A Letter To J.K. Rowling

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BBI....!!!!!

Tomorrow, April 13th, is BBI (Book Blogger Indonesia)'s 5th anniversary. As a way to celebrate our beloved community;s birthday, we (the book bloggers) are encouraged to write a letter to our favorite author. So I decided to write one to J.K. Rowling.

Dear Ms. Rowling,

I know this letter is kind of 'mandatory' as a way to celebrate my blogger-community's birthday, but when I decided to write this, I actually wanted to write this because I've been meaning to say something to you since I was eleven years old: thank you.

Thank you for writing the most magical story I've ever read in my life :)

Let me tell you a story of how I met Harry Potter and fell in love with the series.

My name is Kartika, which is a Javanese word means 'star', but everybody calls me Ika. I came from a small town named Purwokerto, in the south part of Java Island, Indonesia. I was eleven years old (almost twelve) at the time, and one of my childhood friends lent me a book called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (the Indonesian language translation one). I was a bit skeptical about it, but my friend persuaded me and said that 'the book is about wizards but it is unlike any other wizard-books I've read'. So I brought the book home, and read it, and soon found that I could not stop until I finished it. When I reached the last page of the book, I knew I was in love.

Soon after that, I got my hands on the second and the third book which were already translated and published at the time, still borrowing from my friend. When it was time to return the books to her, I knew I was doomed: I could not stop rereading them. I did not want to return them. I wanted to have them all for myself.

Several months after returning the books, I went to a bookstore alone on a sunday afternoon, bringing a bunch of my pocket money I'd been saving for months, and bought all three Harry Potter books that have been published. I was twelve. And those three books were the first three novels I collected (now I collect a lot of novels).

I had to wait for almost two years to get the fourth book, waiting for it to be translated and all. And by the time I read the fourth book, I was already fourteen years old and was having an important test at junior high school. Because of the test, my parents didn't allow me to read it until after the test. So I stayed up at midnight, pretending to be asleep, but actually, I was reading the book with a flashlight under the blanket. And then, the fifth book came when I was in senior highschool. I was fifteen years old when I read that one. Maybe it was because of the same age as Harry throughout the series, but for me, I find it was very easy to fall in love with Harry Potter.

Up until the fifth book, I always read those in Indonesian language, the translated editions. But since the series were a big hit, local bookstores started to sell the English editions after that, which is very unusual, actually, but it made me scream in happiness inside. Let me tell you that in my town, it is very very verrryyyy hard to find imported books or books written in English. Even if there are, the cost is highly expensive. So, unless you live in Jakarta, it is very hard to acquire imported books.

Anyway, I stumbled into the sixth book when I was preparing to go to university, already seventeen years old. It was in English, not the translated one. I was amazed. It was my first English book I've ever had. And I read it because I coudn't bear to wait a whole year for the translated version to be published. It was the first novel in English that I read from the beginning until the end...and it was not an easy task to do since it is not in my mother tongue. Actually, I admit, I consulted a dictionary many many times when I was reading it.

By the time the last book published, I could read the whole book in English with no major problems, and I enjoyed it immensely. Of course, I was already in university when I read the finale.

I literary grew up with Harry. Harry Potter books were always there thoughout my childhood. They are a huge part of my childhood, a magical part. Without Harry Potter, I would never know the joy of collecting novels (now I also collect Harry Potter books both in Indonesian language and in English, but sadly, I still don't have the fourth book in English. Like I said, it is still very hard to find imported books here *cry*). Without Hary Potter, I would not be encouraged to improve my English. So, once again, thank you, for bringing the whole magical world into my life. 

Thank you for my magical childhood.

I loved the series then, and I love them still.

I sincerely wish you a very happy and magical life.

Love from your biggest fan,

-Ika-

PS. I'm reading your other books now, and I'm halfway through The Cuckoo's Calling.