Once upon a time, in a land far away, I was the mother of a 9-year-old when the first Harry Potter movie came out.

I was at a soccer banquet the night before it premiered, helping pass out some end-of-the-year soccer cake, making chit-chat with one of the fathers next to me, and I asked if he was going to take his little soccer star to the new Harry Potter movie.

“Oh, no!” he said, looking at me like I’d suddenly grown horns. “We’re Christian.”

I think I stood there, my mouth agape, for at least a minute. I’m pretty sure the cake slid to the floor. Aside from feeling like I’d been accused of raising devil children, I couldn’t quite think of how to respond. …

It was the first time I was ever met, head-on, with the issue of banning books. And it was the first time I was ever faced with a person who thought I was making a horribly wrong choice for my child.

To read the rest of the story, fling yourself over to the Popculturedivas blog. And I’d love to hear your comments about how you parent (and choose books) in the Harry Potter and Twilight era. …