Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyed it, but this series is getting darker and darker
Review: Book by book, the series is getting darker and darker. The first book was fun and fanciful -- a little scary but it ended on a high note. The second book was a little darker. I was disappointed with the utter gloominess of this 3rd book and I can see that the series is becoming more profoundly scary and disturbing than I want my 8-year-old to be exposed to. Yes, we are both enjoying the books, and I'm not one of those right-wing Christians who objects to books about wizards and witches. But, if the 3rd book is any indication, but the books are becoming too dark, for lack of a better word, for children. It's a matter of the balance shifting in a way that runs counter to the promise of book one.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book ever
Review: Book Review
May 28,2003
Reading 03 Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
Do you want to know what a really good book is? Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban is a really great book. The author is J.K. Rowling. Rowling lets you create vivid pictures in your head as if you were in the book. This book is basically about a boy named Harry Potter who finds out that he himself was a wizard. He goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. In Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban this is his third year at Hogwarts. It is a happy time for Harry because he gets away from his terrible aunt, uncle, and cousin. Harry also gets to see his two best friends Ron and Hermionie. All is happy until one day he finds out that a prisoner in Azkaban breaks out to find Harry and then kill him. Now Harry must watch out for the prisoner. In the first book that Rowling wrote called Harry Potter and the sorcers stone Harry beat an evil wizard named Lord Voldamort. Now he goes looking for Sirius Black the prisoner that's friends with Lord Voldamort. After Harry beat Lord Voldamort no one can beat the famous Harry Potter. The main characters in this book are of course Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a very unusual boy in many ways. For one thing he is a wizard. Also he has a scar the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. When Lord Voldamort killed Harry's parents he didn't kill Harry all he left was that very scar that is still on his forehead. Harry is also the seeker in the game quidditch. Another character is Ron. I like Ron because for one thing he is very funny. Ron is also a big troublemaker he usually gets into trouble most of the time. Another character is Hermionie. Hermionie is always looking forward to homework and book reports. She always has her hand in the air when no one else doesn't. You could say she was a teacher's pet. Those are all the main characters in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. The theme in this book was helping your friends when they are in need of your help. In the book they all worked together. The genre is Fantasy because it talks about a hippogriff, which is a bunch of animals mixed into one whole animal. It also talks about trolls who run a bank called Gringotts. There are also witches and wizards. So as you can see Fantasy is the genre for this book. These are some facts about J.K. Rowling. Rowling got the name potter from people who lived four doors down where she lived when she was a little girl. Rowling also said Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban was the most fun to write. So if you want to find out what happens to Harry, Ron, and Hermionie when they come face to face with the prisoner Sirius Black? Don't wait and start reading! Trust me it's a great book to sit down and read.
Rating:
Summary: Different, but getting better and better.
Review: Book three does very well at keeping the story moving. The mystery is a little different from that of the first two books, and the developement in the story is not as fast paced. Even so, it still has a very good plot structure and storyline. The scenes get tense as you wonder Will Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup? Will Sirius Black get Harry? Does the Grim mean something? What is the deal with Scabbers? Why does Lupin keep getting ill? and many other questions in mind. The last one hundred pages of the book are incredibly suspending as surprising facts are revealed and the Dementors cause trouble. In the end, decided that the third book "The Prisoner of Azkaban" is my favorite of the first three, not only because of the plot, but also because of the very great humorous moments. All of the books have funny parts, but the third book has some of the best moments, like when Harry goes on the Knight Bus and Snape finds the Marauder's Map and Hermione meets the boggart. The great quality of the Harry Potter books never does seem to die, not the story or the humor. Let us be positive that these books will always be incredible to read!
Rating:
Summary: Magic, Imagination and a Lot of Fun
Review: Book three follows the magical formula of 1 and 2 - suspense, charm with agood spell of humor too. Harry Potter is literally wizard! Can't wait to read more of his adventures. Buy, borrow, read, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: :o) One of the best of the series!!!
Review: Book three really turns up the heat and gets us ready for the darker twists in book four. It seems as if the author started really getting a grip on Harry's ultimate fate in this one. Great fun!!! You'll have to read them all anyway, after all, this is the best series for children to come along in many years. In spite of the seemingly mystical nature of the stories, they actually have a very different theme than one would expect. Harry almost never relies on magic, but rather he thinks, works, and judges for himself. That is the real draw of these books! Children can recognize a hero when they see one, and are naturally drawn to characters who take matters into their own hands and act on their own judgement.
