Harry Potter selling out in Oklahoma

Finding copies of the new Harry Potter novel is becoming a challenge in Oklahoma as retailers report shrinking stocks.<br><br>Hundreds of enthusiastic fans showed up for a "Midnight Magic" release party

Sunday, June 22nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Finding copies of the new Harry Potter novel is becoming a challenge in Oklahoma as retailers report shrinking stocks.

Hundreds of enthusiastic fans showed up for a "Midnight Magic" release party yesterday at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Oklahoma City.

Manager Monte Jones says copies of the 870-page book are getting scarce all over town.

Shelley Nowlin, manager of a Waldenbooks store in Oklahoma City, says about half her allotment of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was gone by noon yesterday. Many fans were also buying copies of the first four installments of the Harry Potter series.

A reader in Tulsa, 21-year-old Betty Fisher, says she thinks the book exceeds the first four books combined. Fisher says reading it made her bawl like a baby.