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
What makes the Harry Potter series so successful? Maybe it’s the fact that J.K. Rowling doesn’t write children’s books, she writes children’s stories, more in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm than Dr. Seuss. The exploits of Harry and his friends captivate even the shortest attention spans by engaging the imagination with vivid characters and fast-moving action, instead of trying to merely catch the eye with colorful pictures or pop-up effects. Not surprisingly, the Potter tales sound wonderful read aloud, and adapt to the audiobook format extremely well. Broadway actor Jim Dale’s impressive vocal range gives each character in the book its own distinctive voice–a considerable task, given the pantheon of witches, warlocks, ghosts, ghouls, dwarves, and elves that Harry encounters in his second outing. And thankfully, since the book is read unabridged, no one’s favorite character is omitted. Engaging for children without being childish, the audio version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is worthy addition to the deservedly popular series. (Running time: 9 hours, 6 cassettes) –Andrew Nieland –This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-8-Fans of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Scholastic, 1998) won’t be disappointed when they rejoin Harry, now on break after finishing his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Reluctantly spending the summer with the Dursleys, his mean relatives who fear and detest magic, Harry is soon whisked away by his friends Ron, Fred, and George Weasley, who appear at his window in a flying Ford Anglia to take him away to enjoy the rest of the holidays with their very wizardly family. Things don’t go as well, though, when the school term begins. Someone, or something, is (literally) petrifying Hogwarts’ residents one by one and leaving threatening messages referring to a Chamber of Secrets and an heir of Slytherin. Somehow, Harry is often around when the attacks happen and he is soon suspected of being the perpetrator. The climax has Harry looking very much like Indiana Jones, battling a giant serpent in the depths of the awesome and terrible Chamber of Secrets. Along with most of the teachers and students introduced in the previous book, Draco Malfoy has returned for his second year and is more despicable than ever. The novel is marked throughout by the same sly and sophisticated humor found in the first book, along with inventive, new, matter-of-fact uses of magic that will once again have readers longing to emulate Harry and his wizard friends.
Grade 3-8-Fans of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Scholastic, 1998) won’t be disappointed when they rejoin Harry, now on break after finishing his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Reluctantly spending the summer with the Dursleys, his mean relatives who fear and detest magic, Harry is soon whisked away by his friends Ron, Fred, and George Weasley, who appear at his window in a flying Ford Anglia to take him away to enjoy the rest of the holidays with their very wizardly family. Things don’t go as well, though, when the school term begins. Someone, or something, is (literally) petrifying Hogwarts’ residents one by one and leaving threatening messages referring to a Chamber of Secrets and an heir of Slytherin. Somehow, Harry is often around when the attacks happen and he is soon suspected of being the perpetrator. The climax has Harry looking very much like Indiana Jones, battling a giant serpent in the depths of the awesome and terrible Chamber of Secrets. Along with most of the teachers and students introduced in the previous book, Draco Malfoy has returned for his second year and is more despicable than ever. The novel is marked throughout by the same sly and sophisticated humor found in the first book, along with inventive, new, matter-of-fact uses of magic that will once again have readers longing to emulate Harry and his wizard friends.
Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grade 3-8-With a year at Hogwarts School under his belt, Harry expects the new term to go smoothly, but a wizard’s share of surprises and adventures await the likable lad and his friends. Rowling works her magic and leaves readers begging for more. (July)
Grade 3-8-With a year at Hogwarts School under his belt, Harry expects the new term to go smoothly, but a wizard’s share of surprises and adventures await the likable lad and his friends. Rowling works her magic and leaves readers begging for more. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Given the furor this book has already caused in the U.S., it seems almost redundant to review it; however. . . . Harry Potter’s exploits during his second year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry completely live up to the bewitching measure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, 1998. Harry’s summer with the spiteful Dursleys is as dismal as his life with them before Hogwarts, and not only that, a neurotic house-elf suddenly appears to warn him against returning to school. Harry, of course, goes back to school. Once there, he finds himself in danger, as predicted by the house-elf. Strange things are happening. Why can only Harry hear an eerie voice talking about escaping and killing? Who or what has put several students into a petrified state? Harry and his sidekicks, Ron and Hermione, work furiously to get to the bottom of it all. It doesn’t help that the rumor spreads that Harry is the long-dreaded heir of Slytherin, one of the school’s founders, who purportedly created a Chamber of Secrets that houses a grotesque monster that can only be released by the heir. The mystery, zany humor, sense of a traditional British school (albeit with its share of ghosts, including Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom), student rivalry, and eccentric faculty, all surrounded by the magical foundation so necessary in good fantasy, are as expertly crafted here as in the first book. Fans who have been thirsting for this sequel will definitely not feel any disappointment. In fact, once they have read it, they will be lusting for the next. Sally Estes
Given the furor this book has already caused in the U.S., it seems almost redundant to review it; however. . . . Harry Potter’s exploits during his second year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry completely live up to the bewitching measure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, 1998. Harry’s summer with the spiteful Dursleys is as dismal as his life with them before Hogwarts, and not only that, a neurotic house-elf suddenly appears to warn him against returning to school. Harry, of course, goes back to school. Once there, he finds himself in danger, as predicted by the house-elf. Strange things are happening. Why can only Harry hear an eerie voice talking about escaping and killing? Who or what has put several students into a petrified state? Harry and his sidekicks, Ron and Hermione, work furiously to get to the bottom of it all. It doesn’t help that the rumor spreads that Harry is the long-dreaded heir of Slytherin, one of the school’s founders, who purportedly created a Chamber of Secrets that houses a grotesque monster that can only be released by the heir. The mystery, zany humor, sense of a traditional British school (albeit with its share of ghosts, including Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom), student rivalry, and eccentric faculty, all surrounded by the magical foundation so necessary in good fantasy, are as expertly crafted here as in the first book. Fans who have been thirsting for this sequel will definitely not feel any disappointment. In fact, once they have read it, they will be lusting for the next. Sally Estes
