Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Rowling, J. K./ GrandPre, Mary (ILT)

Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more that any other time of the year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he happened to be a wizard. (from the first line)

A brilliant new story featuring Harry and his friends, sequel to the award-winning Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry Potter is a very unusual boy. He can't wait to get back to school after the summer holidays! But that's not the only unusual thing about Harry; Harry's school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry is a wizard!

When Harry, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of the Azkaban have been called in to guard the school...

"Such a marriage of good writing, inventiveness, and sheer child-appeal has not been seen since Roald Dahl, perhaps even since Tolkien, Lewis, and Ransome. J.K. Rowling has woken a whole generation to reading."
The Times

Publishers Weekly:
Rowling proves that she has plenty of tricks left up her sleeve in this third Harry Potter adventure, set once again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Right before the start of term, a supremely dangerous criminal breaks out of a supposedly impregnable wizards' prison; it will come as no surprise to Potter fans that the villain, a henchman of Harry's old enemy Lord Voldemort, appears to have targeted Harry. In many ways this installment seems to serve a transitional role in the seven-volume series: while many of the adventures are breathlessly relayed, they appear to be laying groundwork for even more exciting adventures to come. The beauty here lies in the genius of Rowling's plotting. Seemingly minor details established in books one and two unfold to take on unforeseen significance, and the finale, while not airtight in its internal logic, is utterly thrilling.

B>From the Publisher
For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing 13 people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, ""He's at Hogwarts . . . he's at Hogwarts."" Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.1996 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
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Annotation:
As Harry Potter begins his third year as a student at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry he is shocked to discover that Sirius Black, a wizard who may have been involved with the death of his parents, has escaped from Azkaban Prison. Black left behind two clues, both of which indicate that he is headed for Hogwarts--and Harry. As a result, the school is being watched over by the Dementors, a terrifying sect of guards from the Azkaban Prison--whose very presence at Hogwarts has a rather chilling effect on Harry. Meanwhile, Harry gets acquainted with Professor Lupin, Hogwarts's new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he also wonders about his new teacher's secretive relationship with Professor Snape. This is the third entry in the wildly popular Harry Potter series of books.As Harry Potter begins his third year as a student at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is disturbed to discover that Sirius Black, a wizard who may have been involved with the death of his parents, has escaped from Azkaban Prison. Black left behind two clues, both of which indicate that he is headed for Hogwarts--and Harry. As a result, the school is being watched over by the Dementors, a terrifying sect of black-cloaked guards from the Azkaban Prison--whose very presence at Hogwarts has a potentially life-threatening effect on Harry. Meanwhile, he gets acquainted with Professor Lupin, Hogwarts's new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Harry also wonders about his new teacher's secretive relationship with Professor Snape. This is the third entry in the wildly popular Harry Potter series of books, and a film version directed by Alfonso Cuaron was made in 2004.

Author Bio

J. K. Rowling

One night, as a young J. K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling traveled from Manchester to London by train, an idea for a book about a boy wizard named Harry Potter formed in her mind. It would change the course of her life forever. As a young girl growing up in Chepstow, Gwent, a historic town near the Lower Wye Valley in Southern England, Rowling loved to tell stories, and started to write them down when she was 6-years-old. Throughout her schooling, she entertained her friends during lunchtime with fantastic made-up stories. After studying French at the University of Exeter, Rowling went on to work in London, until at age 26, she moved to Portugal to teach English as a second language. There, she married, became pregnant, and worked on her Harry Potter manuscript whenever she had a spare second. The death of her own mother made his orphaned state much more real to her. Rowling's marriage ended in divorce, and she moved to Edinburgh with her newborn daughter, Jessica. ||After five years of writing, and a year's worth of publisher rejections, HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE was bought by Bloomsbury (U.K.) and published in June 1997. Shortly after Bloomsbury bought the manuscript, the rights were sold in America, where it was published in September 1998 as HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE. Her book not only received lavish praise, winning the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize, but earned Rowling enough money to quit teaching and write full time. Her six subsequent Harry Potter books, all spectacular bestsellers, have continued to receive British and American awards, and are all being made into films. Having reached her lifelong dream of becoming a professional writer, Rowling encourages children who want to write to read as much as they can.

Praise

Locus
"A fast-paced delight for young and old alike." - Carolyn Cushman September 1999

bookpage.com
"J. K. Rowling's third masterpiece, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, is just as exciting and action-packed as the first two." - Elizabeth Weintz October 1999

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Rowling's characterizations are succinctly evocative and often slyly funny, ensuring that readers develop a fondness for her players, care what happens to them, and come back for more - Janice M. Del Negro October 1999

Product Attributes

Book Format:		Hardcover
Minimum Age:		08
Number of Pages:		0435
Publisher:		Scholastic
Series Part:		03

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