Harry gets into so many situations where it would be easy to run for help or rely on someone else, but he doesn't! He is a true individual. I highly recommend this book for children and also for adults who enjoy a good hero story. I can't wait for book 5!!!
:o)
Rating:
Summary: THANK YOU J.K. ROWLING - YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!!!
Review: Books are read avidly in our family - young and old alike - and we have been totally delighted and enthralled by all of the Harry Potter books! Make no mistake about it - these books are for ALL ages. What a wonderful magical, mysterious, funny, scary and surprising mix of characters and action. Thank you J.K. Rowling for not underestimating the ability of our children to delight in rich descriptive language and delicious plots. These books are absolutely wonderful to read aloud. My 7 year old son BEGS me to keep reading - "just one more page, please!!!" The "Prisoner of Azkaban" is a real page-turner and just as good, or even a little bit better than the first two books.
Rating:
Summary: If You've Liked the Others Then You've Got to Read This One!
Review: Boring, boring, boring, not! This book is crammed full of exiting little adventures (as the others have) and ends up with a twisted and suprising end (as the others have). But there's something this book has that the others don't, and you ask what, well there's new characters, new adventures and new obstacles of life for Harry to overcome. J.K. has amazed me with her skill to write. It's totally out of this world. Don't ask me where she comes up with these ideas but they are obviously good ones. All three of her books where and still are Best sellers some (maybe even all)of them for six months or more. Well I must be giving you a neck cramp, but to sum it up this book is exllent for everybody who can read. No doubt about it!
Rating:
Summary: The best Harry Potter book prior to July 8, 2000
Review: Boy was this an excellent book. I read the entire series in the span of a month (I would have read them quicker if I hadn't had school). I am 17, but this book is as enjoyable to me as it must be to the supposed "target age group" of 10 year olds. I loved the first two novels of Harry Potter as well, but this was the best. In the 1st book, we are introduced to all the characters, and in the second the characters are developed. By the third book, we are all used to the characters, so they're personalities really flourish, creating a great story. Meeting James Potter's old friends help us learn more of his fate surrounding his death and why Sirius Black is imprisoned, which develop the story to its fullest. Adding characters like Lupin and Black make for good reading. I can't wait to read the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely the Best So Far
Review: Boy wizard Harry Potter is eager to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, even before he gets on the train, Harry is aware that the famous murderer Sirius Black, Lord Voldemort's heir apparent, has escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, and he is coming to get Harry. Equally bad, the guards of Azkaban, Dementors, have come to guard Hogwarts, and whenever Harry gets near them, he relives the worst memory of his life--the death of his parents, and Harry keeps seeing a huge black dog, which he finds out is a Grim, an omen of death. Will Sirius get Harry? What's going to get the kindly Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, inveitably kicked out? I'm sure, having read all of the reviews already, you'll have found out at this point, but read the book anyway! As a raving Harry Potter lunatic, I must say this one, with its darker tone, twisting plot, and interesting characters, is definitely the best. POA intoduces the reader to Hogsmeade, Crookshanks, Dementors, the Marauder's Map, and the Firebolt. I won't describe, because I'm sick of these people who go "Oh yes, and here's the entire book summarized, so there's absolutely no point in you reading it." New characters like Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, Lupin, and Sirius Black are brought into Harry's world as well. And yes, this review sucks. I'm painfully aware. So, anyway, THE BOOK IS MARVELOUS! READ IT!
Rating:
Summary: A READING THAT BRINGS HARRY TO VIVID LIFE
Review: Breathes there a soul with mind so inured that he isn't aware of the Harry Potter phenomenon? For those from another planet: Harry Potter is a young student at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry who has captured the hearts and minds of young America, snagging for his creator seemingly permanent places at the top of the NY Times bestseller list. In this magical saga Harry is entering his third year at school - happy, anticipatory until convicted murderer Sirius Black escapes from the fortress of Azkaban. Adventure and mystifying games of Quidditch abound as Harry seeks to avenge his parents' death. Broadway's Jim Dale brings Harry to energetic life.
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