Topic of the Week - Coming soon: Barbie and Ken as Katsa and Po!*

(*Not really. Well, that I know of.)

In one of the weird paradoxes that the universe sometimes spits out, those of us who love children’s and young adult fantasy are currently finding ourselves surrounded by people who have great familiarity with – and very strong opinions about – series that we hold dear, even if they are loath to crack a book. Thanks largely to the magic of movies, Harry Potter, Edward Cullen, and Katniss Everdeen are household names. HP, Twilight, and The Hunger Games have become legitimate blockbuster franchises, which is this day and age means guaranteed exposure to the world at large, but beyond that, they have some of the most passionate fandoms around, with the attendant cosplay, fanart, parody songs, and other quirky manifestations of devotion (increased tourism to Forks, Washington; uptick in demand for archery lessons). So I got to thinking: what would real life uberfandom look like for some of the other works our genre has to offer? Here are a few potential examples that I came up with:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

*Tons of Etsy sellers begin offering bell brooches to be worn on the shoulders of dragon lovers.

*There is a surge in the popularity of the harpsichord.

The Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson

*The Internet is inundated with hacks that turn Walkmans (Walkmen? Walkpeople?) and obsolete flip phones into useful gadgets like this and this, so fans can carry around the accoutrements of the Shades.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

*In a slightly bizarre mashup of fans who do vampire cosplay and fans who customize My Little Ponies, riders start outfitting their horses with prosthetic fangs. (We should probably be glad this isn’t actually a thing – yet.)

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

*Local news stations around the country begin airing frantic reports on the dangers of prolonged exposure to Sharpie ink when fans begin giving themselves elaborate Shadowhunter tattoos. (This still might actually happen when the movies come out.)

So, what do you think, readers? Let us know in the comments.