From Kirkus Reviews
This sequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1998) brings back the doughty young wizard-in-training to face suspicious adults, hostile classmates, fretful ghosts, rambunctious spells, giant spiders, and even an avatar of Lord Voldemort, the evil sorcerer who killed his parents, while saving the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from a deadly, mysterious menace. Ignoring a most peculiar warning, Harry kicks off his second year at Hogwarts after a dreadful summer with his hateful guardians, the Dursleys, and is instantly cast into a whirlwind of magical pranks and misadventures, culminating in a visit to the hidden cavern where his friend Ron’s little sister Ginny lies, barely alive, in a trap set by his worst enemy. Surrounded by a grand mix of wise and inept faculty, sneering or loyal peersplus an array of supernatural creatures including Nearly Headless Nick and a huge, serpentine basiliskHarry steadily rises to every challenge, and though he plays but one match of the gloriously chaotic field game Quidditch, he does get in plenty of magic and a bit of swordplay on his way to becoming a hero again. Readers will be irresistibly drawn into Harry’s world by GrandPr’s comic illustrations and Rowling’s expert combination of broad boarding school farce and high fantasy. (Fiction. 11-14) — Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
This sequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1998) brings back the doughty young wizard-in-training to face suspicious adults, hostile classmates, fretful ghosts, rambunctious spells, giant spiders, and even an avatar of Lord Voldemort, the evil sorcerer who killed his parents, while saving the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from a deadly, mysterious menace. Ignoring a most peculiar warning, Harry kicks off his second year at Hogwarts after a dreadful summer with his hateful guardians, the Dursleys, and is instantly cast into a whirlwind of magical pranks and misadventures, culminating in a visit to the hidden cavern where his friend Ron’s little sister Ginny lies, barely alive, in a trap set by his worst enemy. Surrounded by a grand mix of wise and inept faculty, sneering or loyal peersplus an array of supernatural creatures including Nearly Headless Nick and a huge, serpentine basiliskHarry steadily rises to every challenge, and though he plays but one match of the gloriously chaotic field game Quidditch, he does get in plenty of magic and a bit of swordplay on his way to becoming a hero again. Readers will be irresistibly drawn into Harry’s world by GrandPr’s comic illustrations and Rowling’s expert combination of broad boarding school farce and high fantasy. (Fiction. 11-14) — Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
“Surely the vilest household in children’s literature since the family Roald Dahl created for Matilda. Harry himself is the perfect confused and unassuming hero.” –School Library Journal, starred review –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
“Surely the vilest household in children’s literature since the family Roald Dahl created for Matilda. Harry himself is the perfect confused and unassuming hero.” –School Library Journal, starred review –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Book Description
In one of the most hotly anticipated sequels in memory, J.K. Rowling takes up where she left with Harry’s second year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Old friends and new torments abound, including a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl’s bathroom, an outrageously conceited professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, and a mysterious force that turns Hogwarts students to stone.
In one of the most hotly anticipated sequels in memory, J.K. Rowling takes up where she left with Harry’s second year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Old friends and new torments abound, including a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl’s bathroom, an outrageously conceited professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, and a mysterious force that turns Hogwarts students to stone.
Card catalog description
When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school.
When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school.
Inside Flap Copy
The Dursleys were so mean that hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
The Dursleys were so mean that hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh
torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new
professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts
the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s
younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins,
and someone–or something–starts turning Hogwarts students to stone.
Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it
possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it
be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects…Harry Potter himself?
–This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
From the Back Cover
“Surely the vilest household in children’s literature since the family Roald Dahl created for Matilda. Harry himself is the perfect confused and unassuming hero.” –School Library Journal, starred review –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
“Surely the vilest household in children’s literature since the family Roald Dahl created for Matilda. Harry himself is the perfect confused and unassuming hero.” –School Library Journal, starred review –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
About the Author
J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she wtrore the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on scraps of paper at a local cafe. But her efforts were soon rewarded with an award from the Scottish Arts Council enabling her to finish the novel. She has since won numerous awards including the ABBY Award 9American Booksellers Book Award) 1999.
J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she wtrore the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on scraps of paper at a local cafe. But her efforts were soon rewarded with an award from the Scottish Arts Council enabling her to finish the novel. She has since won numerous awards including the ABBY Award 9American Booksellers Book Award) 1999.
READER BIO:
The New York Times hailed Jim Dale as “The Toast of Broadway” in his title role in the musical Barnum. He has a long list of credits on the stage and in film, and was nominated for an Oscar for writing the lyrics for Georgy Girl. –This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
The New York Times hailed Jim Dale as “The Toast of Broadway” in his title role in the musical Barnum. He has a long list of credits on the stage and in film, and was nominated for an Oscar for writing the lyrics for Georgy Girl. –This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
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