Harry Potter Casts His Spell in Irvine

It was only a nine-second encounter, but it left Nicola Bernard, 10, speechless.

“She shook my hand!” Bernard said, slack-faced with awe moments after children’s fantasy author J.K. Rowling scrawled her signature across the title page of one of her books.

So it went for two hours Monday at the Whale of a Tale Children’s Book Shoppe in Irvine, where the author of the top-selling Harry Potter series signed more than 800 autographs on the heels of 500 more earlier in the day in Ventura County.

The Irvine book signing had the feel of rock ‘n’ roll idolatry as window-watchers squealed “There she is!” at their first sighting of Rowling inside. The overflow crowd in Irvine was about evenly divided among girls and boys, with a few dressed up in Potter’s signature taped-together glasses, black and red cape and lightning-bolt-shaped scar in the middle of his forehead.

Huge throngs have appeared for book-signings before, such as the U.S. tour a few years ago by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Those are usually more serious affairs, though. And stores rarely are jammed by children enamored of authors.

“I am thrilled about what these books have done for kids and literature,” said Alex Uhl, Whale of a Tale’s owner.

Rowling’s books are believed to be the first children’s series to simultaneously fill three coveted positions on the adult New York Times Best Seller list. Her books also hold places one, two and four on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers list for Southern California.

The books are “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Each follows Potter, a nerdy orphan who has enrolled in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The themes have drawn sporadic negative reactions from parents concerned about the embrace of sorcery and depictions of violence, although child psychologists have said the books are within the bounds of children’s already active imaginations.

Officials for the American Library Assn. said they expect the series to land on its annual “Banned Books” list of titles that various groups around the country seek to bar from local or school libraries.

“It doesn’t surprise me that this has happened,” said Caroline Ward, president of the association’s children’s library division. “There is an element in the United States that feels if children are exposed to any kind of witchcraft or rituals, the devil will take over their souls. Harry Potter was just a sitting duck for them, because it’s just full of witchcraft and ritual--a lot of it in great fun.”

While some opposition has been intense--one Ventura County father described the books as “wicked, dark and evil”--parents in Orange County are largely supportive, although some admit the books leave them ill at ease.

Jean Lespier’s daughter attends fourth grade at Davis Elementary School in Costa Mesa, and the mother of three read the first Harry Potter book when her daughter mentioned that it was being used during story time in her class.

It was a great read, Lespier said. But portions of it disturbed her.

“It runs the gamut from murder to child abuse to witchcraft and wizardry to revenge,” Lespier said. “I felt that as a read-to book for children, it wasn’t an appropriate educational tool for my child. Issues such as these are potentially offensive to families, so I was surprised and a little saddened at [the book’s] use. There are so many other wonderful books that could be read in the classroom.”

The only complaints Monday, though, were by book lovers who showed up before the afternoon signing, unaware that they needed to have reserved a place in line by obtaining a number in the morning.

Susan Ranes of Irvine heard about the book signing several weeks ago and bought her books nine days before Monday’s event. At the time, plans weren’t finalized about resorting to numbered tickets, and Ranes didn’t return to the store with her three purchased books until midafternoon Monday.

“I’m definitely disappointed,” she said after she was turned away. “More so for my daughter [a teacher]. It was supposed to be a class treasure.”

Rowling’s own story has a fanciful rags-to-riches ring to it. A single mother from Scotland who at one point was on public assistance, Rowling was trying to write an adult novel when the idea for Harry Potter came to her. So far some 15 million books have been printed or are on order, and film rights have been sold to Warner Bros.

Uhl encountered about 200 Rowling fans when she arrived at her store at about 7 a.m. A few people told her they had been in line since 5 a.m., she said. She began handing out numbers at 10 a.m., the store’s opening time, and within two hours had handed out the 800th, and last, number for a book signing that wouldn’t begin for another 4 1/2 hours.

“The last 100 people I had to tell I couldn’t promise they’d get a signed copy because I didn’t know how many she could actually sign,” Uhl said.

The response was staggering for a bookstore that routinely offers book-signings by noted children’s authors. Later this fall, such celebrated authors as Jan Brett, Ruby Bridges and Eve Bunting will sign books.

“This was probably the greatest turnout we’ve had,” Uhl said. “Jan Brett will have a nice long line, but not usually do people file in hours early. We’ve never had to give out numbers before and have people come back.”

But they did return.

Irena Bernard, 38, of Laguna Beach spent two hours at Whale of a Tale on Monday morning waiting in line to get a numbered ticket. The ticket entitled her to come back in the afternoon to wait some more with her daughter Nicola--mesmerized by her close brush with her favorite author--and her daughter’s friends Siobhan Siaca and Hayley Simon, both 10.

Each girl brought a letter to leave with Rowling, hoping she’ll write back (Rowling promised she would). But Siaca was driven by a question she said she just had to ask Rowling, even if she only had the nine seconds it took the author to sign a book.

What, she needed to know, do the initials J.K. stand for?

“I got it! I got the answer to my question!” Siaca squealed as she left the store. “Her name is Joanne Kathleen!”

The three friends went on to compare signatures and stories as only 10-year-olds can, awash in the glow of a fantasy delivered.

*

Times staff writer Catherine Saillant contributed to this report.