@stavvers back home in Australia we had such a rich variety of youth fiction pre-HP. I am not up to date on such things, but it feels sad to think HP "hype" may have erased that. Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden, Taronga by Victor Kelleher, Paul Jennings, Tim Winton... etc. Some strong reading memories. All still there to read today of course! If I had kids I'd like to think these things & more contemporary equivalents are what they would have on their bookshelves (but hell knows...)

HP was weird that in the late 90s I had friends my age reading it and loving it, I tried a couple but it seemed a bit meh to me (I was well into adults sci-fi by then, and Pratchett, and was several re-reads into Tolkien, so HP felt like very watered down B grade fantasy.)

"At least they were reading" ... I guess.