Rating: 
Summary: Pure fun, pure fantasy! Leaves you with a smile on your face
Review: As a children's librarian I am thrilled to see the arrival of Harry. A book to inspire and entertain. A book to read for pleasure, fun and excitement. No divorce, no abuse, no death. A "can't put it down book!" This is one of those books my kids will "work" at reading. I can't wait for the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Clever sequel, a must-buy
Review: As a die-hard fantasy fan who has long outgrown his childhood, I first eyed the Harry Potter books with askance. They seemed to me to be more suitable for little kids and hardly the material that an adult would read, especially one who has long since been jaded by the typical fare produced by Tolkien-esque authors drawing upon Celtic-Nordic traditions. However, I was soon persuaded by the many positive reviews of this series, both by my friends and by book critics everywhere. The first book I could not put down until I finished it; the sequel ensnared me just the same. While the fantasy genre is composed of hackneyed plots and themes, regurgitated by the many different authors out there, each cranking out thousand page novels, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone proved that succinctness is indeed a virtue. All of the stereotypes are here, but instead of just rehashing the same old fare that Tolkien dished out, Rowling re-defines it. And while many readers, especially those, like me, who are well-read in this genre, will recognize in Rowling's novels elements that have appeared in countless other stories and myths, Rowling does not use these as crutches to drive her story where none existed; rather, these are bridges she uses to communicate to her readers, common archetypes that exist in the minds of all. Hers is far more than one author's interpretation; it is a book that has captured the imagination and echoes the awe of the fantastic that resides within all of us Seldom has an author written with such clarity that her words flow so smoothly from the page into our thoughts. The fantasy genre owes its revival in large part to Rowling's gift of gab. Instead of alienating most readers as many other authors do, Rowling appeals to the mundane, beckoning them, in their own language, to visit the world of the incredible, the fantastic, the impossible that nevertheless seems so real. Harry Potter is a character of the new millennium, and his exploits usher in a new philosophy of fantasy. An orphaned child living in adverse conditions, Harry discovers that he is truly extraordinary; he is a wizard. Thus begin his adventures and his escape from his cruel life. He makes us all seek within ourselves that spark of magic that will allow each of us to transcend the mundanity and normalizing pressure of society, to become true individuals, unique to one another, and special, each in our own way. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets continues the tradition--yes, tradition, even after a single book!--of Rowling's novels. Engaging and funny, clever and entertaining, the sequel further develops the world in which Rowling has set for her Harry Potter novels, one much like ours but influenced by wizards who move behind the scenes, unsuspecting to the common person. Harry displays the unflagging spirit of determination in the face of adversity, as even his friends slowly turn against him. Rowling's novel teaches children the value of courage, intelligence, and morality while reminding adult readers of the same. Continuing her excellence, Rowling crafts a fantasy series perhaps one day as defining as Tolkien's contribution to fantasy literature. Certainly, it is a worthy addition to everyone's bookshelves, young and old alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Book 2 - Why Harry Potter is so successful.
Review: As a fantasy story-teller about the world of magic, J.K. Rowling has enjoyed remarkable success. The adventures of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts, the school where young wizards learn the skills of magic, are highly imaginative and thoroughly enjoyable. It is no wonder that this series has captured the imagination of children and given pleasure even to adults. Many of Rowling's concepts are strongly reminiscent of the brilliant children's fantasy fiction by the British writers Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, and she likely has been influenced by their work. But Rowling clearly has a style of her own, and in this fourth book of the Harry Potter series, has confirmed her reputation as a story-teller for children. This novel has all the ingredients of a good children's novel - suspense, imagination, and excitement. The remarkable popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to its author J.K. Rowling being frequently mentioned in the same breath as the fantasy greats J.J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Yet this is not entirely deserved, because the works of Tolkien and Lewis go far beyond the level of story, imparting great truths about human nature and theology on a deeper level. Rowling's books do not have this deeper level, but are simply imaginative books that entertain. That is not to