Websites of Interest
|
|
Say you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under
the stairs of a family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd, magical
twist of fate you find yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy
owl, a phoenix-feather wand, and jellybeans that come in every flavor,
including strawberry, curry, grass, and sardine. Not only that,
but you discover that you are a wizard yourself! This is exactly
what happens to young Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling's enchanting,
funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In the
nonmagic human world--the world of "Muggles"--Harry is a nobody,
treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited
him when his parents were killed by the evil Voldemort. But in the
world of wizards, small, skinny Harry is famous as a survivor of
the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning-bolt
scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host
of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether
different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley.
A mysterious letter, delivered by the friendly giant Hagrid, wrenches
Harry from his dreary, Muggle-ridden existence: "We are pleased
to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry." Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly,
"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"
Soon enough, however, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts with his owl
Hedwig... and that's where the real adventure--humorous, haunting,
and suspenseful--begins. (Ages 8 to 13) --Karin Snelson
|
|
It's hard to fall in love with an earnest, appealing young hero
like Harry Potter and then to watch helplessly as he steps into
terrible danger! And in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets, the much anticipated sequel to the award-winning
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he is in terrible
danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer
with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop the
train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin
his second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical
flying car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly
vexed) Whomping Willow. Still, all this seems like a day in the
park compared to what happens that fall within the haunted halls
of Hogwarts.
Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls only to Harry,
and it seems certain that his classmate Draco Malfoy is out to get
him. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as
dreadful things begin to happen at Hogwarts. The mysteriously gleaming,
foot-high words on the wall proclaim, "The Chamber of Secrets Has
Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." But what exactly does
it mean? Harry, Hermione, and Ron do everything that is wizardly
possible--including risking their own lives--to solve this 50-year-old,
seemingly deadly mystery. This deliciously suspenseful novel is
every bit as gripping, imaginative, and creepy as the first; familiar
student concerns--fierce rivalry, blush-inducing crushes, pedantic
professors--seamlessly intertwine with the bizarre, horrific, fantastical,
or just plain funny. Once again, Rowling writes with a combination
of wit, whimsy, and a touch of the macabre that will leave readers
young and old desperate for the next installment. (Ages 9 and older)
--Karin Snelson
|
|
For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward
to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his
summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third
book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action
when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful
visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift
up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle
Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic
world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy
trunk and his owl Hedwig.
As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry.
Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood
and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend
the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky
Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at
Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems
that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is
on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why?
And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill
Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling
has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering,
not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately,
there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson
|
|
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling offers up
equal parts danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves,
and death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two
more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing
enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on
edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily,
the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the
Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget
that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the Death Eaters--are
out for murder.
Readers, we will cast a giant invisibility cloak over any more
plot and reveal only that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry
and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor,
Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie
with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the
icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete
will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky
contenders?
But Quidditch buffs need not go into mourning: we get our share
of this great game at the World Cup. Attempting to go incognito
as Muggles, 100,000 witches and wizards converge on a "nice deserted
moor." As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world
so vivid, and so comic. Several spectators' tents, for instance,
are entirely unquotidian. One is a minipalace, complete with live
peacocks; another has three floors and multiple turrets. And the
sports paraphernalia on offer includes rosettes "squealing the names
of the players" as well as "tiny models of Firebolts that really
flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled
across the palm of your hand, preening themselves." Needless to
say, the two teams are decidedly different, down to their mascots.
Bulgaria is supported by the beautiful veela, who instantly enchant
everyone--including Ireland's supporters--over to their side. Until,
that is, thousands of tiny cheerleaders engage in some pyrotechnics
of their own: "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and
this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude
sign indeed at the veela across the field."
|
|