Be heartened, dear readers, there is life post-Potter

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With the final Harry Potter book due out on Saturday, the big questions on the minds of fans everywhere are: Who lives? Who dies? And, how does it all end?

But the surefire follow-up to those questions is: Is there life after Harry Potter?

Well, yes, say librarians, booksellers and parents from the area -- that is, if what you like is not just Harry and friends but a well-crafted yarn laced with magic and memorable characters.

To make sense of where to go if you loved Harry Potter, it's important to look at what made the series so popular in the first place.

"Kids like characters who overcome overwhelming odds," says Katherine Witt, assistant manager for youth services in the Weber County Library system. "This is true even in fantastical worlds.

"In the Harry Potter books, you have a young person -- someone who is the same age as his young readers -- who is intelligent, who is helped by his friends, and who really undergoes a mythic journey or hero's quest. These all have great appeal."

A Harry Potter book was the first book Kim Matschull of Syracuse, a home-schooling mother of three, read aloud to her older sons.

"We had tons of fun with it," she said. "I would do all the voices differently -- I got really good at a British accent! Then at times, the boys would want to stop and play out a scene from the book and they would be doing the voices.

"After the first book, my older boy, who is now 9, went on to read them to himself, pushing himself when the book was beyond his reading level because he enjoyed them so much. He says the battles and adventure really made the books interesting.

"I enjoyed them because of the coming-of-age story. I enjoyed discussing that with my sons, that life doesn't always hand us roses and sometimes

we really have to hunt for the 'gift' that God has given us in our trials."

Witt says the Potter series became a turning point for many children, taking them from reading "because they have to" to reading for pleasure.

With that in mind, following is a compendium of suggestions for further reading. In addition, the Weber County Library System has a recommended reading list specifically for Harry Potter aficionados at http://www.weberpl.lib.ut.us/content/booklists/sort/t/18

-- "Children of the Red King" series (aka Charlie Bone) by Jenny Nimmo, the series most similar to Harry Potter, according to Witt. "It's written at a younger reading level," she says, " but is also about a boy who discovers he can work magic."

-- "The Inheritance Trilogy" by Christopher Paolini, which both Shanna Tobin, owner of Wisebird Bookery in Ogden, and Jake Ruiz of The Bookshelf say is selling well in the youth age group. The story is about a young man who discovers he can work magic (and, of course, ride dragons).

-- Anything by Cornelia Funke, whom some are referring to as the German J.K. Rowling. Her titles include "Dragon Rider" and the "Inkheart" and "Ghosthunters" series.

-- The "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer, a teen vampire trilogy recommended by Tobin. "It's written for teens and has a teen protagonist," she says, "but women's book clubs are choosing it, it's hit No. 1 on the New York Times young-adult best-seller list, and I loved it. Although it's a vampire story, it's very safe for the teen age group."

-- "Chronicles of Fiarah" by K.L. Morgan and John Atley, published by Orem-based LDS publisher TriQuest.

-- The Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage ("Magyk," "Flyte" and the new "Physik"), another "young wizard" series.

-- The "Fablehaven" series by Brandon Mull, two books about endangered magical creatures.

Classic youth series recommended by librarians and booksellers included Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" series and "The Chronicles of Prydain" by Lloyd Alexander.

For older readers, Ruiz specifically likes the Xanth novels of Piers Anthony (a trilogy that is now up to about two dozen books), the Shannara series of Terry Brooks, and the much newer "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin, which is getting rave customer reviews on Amazon.

Trudi Cooper, the senior children's librarian for the Davis County system, recommends the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett (think Doug Adams, but in a fantasy universe), an adult series that has a spin-off series for young adults, Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series.

And, of course, the great-grandfathers of all modern fantasies, "Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia," were on nearly everyone's list.

THOSE THATWOULD BE POTTER

Piers Anthony, the "Magic of Xanth" series

Gill Arnutnott, "The Chaos Clock"

Avi, "Midnight Magic"

Kit Berry, the "Stonewylde" series

Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, "The Spiderwick Chronicles"

N.E. Bode, "The Anybodies"

Georgia Byng, "Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism"

Patrick Carman, the "Land of Elyon" series

Susanna Clarke, "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell"

Eion Colfer, "Artemus Fowl"

Diane Duane, the "Young Wizards" series

Timothy Erenberger, the "Abacar the Wizard" series

Cornelia Funke, "The Thief Lord"

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, "Tunnels"

Derek Landy, "Skulduggery Pleasant"

Leah Monte Litzner and Adrian Nicole Abrams, "Angel Applegate and the Evil Crystal Eye of Zincubus"

R. Fergus McGhee, "Beyond the Mist"

Brandon Mull, the "Fablehaven" series.

Jenny Nimmo, "Midnight for Charlie Bone"

Kenneth Oppel, the "Silverwing" series

James Owen, "Here, There be Dragons"

Christopher Paolini, the "Inheritance" trilogy

Philip Pullman, "The Golden Compass"

Rick Riordan, "The Lightning Thief"

Katherine Roberts, "Crystal Mask"

Angie Sage, the "Septimus Heap" series

Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series

Jonathan Stroud, the "Amulet of Samarkand" series

Jon Scieszka, the "Time Warp Trio"

G.P. Taylor, "Shadowmancer"

Chris Wooding, "The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray"

-- The Associated Press

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