# American Editions of British Books post-Rowling **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 21, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423 "2023-03-21T03:23:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/21 "2023-03-23T18:57:00Z")
Kubrick based the film on the American version and didn’t find out about the missing chapter until much later. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/22 "2023-03-23T19:03:08Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > The American translated version of _Harry Potter_ is a little annoying to me. But I realize that 99% of Americans aren’t going to know or care about British English. It’s marketing plain and simple. They changed the title, but I don’t think they changed anything else in the book (maybe spelling, not sure). I definitely remember being confused as the kid by them carrying “torches” and not knowing until later on that they were flashlights. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/23 "2023-03-23T19:08:58Z")
> The editions of the Harry Potter books sold here have been custom-edited for their Yankee audience.…In the American editions, “wonky” becomes “crooked”; “bobbles” turn into “puff balls”: and “barking mad” translates to “complete lunatic.” “Git,” ‘ickle,” and “nutters,” however, are left as they are. Why does Father Christmas become Santa Claus, and “bogey” become “booger,” but “budge up” not become “move over”? [http://www.radosh.net/writing/potter.html](http://www.radosh.net/writing/potter.html) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/24 "2023-03-23T19:09:09Z")
Somewhere on the internet I came across a list of 20 or so British words changed for the American edition. There was only one word I didn’t know. Would it have bothered me if I read the original version? Probably not. But it would have possibly taken away some of the enjoyment of the average American teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/25 "2023-03-23T19:33:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And the irony is that they changed from something that Americans might not know, to something they were guaranteed not to know. If you’re referring to the title of the first Harry Potter book: the issue wasn’t with the term “Philosopher’s Stone” vs. “Sorcerer’s Stone,” but with the word “philosopher” vs. the word “sorcerer.” Remember, the decision was made before everybody knew who or what “Harry Potter” was. If you’re a kid, or a parent of a kid, and you pick up an unfamiliar book with the word “sorcerer” in the title, you’re probably going to think it’s a fantasy novel about magic. If, instead, it has the word “philosopher” in the title, you’re going to think it’s… a philosophical novel? about… thinking deep thoughts? While I don’t “agree” with the title change, I can understand it a lot better than I can understand some changes. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/26 "2023-03-23T19:36:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > While I don’t “agree” with the title change, I can understand it a lot better than I can understand some changes. In the grander scheme of the series, I think Sorcerer’s Stone is a better title. A lot of the complaints revolve around the fact that the Philosopher’s Stone is a real thing. But the rest of the book titles have an element of mystery to them. When you first pick them up you don’t know what Chamber of Secrets is or the Half-Blood Prince and so on. If you already know what the Philosopher’s Stone is, it kills some of the mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/27 "2023-03-23T20:17:54Z")
Yes, it would be problematic. Maybe not with Harry Potter. But what about the thousand other YA books that you’ve never heard of because people in America decided they were too British to be fun? It must happen because the list of popular books in the UK is not the same as the list of popular books in the US. Taking precautions is reasonable. It’s especially reasonable with books aimed at pre-adult levels, where a publisher can make the assumption that levels of reading proficiency are going to be lower and that throwing impediments in their paths are probably counterproductive. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/28 "2023-03-24T01:12:18Z")
One of the strange cases I’ve noticed of British books that aren’t well known in the U.S. are those by the British author Michael Morpurgo. He’s extremely well known in the U.K. for his novels, which are basically young adult ones. As far as I can tell, he’s much less well known in the U.S. I can’t find any statistics online which show how much more popular his works are in the U.S. Oddly, though, there’s a movie of his novel _War Horse_, and it was directed by Steven Spielberg. In any case, I don’t see anything about the words or topics in his works which would make them difficult for Americans. I think this is another case where the American publishers decided, without in any way consulting American readers, that they wouldn’t be popular in the U.S. Again, American publishers have decided that they know what will be O.K. with American readers, and they’re not going to be bothered with actually doing any testing on American readers. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/29 "2023-03-24T01:34:06Z")
I’m not a teen or pre-teen, who are the target audience for YA books, so I can’t read a British book with their lack of familiarity with the larger world. I can’t think of any YA books by British writers in my library when I was a kid. Likely I was never put into that situation. We all here are probably way too old to encounter the issue. Are there any librarians still here? I wonder if the reviews in places like _Kirkus Reviews_ address this at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/30 "2023-03-24T01:34:56Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > without in any way consulting American readers See, this is what I’m curious about. The publishers clearly have a belief. _What could they be basing it on?_ No reader I know, teen or otherwise, feels the need to have things adjusted. But clearly publishers as a whole think it’s necessary. They may be right, but is there any evidence either way, or is it terrapins all the way down? Edited to add that YA as a genre separate from children’s literature is comparatively new: late 90s maybe? There were certainly YA books before that (_Catcher in the Rye_ goes way back), but they weren’t shelved separately. And edited again to say that I read tons of British books, though many had probably been Americanzied without my knowing it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/31 "2023-03-24T01:54:55Z")
