What J.K. Rowling did for me personally

I love reading children's and adolescent literature. At work I read all this theory and history and criticism that when it comes to my own time I really like a good story. However, kiddie lit has changed since I was young. My friends read the Babysitter's Club and the Babysitter's Club. That was about it. Books for kids now are entertaining, original, and even provocative (check out the [well-deserved] controversy over The Golden Compass!). But what is particularly exciting to me is that fantasy and sci-fi are cool again.

I have always loved fantasy. Always. Which sort of makes me a nerd. Until JK. The Harry Potter phenomenon made magic and unicorns cool. Which maybe makes me cool. Okay, maybe not, but I like to dream. Now I no longer have to hide my love of The Wizard of Oz and everything that comes of it. I can speak openly of the awesomeness of The Last Unicorn. And the truly fantastic thing about all of this is that as fantasy becomes hipper, it gets darker. True love.

And so, I proudly make some recommendations.

Read stuff by Jonathan Stroud. He will make you laugh out loud and want to wage class warfare.
Read stuff by Gregory Maguire. He will make you question truth through perspective.
Read C.S. Lewis. He will make you smarter.
Watch stuff from Joss Whedon. He will make you want to kick some ass.
Read stuff from Peter S. Beagle. His prose will give you the chills.
Watch old Disney movies. There is nothing bizarre or childish about singing animals.
Read Madeleine L'Engle. Seriously, just read it.
Read anything by George Orwell.
Take Isaac Asimov seriously. Okay, maybe not the best prose, but brilliant premises!
Read Neil Gaiman. Funny...or TERRIFYING?
Revel in superheroes: X-Men, Spiderman - they all rock. And these days they are all neurotic or trying to deal with scarring issues from their childhood. Who doesn't love that?
Revel in monsters: same issues as superheroes. And who can distinguish the two these days?
Watch An American Werewolf in Paris.

And finally, I happily admit I am stoked about the SciFi channel mini-series Tin Man. There is NOTHING wrong with re-visiting the Yellow Brick Road again. And each time we go back it gets darker and darker. And this one has Alan Cumming missing half his brain. I'm not sure things could be potentially cooler.