Winners of the Book Sense Harry Potter Sweepstakes and Display Contest Announced

Book Sense recently announced the winners of the Make Some Magic With Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix consumer sweepstakes and bookstore display contest. Winning the consumer sweepstakes was 13-year-old Jessica Gerhardt of Santa Monica, California, who picked up the sweepstakes bookmark at the University of Southern California Bookstore in Los Angeles while on a school trip. Books 'N' More in Wilmington, Ohio, won the bookseller prize for its creative Harry Potter displays. (See photos below.)

Dan Stewart, Books 'N' More manager, said it was pleasing to win the display contest. "I knew we had a good display, but I didn't know if we would meet the judges' criteria," he said. "We were really pleased. We put a lot of effort into it." Books 'N' More won a $2,000 credit for Scholastic books.

Jessica Gerhardt, the consumer winner, receives a family trip to Las Vegas with tickets to see magician Lance Burton and copies of the books in the Harry Potter series.

"I was really happy and excited," said Gerhardt. "I never won a big contest like that. I love Harry Potter so [it's great] to win a prize in a contest based on Harry Potter."

Gerhardt is taking her parents and sister to Las Vegas.