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Sorcerer's/Philosopher's stone
 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.
Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone, first published in England as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, has won the following awards:
- Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1997 Gold Medal 9-11 years
- FCBG Children’s Book Award 1997 Overall winner and Longer Novel Category
- Birmingham Cable Children’s Book Award 1997
- Young Telegraph Paperback of the Year 1998
- British Book Awards 1997 Children’s Book of the Year
- Sheffield Children’s Book Award 1998
- Whitaker's Platinum Book Award 2001
Chamber of Secrets
 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.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has won the following awards:
- Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1998 Gold Medal 9-11 years
- Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book Award 1999
- FCBG Children’s Book Award 1998 Overall winner and Longer Novel Category
- British Book Awards 1998 Children’s Book of the Year
- North East Book Award 1999
- North East Scotland Book Award 1998
- The Booksellers Association / The Bookseller Author of the Year 1998
- Whitaker's Platinum Book Award 2001
Prisoner of Azkaban
 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.
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban has won the following awards:
- Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1999 Gold Medal 9-11 years
- Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year 1999
- British Book Awards 1999 Author of the Year
- The Booksellers Association / The Bookseller Author of the Year 1998
- FCBG Children's Book Award 1999 / Longer Novel Category
- Whitaker's Platinum Book Award 2001
Goblet of Fire
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."
Long before her fourth installment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker, and it's
true that every exhilaration is equaled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the book's emotions running as deep
as its dangers. Along the way, though, she conjures up such new characters as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher
who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories.
(This Daily Prophet scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.)
And at her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot strands open, awaiting book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the
author herself is part veela--her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete.
Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire has won the following awards:
- Scottish Arts Council Book Award 2001
- Children's Book Award in 9-11 category 2001
- Winner of the Hugo Award
- Whitaker's Platinum Book Award 2001
Order of the Phoenix
 Book five takes the series to a darker, more serious level, as we see Harry's attitude and feelings change dramatically as
J.K. Rowling takes us deeper and deeper into the fight between good and evil. Normally safe at the Dursley's, Harry suffers
an almost fatal dementor attack before being taken to the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a special group
of wizards united in their efforts to defeat Voldemort and his followers. At the headquarters, Harry runs into Kreacher, a
vile, horrible house elf and also Sirius' mother, who never misses an oppurtunity to scream the house down. Our hero returns
to Hogwarts, where things begin to get ever more perilous as he encouters terrifying dreams, a teacher with an attitude like
venom and corruption of the highest level and all the time, Harry still can't find out what exactly lies in the Department
of Mysteries.
Even more exciting things happen in Harry's fifth year, including a large revelation from Hagrid, and
a new subject teacher that tries to land on his four feet (no pun intended!). Harry has to partake in deadly detentions, secret
meetings with fellow students and he gets banned from one of the things he loves the most. But it's not all gloom and doom!
Fred and George give us a spectacular array of laughs gasps, Ron achieves something he's been wanting to for ages, we find
out once and for all what pulls the Hogwarts carriages and Harry gets his first moment of love! We see several new characters,
some we hate, some we love and some we suspect. We go to new magical places, see new magical spells and see what it is like
to sit Hogwarts OWL tests.
Harry's life becomes ever more perilous as the book goes on, when he finds himself in the
Ministry of Magic under direct threat from some of the most feared creatures in the magical world: Voldemort's death eaters.
In a showing of bravery, skill and courage, our hero and his friends fight and fight and Harry comes face to face with an
extremely dangerous death eater. And if you want to know more, read the book. It's filled with tragedy, happiness, suspense
and creativity and should not be missed by any Harry Potter fan.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was awaited
by millions of fans for three years. When it hit shelves, it created a worldwide phenomenom and shattered previous pre-order
records. Hundreds of thousands of people queued outside book stores on June 20th, 2003 until the clock struck midnight, so
that they would be the first to purchase the book they'd been waiting for. It's obvious from the reviews and sales figures
that book five is also an exception
Quidditch through the ages
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Fantastic beasts and where to find them
  Quidditch Through the Ages--charmingly reproduced as if it were a facsimile of the copy from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry--starts with the history of broomsticks, describes the evolution of Quidditch through the generations, and includes
the rules of the game as well as a chapter on modern-day play.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the most
complete A to Z listing of magical beasts that exists, and includes their classifications. From Basiliks to Jarveys to Werewolves,
this book covers all the magical beasts you've only heard of and will introduce you to a host of new ones you haven't.
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