say that Rowling's novels are not good. They clearly are. The incredible sales record of the Harry Potter series tells its own story of success. The Harry Potter series has been much criticized for the extent to which magic has been incorporated into the story-line, and the increasing interest in the dark side of magic has left people wondering whether Rowling is leaving the door open to the occult. Rowling herself has publicly denied any personal interest in the occult, and explicitly repudiated being an advocate of the occult or intending to attract children to it. Most of the magic she describes is clearly fantastic and bears little relation to the magic of the occult. Yet it must be conceded that there is a growing contemporary revival of the occult, and that occultic themes and ideas are hardly absent from Harry Potter's world, but rather play a key role in it. When accompanied with an increasingly dark and macabre tone, this element did make me seriously question whether the Harry Potter books are suitable for children. But in the end it is not the magic of Harry Potter that has made it so successful. The real reason is that readers can identify with its characters. Although Rowling describes a fantasy world that exists only in her imagination and ours, it is clear that this fantasy world is largely a mirror image of our own 20th/21st century Western world. What makes this series so successful, is that we recognize ourselves in the novel - our system of education (Hogwarts), our ideology of human rights (Hermione), our worship of team sports (quiddich), our love for competition (school contests), our political world (ministry of magic), our media (interviews with the Daily Prophet), our concern with health and beauty, our fascination with love and guy-girl relationships, and our love of feasting and food (The festivities around The Sorting Hat). Unlike Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and Lewis' "Narnia Chronicles" which are more demanding and deep because they bear little resemblance to our world, Rowling's world of "Harry Potter" bears a great deal of resemblance to our contemporary godless world and its idols. Although "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is outwardly about a fantasy world, beneath the fantastic trimmings it is essentially about our own world. And that is why we love it.
Rating:
Summary: A winning combination
Review: As a father of three I've read many a bedtime story. As a change from the ordinary I decided to begin reading the Harry Potter books, a chapter each night, to my children in lieu of a regular story. What a wonderful decision it was! At ages 9, 7 and 6 each of them was as enthralled with the story as was I. At the end of the first night the oldest says, "Read another chapter!" I knew then I had a winner. What a treat this has become for us all. We're not through with the story but we can hardly wait to find out what happens next; who or what is sitting on Harry's bed and why? Not only do I highly recommend this book I recommend starting this tradition. I guarantee, bedtime stories will never be the same and this book will have your children wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: YOUTH LITERARY GENIUS OVER-NIGHT - NOT!
Review: As a gift, my 12 year old son received this book from an incredibly excited nonparent relative. YIPEE, I decried, a bestseller for this age group during the summer. Excitedly, I drooled it toward said almost 13 year old male with poor track record of reading and sat with beated breath at his reaction. Okay, he liked it at first, second, and third, but amongst the sincerity of my prodding, it was still a 'chore'. So, the reader of all that I profess to be, I 'announced' that I would read the book myself. (As a reader, 2+ novels per week, 5- hours of sleep, 12+ hrs of work, single parent). I found it quite lulling in content, not cohesive in subject matter, leading from one scenario to another without obvious motivation from characters who were mostly characatures. Although visibly charming and inately cunning and sneaky, paths were not completed and the train of thought was at best, colorful, imaginative, but murky. The 'hype' with these books is just that. Some kids will like them,some adults will, but they are simply books with kids in mind. I think what we are missing in this is that kids have the right 'not to like a book' and not be regressed to the fact that 'everyone likes this book, even adults' so you have to! Desperate for reading material, my son just started a novel I have been reading for the past week and loves it. Let's not prototype our kids or our reading. These are great books to great audiences. POINT: ANY BOOK APPEALS TO ANY PERSON. THE MAIN THEME OF LITERACY IS THE CHOICE, OR LACK OF THAT ANY READER CHOOSES TO NOD THEIR RESPECTIVE INTELLECT TOWARD AT ANY GIVEN TIME OR SPACE. I did not like the book. My son did not like the book. THIS IS OKAY!!@!!!!! We read it and will read much more. Kids, expand your reading choices and do not be lead into pathways of 'bestsellers'. There is no junior Oprah to lead you so look to your reader mentors, hopefully your parents, here's to dirty dishes, great music, no TV and lots of reading!
