Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling and Mary GrandPré
Edition published 2000

Mock me if you will, but I intend to reread the series now that I have a new found appreciation.  That being said, I don't have the attention span to sit down and read them back to back.  I am sure that I would despise Mr. Potter as much as the Malfoys.

 In Book 2, Potter returns to Hogwarts in an unconventional way after a miserable summer in the Muggle world. With the introduction of a new flamboyant professor and a dramatic ghost, Harry and his friends once more save the school while dealing with adolescence and all its trappings.

I love watching the characters grow up and how their relationships evolve. While Rowling has crafted a great adventure story, she has shown how important friendship is, even with all of its quirks.  But it did leave one mystery to be solved: What role did Mary GrandPré have in writing this book?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.K. Rowling
Copyright 1999

Okay, so this one was a reread.  My five year old daughter has been asking about Harry and wants me to read it to her, but I had to reread it before I curled up next to her and took her down Diagon Alley.

No, this is not a book for five year olds.  At least not my five year old.  She is way too sensitive and easily spooked by "bad guys" for me to make this our bedtime read.  Nor was it the book for me when I read it all those years back.  Too be honest, I didn't like it and couldn't understand the hype (isn't that the way it usually is with things that are hyped up?).  But now, a decade or so later (wow), I can genuinely appreciate it for what it is.

So, what is it?  To me, it is a fun catalyst for the imagination and a book that turned a whole generation on to the joys of reading.  Doesn't every kid dream at some point that they are more than what others say they are? With the exception of maybe the prefects, everyone at Hogwarts was a misfit in some way.  Kids could find someone they could relate to.  (For me, it was Hermione.  And wow, I am annoying.)

Is it a masterpiece of prose?  Heck no!  But, I will keep reading the series, because it grows with and on you.