I should point out that calling Morpurgo’s books young adult books is my personal choice. I didn’t look up what they are usually called. It’s possible that they may be called children’s books by others. The ones I’ve looked at are difficult enough that certainly they’re not for very young children. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/32 "2023-03-24T02:22:12Z")
Maybe they weren’t shelved separately where you lived, but I started working in a library in 1966 that definitely had a separate YA section, and had had it for many years earlier. I don’t know how many but since I started reading books from it as a pre-teen, at least a half dozen years. I also know that YA books were a separate branch of literature back as far as the 1950s, with publishers aiming books at them and reviewers identifying the books as such. Here’s [an article that covers the issue](https://gnomepress.com/42-the-forgotten-planet/) for a 1955 book, although just as part of a much longer piece. I can vouch for its accuracy, since I wrote it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/33 "2023-03-24T04:54:39Z")
Okay: I will certainly rank your expertise over my memories of the public libraries in my town. Certainly both branch library and local bookstore were tiny. I don’t recall encountering YA as a term, but I did mention Salinger, so I’m aware that books for teen readers existed. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/34 "2023-03-24T08:02:42Z")
Here in the uk the term YA is quite new, but the concept goes way back. My local libraries in the early 80s had teens and older teens sections as part of the main shelving area. The children’s section was shielded by shelves and felt separate. So when you moved on to the teens section it felt like a big deal as you were finally allowed in the real library with the grownups. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/35 "2023-03-24T11:09:08Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I don’t recall encountering YA as a term, but I did mention Salinger, so I’m aware that books for teen readers existed. But was _Catcher in the Rye_ “for teen readers”? Wikipedia says “Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents”; so it looks like it wasn’t originally marketed as what we would call YA. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/36 "2023-03-24T11:23:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But was _Catcher in the Rye_ “for teen readers”? Wikipedia says “Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents”; so it looks like it wasn’t originally marketed as what we would call YA That is a book that strikes me as very similar to a book by Avi called Nothing But The Truth. What I mean is that both can be presented as “books for teens” or “books for high schoolers”, but they are primarily, I think, interesting to adults and since they involve young adults dealing with issues, adults will often assume they relate to kids in and out of the classroom. I do get that Catcher in the Rye does connect with some teenagers, but I think it is mainly for people already through their youth who can read it and go, “Yeah, I kind of felt the same way sometimes.” Nothing But The Truth by Avi is even more for adults…to the point I and my co-teachers swapped it out for a better YA book. Note: I very much disliked Catcher in the Rye. I missed the boat on that one and found it to be more annoying than interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/37 "2023-03-24T13:40:01Z")
I think the term “young adult books” just shows how arbitrary any division of books is. I think that the most likely audience for any given book can be anywhere on a spectrum going from birth to death. Many books are suitable for anyone anywhere on that spectrum. Here’s a list of what some consider young adult books: > **[The 100 Best YA Books of All Time](https://time.com/collection/100-best-ya-books/)** > > With a panel of celebrated authors—including Jason Reynolds and Jenny Han—TIME presents the most influential YA books ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/38 "2023-03-24T14:10:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Remember, the decision was made before everybody knew who or what “Harry Potter” was. If you’re a kid, or a parent of a kid, and you pick up an unfamiliar book with the word “sorcerer” in the title, you’re probably going to think it’s a fantasy novel about magic. If, instead, it has the word “philosopher” in the title, you’re going to think it’s… a philosophical novel? about… thinking deep thoughts? Sure, but the titles of most books don’t give you a good idea what they’re about. Would you have any idea what “Divergent” would be about, or “Pretties”, or “The Book of Three”? As for publishers’ preconceived notions with no actual basis, file it with the pervasive belief (on both sides of the Pond) that girls will read books with a male protagonist, but boys won’t read books with female protagonists, and so authors are pressured to make all of their protagonists male unless they’re writing specifically “girl books”. Which is also, so far as I can tell, just plain untrue. When my mom was a second-grade teacher, she had every sort of book she could find in her classroom, to encourage her students to read, and the most popular book she had, with both boys and girls, was one of the American Girl stories. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/39 "2023-03-24T15:12:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure, but the titles of most books don’t give you a good idea what they’re about. I’ve read it twice and I still don’t know how to kill a mockingbird. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423/40 "2023-03-24T16:18:04Z")
Heh heh! I get that reference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-editions-of-british-books-post-rowling/981423.md?page=3)