Rating:
Summary: 3 Stars For Kids...1 Star For Adults
Review: As a great fan of children's literature that demonstrates "crossover appeal," I read the original Harry Potter book and now the Chamber of Secrets. They are both fine books, especially because they have caught the rabid fascination of kids and inspired them to read. However,the magic in both books is so ubiquitous that it comes across as mundane. Rowling is one of those writers who actually overdoes it in the imagination department. She really lets her imagination run rough-shod over the story itself. She seems to have an obsession with making every doorknob, photo, stack of cards, candle, teapot, cup, article of clothing, utensil, and SPECK OF DUST into some magical entity. Instead of using good writing and clever metaphor to create atmosphere or detail, Rowling simply makes everything into a magical object.Instead of letting the magic "pop up" in strategic, choice places (adding to the sense of mystery and wonder), we are bombarded with it at every turn until it becomes ho-hum. I wouldn't be surprised if the kitchen sink ends up being enchanted in one of these books, or if Harry sits down on a talking toilet seat one day (Moaning Myrtle notwithstanding).While Rowling is a decent story-teller, she is a bit of a hack as a writer. Either that or she has editorial problems. There are a number of misspellings and grammatical errors in this work. The episodes in Chamber lack cohesion and often seem arbitrary, as if Rowling is letting her indulgent imagination lead her off into pointless detours rather than allowing a harmonious progression of the story. Some scenes end abruptly, or seem altogether pointless and plotless. Harry is a good character, but he is one-dimensional, like almost everyone in the book. I think Rowling fills her story with so much gratuitous magic to cover up the fact that her characters are really not very developed or interesting. It's just like a blockbuster movie filled with non-stop, pointless special effects in the hope that no one will notice that the script stinks and the characters are made out of cardboard.The book also lacks the sort of "pure in heart" hallmark of all the great children's books (Narnia, Oz, etc. etc.) and the characters don't appear to stand for anything greater than themselves.For example, all poor Hermione does is roll her eyes and complain. Harry runs from one scene to the next never really revealing much about himself--just reacting (or overreacting) to everyone in this Magically-Overloaded world. He has about as much depth as a kiddie pool. Draco Malfoy is capable only of smug smirking and run-of-the mill pot-shots. The adult teachers at the Hogwart's school are also somewhat lacking in warmth, personality, or teaching value--which is usually a good thing to have in a child's book. I'm convinced that the Potter series is pretty much what happens when an entire book is based upon rampant, aimless imagination. Keep in mind that I'm writing this review of Chamber of Secrets from an adult perspective. I heard that a great many adults were becoming groupies of this series so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I give this book(and the 1st) 4 stars for their value for kids 8-12, but I can't see why any adult past the age of 20 would want to read the whole series. Two were more than enough for me.I had no sense of wonder when reading this book, and that was disappointing. However, it's fantastic that so many young people are reading because of this fabulous series of stories and this will translate into kids reading even more (and even better)books besides. I also think it's pretty wonderful that Rowling overcame financial hardships to make her tales a success. That's pretty inspiring. But I feel Rowling's writing in Chamber of Secrets is still too amateurish to please serious adult fans of great children's literature. For adults, I would give it one star and suggest rediscovering CS Lewis or Tolkien.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written piece
Review: As a grown up of 34 years of age I found I could hardly put the book down. A great story written with wit and love and a wonderful imagination. Not only a marvelous yarn for kids but a welcome escape from the corporate world I spend so much time in. Long live Harry Potter.
Rating:
Summary: What can I possibly add?
Review: As a grown-up, I can only testify that it's also well-suited to entertain me. The further adventures of Harry-- once again facing a slew of dangers-- ghosts, anti-Muggle sentiment, Gilderoy Lockhart, and a mysterious ominous voice. I can only wish that it had been around to read when I was a child...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for getting kids to read!
Review: As a manager of Zany Brainy, I was getting a lot of awesome feedback from parents about this book. They were telling me that their children were actually reading more now that they got hooked on this series, so i read the books myself and actually found that I enjoyed them as well as some of my 8 year old customers. Parents...if you want excellent literature for your children, and want them to have excellent experiences with reading....buy them this book!
Rating:
Summary: A continuation of one of the greatest series ever written!
Review: As a middle-aged mother, school counselor, and Jane Austen fanatic, I never thought I would be obsessed with a series of books written for children. Granted, I love children's literature and use books extensively in my counseling programs but Harry Potter has grabbed my heart and is constantly tugging it! Books become classics when they not only stand the tests of time, but when they can appeal to all ages. These Harry Potter Books become classics the day they become published! THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS is another powerfully written, dear and sweet novel about the adventures of Harry Potter and his two best friends. This book is about how good wins over evil but the exploits that the children get involved in are so delicious, so compelling, that only the hardest hearts would be able to put down these books.
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