Over the years, various religious groups have denounced the Harry Potter books as evil for their promotion of wizardry, magic and the occult. But what the books really reflect is a consistent moral framework, asserts Harry Potter expert Connie Neal, a popular Christian author who has been a keynote speaker at several international Harry Potter conferences.

Neal will guide your audience through the lessons contained in the Potter books that can help teach kids, and adults alike, about relationships, acceptance, disappointments and loss. Lessons that cause us to look inward and ask ourselves moral questions:

• Does it really matter that Dumbledore is gay?

• Can one break the rules all the time but still be good?

• Do we have a choice in the kind of person we become (after all, isn’t it Harry’s moral choices that keep him from becoming like Voldemort)?

Some of the other intriguing points Connie will talk about are:

• Staying true to your friends, even if they’re unpopular or nerdy.

• Accepting people for who they are.

• Realizing that your family is more important than you think.

• Sharing your fears and pain.

• Why we shouldn’t fear death.

Look for the paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, released this month!

CREDENTIALS: Connie Neal is a popular author of such books as WIZARDS, WARDROBES AND WOOKIEES: Navigating Good and Evil in Harry Potter, Narnia and Star Wars; What’s a Christian to Do with Harry Potter?; and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HARRY POTTER.

AVAILABILITY: CA, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone
CONTACT: Emily Kiefer, (502) 569-5811 (KY); ekiefer@wjkbooks.com