5-6 sentence description of your book. Discuss main characters, setting and plot.

First, the main characters are Michael, Taylor, Ostin, Jack, Zeus, Nichelle and Dr. Hatch. Its starts in Idaho with Michael and Ostin being friends. Michael has electric powers and he and Ostin find out that Taylor also has electric powers. The three of them form the Electroclan to find out why Michael and Taylor have electric powers. There are 17 kids that have electric power. Dr. Hatch created the Elgen Academy to use the electric children to take over the world. Dr. Hatch kidnaps Taylor and uses her as fish bait to try and capture Michael. Dr. Hatch captured Michael but Michael and the Electroclan come up with a plan and beat Dr. Hatch to escape.

The book ends and Michael and the Electroclan are free but they will still have to fight Dr. Hatch again because he has kidnapped Michael’s mom.

Dramatic Reading: Choose a 1 minute passage from your book to read aloud to the class. You will be graded on fluency (how well it flows and expression.) You will want to practice several times so you feel confident in reading it out loud to the class.

Here’s the passage my daughter read to her class:

Ostin started to the phone but stopped. “But what about your mom?”

“I’m going to find her,” I said.

“We’re going to find her,” Jack said. “And bring her home.”

I looked at Jack and shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ve already gotten you guys in enough trouble. I can’t take that chance again.”

“Trouble?” Jack said. “You can’t buy this kind of excitement.”

“I’m in,” Wade said. “You risked your mom’s life for me, I’ll risk mine for hers. Besides, even that prison food wasn’t as bad as living with my granny.” He looked at Jack. “The food was better.”

“The guards were nicer too,” Jack said.

I looked down and smiled. “Well, I could use a ride.”

“I’m in too,” Zeus said. “I helped capture her. I’ll help free her.” He looked at me. “What else am I going to do? Can’t stay here.”

“Count me in,” Ian said, stepping forward. “I can’t speak for the girls, but last I checked, my schedule was wide open.” He looked at Abigail and McKenna. “How about you guys?”

“I’m in,” McKenna said.

Five Tips to Deal With Negative Press

I recently had the opportunity to work with a client on a high profile public event. The event was designed to make a significant difference in the communities in which we live, play and work featuring a well-known celebrity and some of his friends and fellow celebrities.

During the planning phase I was brought in to help with the public relations (PR) efforts, specifically to create awareness about the event and the cause behind it. As part of the PR strategy, the celebrity driving the event committed his time to any and all media interview opportunities. In fact, he flew in to town for one full day to do all the media interviews I could secure.

All of the interviews I set up that day were great and highly positive with praise from the media outlets as well as the general public. During one of the pre-taped broadcast interviews, the reporter conducting the interview asked my clients to “talk” so they could test the microphone. As they spoke the reporter asked a couple questions that were for “background” only and said they wouldn’t include these in the report that would air later that day.

Later that day when the interview was published on the TV channel’s website they included the background questions they promised wouldn’t be included.  When my client saw it, he was upset. He wasn’t upset because he said anything wrong but because he was doing other things to get ready for the interview as they talked. He didn’t want it to look like he was being rude or not taking the interview seriously.

His assistant reached out to me demanding that the piece be taken down. I told him I’d reach out to the reporter and get it taken care of. The assistant said if they wouldn’t change it that they wouldn’t give them press passes to the event and allow their station to come cover it.

This exchange brought up an interesting discussion and I counseled him on the best ways to handle a situation like this. The advice I provided is relevant and worth sharing with a much larger audience.  My advice included five key points.

• Don’t threaten the media: Regardless of how angry you are, don’t make threats. Nobody, including the media responds well to threats. Threats will put the other party on the defensive and escalate the situation to a point where both parties act irrationally and do or say things they normally wouldn’t.
• Stick to the facts: In this instance, it was easy to point out the facts. On the video you could clearly hear the reporter say that they were asking background questions only and that these questions wouldn’t be included in the final piece. You could also hear my client ask if they were still checking the mic or if the actual interview had begun.
• Go to the source: When I called the media outlet, I went straight to the source. I spoke to the person I set the interview up with and discussed the issue with him. I spoke to him clearly and calmly and expressed my clients concern over the video. I explained why we had an issue and what my client’s expectation was based on their conversation. As this person watched the video, the facts were clear and he appreciated me reaching out to him to discuss it.
• Have a solution in mind: When I made my call to my contact, I knew what I wanted. I wanted the video to be edited to not include the background questions. I told him what I wanted and expected and we discussed it calmly. He said he understood and agreed to fix it.
• Work together to come to a mutual resolution: The story was still a great story and my client was happy. We worked together through the process to ensure that it was fixed quickly. Upon fixing it, my client shared it on his social media channels which brought even more visibility to the piece. In the end, the reporter and I had greater respect for each other and our relationship was stronger as a result.

Had I approached the situation as my client’s assistant wanted when he called me there would have been a far different resolution.  The reporter would have been mad, a bridge would have been burned and we would have been forced to deny them access to the event. Nobody would have won in that situation.

Following these five steps will allow you to build better, stronger relationships with the media as opposed to creating an adversarial relationship that doesn’t benefit anybody involved.