Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
by J. K. Rowling; illus. by Mary Grandpré
Levine/Scholastic

Orphaned Harry Potter has been living a dog’s life with his horrible relatives. He sleeps in the broom cupboard under the stairs and is treated as a slave by his aunt and uncle. On his eleventh birthday, mysterious missives begin arriving for him, culminating eventually in the arrival of a giant named Hagrid, who has come to escort him to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

About 1 chapter:

Harry learns that his parents died saving him from an evil sorcerer and that he himself is destined to be a wizard of great power. Harry’s astonished introduction to the life of wizardry starts with his purchase, under Hagrid’s guidance, of all the tools of an aspiring sorcerer: wand, robes, cauldron, broomstick, owl. Hogwarts is the typical British public school, with much emphasis placed on games and the honor of the Houses. Harry’s house is Gryffindor, the time-honored rival of Slytherin: he becomes a star at Quidditch, an extremely complicated game played with four different balls while the whole team swoops about on broomsticks. He studies Herbology, the History of Magic, Charms, Potions, the Dark Arts, and other arcane subjects, all the while getting closer to his destiny and the secret of the sorcerer’s stone. He makes friends (and enemies), goes through dangerous and exciting adventures, and justifies the hopeful predictions about him. The light-hearted caper travels through the territory owned by the late Roald Dahl, especially in the treatment of the bad guys — they are uniformly as unshadedly awful as possible — but the tone is a great deal more affectionate. A charming and readable romp with a most sympathetic hero and filled with delightful magic details.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J. K. Rowling; illus. by Mary Grandpré
Scholastic/Levine

In this sequel:

to the phenomenally popular Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year after a miserable summer with his Muggle (nonmagical) relatives.

 Harry’s school experiences are colored by encounters with genial ghosts and antagonistic teachers, by the rivalry between good-guy Gryffindor House and slimy Slytherin House, and by an ominous mystery to be solved involving Harry’s archenemy, the dark sorcerer Lord Voldemort. Once again, the attraction of Rowling’s traditional British school story is magnified tenfold by the fantasy elements superimposed upon it. The atmosphere Rowling creates is unique; the story whizzes along; Harry is an unassuming and completely sympathetic hero. But, truth to tell, you may feel as if you’ve read it all before. Rowling clearly hit on a winning formula with the first Harry Potter book; the second book — though still great fun — feels a tad, well, formulaic.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J. K. Rowling; illus. by Mary Grandpré
Levine/Scholastic

Harry Potter books

All current reviews of Harry Potter books should probably be addressed to some future audience for whom Harry is book rather than phenomenon; at the moment, reviews seem superfluous. For the record, then, O future reader, this latest installment in Harry’s saga is quite a good book. The basics remain the same: it’s another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

All the elements

But all the elements that make the formula work are heightened here. The characters are particularly interesting, especially the aforementioned new teacher, Professor Lupin, a man with a howling secret; Sirius Black, a feared, possibly mad, escaped prisoner who is believed to have betrayed Harry’s parents and is now said to be after Harry; and Harry himself, who in facing the reality of his parents’ violent deaths becomes a stronger person — and a more complex hero.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
by J. K. Rowling; illus. by Mary Grandpré
Scholastic/Levine

The fourth book

The fourth book in the Harry Potter phenomenon, at 734 pages, is what you call a wallow — one that some will find wide-ranging, compellingly written, and absorbing; others, long, rambling, and tortuously fraught with adverbs (“‘What sort of objects are Portkeys?’ said Harry curiously”).

Resorces:

https://www.hbook.com/story/reviews-j-k-rowlings-harry-potter-series

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