Like most everyone else in the world, I fell hard for Harry Potter when it was released, catapulting head first into the tale of wizards, Muggles, and a young boy’s coming of age. (Stay with me here, this will be about Diana Wynne Jones eventually). Before Harry Potter was released, in 1999, I had mostly been reading adult fiction, chick lit and literary fiction. After all, I was a junior in high school, determined to prove my adulthood and maturity by reading up–never reading down. For some reason, I thought that I should relate more to thirty-year-old singles living the good life in NYC than to kids or teens who were growing up, just like me. Harry Potter changed that, showing me that readers of any age could still find a good story in children’s or YA literature.
But it seemed to stop there. People read Harry Potter, loved Harry Potter, then didn’t continue onward to explore the vast unknown universe that was kidlit/YA and fantasy. I wanted to continue onward, but didn’t have a guide. Until I found one. A friend pressed a worn, battered copy of Fire and Hemlock into my hands, urging me to try it out. I quickly moved onto The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, devouring the thick paperbacks and immersing myself in the tale of Cat and Gwendolen Chant and their experiences with parallel universes and a magician with nine lives.
Amidst the turbulent (or what I then considered turbulent) atmosphere of high school, of preparing for college, of change, sometimes a magical universe where anything can happen is exactly what a girl needs. Diana Wynne Jones provided me with a world where I could lose myself, and that friend inadvertently gave me two incredible gifts: a path to children’s and YA literature, and my first experience with a true community of literature lovers, one that has been ever expanding throughout the years.
This blog tour is coinciding with the Firebird (an imprint of Penguin) reissue of three of DWJ’s works, Dogsbody, Fire and Hemlock, and A Tale of Time City. Each work has an introduction by a major literary figure (Neil Gaiman, Ursula Le Guin, and Garth Nix, respectively). Find more information at the Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones tumblr.
Ooh, how fabulous that your first book was Fire & Hemlock. What an introduction!
So glad you found your guide.
I was exactly the same way as a young reader! I'm sad that I've just found wonderful authors like Diana Wynne Jones as an adult (just read my first about two weeks ago, actually), but at the same time I'm so happy to now have this wonderful backlog to explore.
I also enjoy Harry Potter…but Diana Wynne Jones is certainly an author who comes to mind when I find myself thinking (or saying to someone), yes, I like Harry, but there are so many other fantasy series and writers that are as (or more!) amazing!
I read this and was pleasantly surprised. What you went through back in high school with Diana Wynne-Jones' novels is exactly what I've been going through for the past year! Last year, before 11th grade ended, I picked up a copy of Howl's Moving Castle at my school library. I've been in love with Diana Wynne-Jones' books since. Only in my case, reading Diana Wynne-Jones did to me what JK Rowling did to you. I'm starting to get more into YA Fantasy novels because I love her books so much. Spindle's End by Robin McKinney and Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett are next on my to-read list. You said it perfectly – amidst all the chaos of growing up and going to college and learning to be responsible, being able to sit down with a Diana Wynne-Jones book in hand is the best medicine.