The boy wizard has done it again. With the wave of his wand, young Harry Potter has once again topped the muggles’ — that is non-wizard folks’ — list of most challenged books. Potter has now topped the American Library Association’s list for four years.

I suppose after such a long reign as No. 1 I ought not be surprised or shocked about little Harry still being surrounded by controversy. Since the release of the series, far right-wing Christian groups have spoken out about J.K. Rowling’s little-wizard-that-could character, preaching that Harry’s world of witchcraft and wizardry is Satanic in nature. Religious fanatics worry that children will imitate the spells and potions Harry and his friends use in the books and movies, thus causing kids across the world to turn to the occult. Heaven help us, a world of unicorns and house elves that somewhat resemble the Russian president are going to corrupt our youth.

Thankfully, it is only the extremely far right-wing, the ones who tend to resemble Fred Phelps in their fanaticism, that have issues with the boy wizard. Recently, the Vatican has even come out saying that Harry is OK for the kiddies. Father Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican official, stated that the series is “not bad or a banner of anti-Christian ideology. They help children understand the difference between good and evil.” The father is right; books that celebrate both Christmas and Easter, teach good triumphing over evil and display the virtues of friendship and loyalty are by no means “evil” in nature.

I just wish someone would have let the public in on that secret a little sooner — say, four years ago. Instead, parents are challenging these books at libraries and in schools, sending in formal complaints by letter. It severely disappoints me that the public is overlooking books with much more inappropriate revelations than magic tricks.

This year, the book “Go Ask Alice” has disappeared from the radar of the ALA challenged book list. And this wasn’t some magic trick performed by Potter and company. “Go Ask Alice,” likely the most controversial book I have ever read, has been overlooked due to the lack of mainstream exposure.

Alice was among the elite challenged in 2001, ranking eighth on the list. The book is a diary of a 15-year-old drug addict. It chronicles, in her own words, the harrowing affects of various illegal substances.

If you have ever had the desire to try an illegal substance, pick up “Go Ask Alice.” Trust me when I say it will scare you on to the straight and narrow path. I read the book when I was 16 and since then have never desired to try drugs (not that I ever did before, either).

The author, who is anonymous, details for the reader how she lost her virginity on drugs, performed oral sex to keep her supply steady and wrote of much harsher realities, such as rape. In her Dec. 3 entry, the author explains that ” it wasn’t until later I realized that the dirty sonsobitches had taken turns raping us and treating us sadistically and brutally.” She hadn’t realized it because she was on heroin.

Perhaps Rowling’s yarns have put me under a trance, but I just do not see anything in the Potter series as horrible as the sadistic rape of a 15-year-old girl.

Not only is the content of “Go Ask Alice” far more controversial and unsuitable for young audiences, but this is not just some make-believe fantasy. The diary, according to the editors, is real. The author, whose name is never given — Alice is some stoned girl sitting on the curb — is said to have died of a drug overdose three weeks after the last entry — three weeks after she had decided not to keep a diary anymore because her life was back on the right path.

Potter’s fantasyland and his alleged “satanic” themes hardly match up to cold, hard reality. The author of “Go Ask ALice”is just one of thousands of kids every year who end up 6 feet under after fighting a losing battle with drugs.

Like “Alice,” other books actually on the 2002 list teach some important, but contestable lessons. Books like “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou made number four on the list for its sexual content and racism. “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor, published in 1976, has suddenly appeared on the list for the racist themes it portrays, like the burning of two men of color.

Despite the account of such an atrocity, it has received less reported challenges than the cauldrons and broomsticks of Potter’s realm.

The bigger picture, of course, is that all these challenges are somewhat frivolous. All the books on this list offer a piece of knowledge and understanding to the reader that instructors and parents may not know how to approach. Plus, the books keep kids reading — especially the Potter series. If the point of books is not to read and learn from what you read, then what is?

Ayrel Clark is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Johnston. She is the opinion editor at the Daily.