I came from a family of readers, and I’m excited to be raising a new one.

Over dinner last night, my mom was talking to my beginner reader about the books she could request from her school librarian. “You could ask for a Junie B. Jones book.”

Without skipping a beat, my daughter responded, “No, I would ask for a Harry Potter book.”

I hope this comes as no surprise, but I’m anti-JKR and her band of TERFs. I had no intention to introduce my daughter to Harry Potter, though I dreamed of doing so back in the day (I’m a good Millennial, after all).

I’m also anti-censorship and believe strongly in letting my kid read what they choose.

So what is a parent to do? I’ll tell you what I will do.

I won’t be telling my daughter she can’t read Harry Potter (or any other book).

I will approach with curiosity her desire to read these books. I’ll share why I chose to stop reading them, talking through the harm that has been caused in an age-appropriate way. If she still wants to read them, we’ll get them from the library and read and discuss together.

To me, this is far more useful to raising a kind, critically-thinking child than any book ban.