Plot Summary
Harry
Potter lives with his terrible Aunt and Uncle.
He is forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs and is picked on
mercilessly by his rather large cousin Dudley.
All of this changes when Harry receives a letter – his first ever
letter. This letter sets in motion
events Harry could never imagined possible.
It turns out Harry is a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts
School and Witchcraft and Wizardry. He
is picked up by Hagrid, the half-human half-giant grounds keeper at Hogwarts,
who introduces him to the magical world Harry has been missing for the 11 years
he has lived so far.
On the
train to Hogwarts, Harry meets his soon to be best friends Ron and Hermione and
he finally starts to feel like he belongs.
But the secrets of his past still plague him and he wonders if he can
live up to his own name. Faced with
challenges no 11 year old should have to face, Harry, with a little help from his
friends, encounters and survives his first run in with The Dark Lord. Harry soon finds out that people are not
always trustworthy, or who they say they are.
Critical Evaluation
The Harry Potter series will always be a classic. It represents the beginning of the modern day
YA fantasy genre. J.K Rowling writes a
world that every reader wants to be a part of.
Hogwarts is a magical castle with hidden passageways and more secrets
than anyone could ever discover.
Voldemort is quite possible the scariest villain of all time. He is at least high on the list. The themes in Harry Potter are ones that adults and children alike can understand
and relate to.
Harry
survived the attack on his parents because of Lily’s love for him. The only thing more powerful than Voldemort’s
evil, immortal magic was love.
Friendship is also a huge theme in this, and the later, books. Ron and Hermione stand behind Harry no matter
what. They face frightening, terrifying
things but because they believe in Harry, the follow him. And without them, Harry would never be able
to do what he does. The magical world of
Harry Potter is one that is so elaborate and amazing that it is no surprise
that readers have taken to it so intensely.
Harry is a character that is sympathetic. He is someone who everyone roots for. The quirkiness of all the other characters makes
this book. It is a must read.
Reader’s Annotation
Enter the magical world of Harry Potter and see things you
never thought were possible.
Author’s Information
J.K. Rowling was born in England. Before she even started writing the first
novel, she outlined each novel in the series.
Harry Potter is wildly successful and the entire series was made into
movies. Rowling is finally working on a
new book, due out later this year. Her
website is here: http://www.jkrowling.com/en_GB/.
Genre
Single Series
Book Talking Ideas
I’d talk about how magical Hogwarts is and how exciting it
would be to shop at Diagon Alley. As
with Twilight, most people who are
going to read these books already have.
But for those few who have been holding off for whatever reason, I would
tell them that they will not regret reading these books. There is humor, magic (of course), giant
chess boards, magical potions, a sport involving flying broomsticks and much
more.
Reading
Level/Interest
9 / 9
Challenge Issues
Many have challenged this book for the use of magic in
it. They feel that it somehow “teaches”
magic. Anyone who has actually read this
book, and the others, can see that is outrageous. This is a fun escape from real life in which
readers can experience something that isn’t possible in our world (as far as we
know).
Why Include This
Title?
For this book, a better question is “how can I not include this book?” Harry Potter must be included in any talk of
YA books.
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