Book 1 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Total Chapters: 17 Total Pages: 223

Say you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under the stairs of a family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd magical twist of fate you find yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy owl, a phoenix-feather wand and jellybeans that come in every flavour, including strawberry, curry, grass and sardine. Not only that but you discover you're a wizard yourself! This is exactly what happens to young Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling's enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. In the non-magic world of the "muggles" Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited him when the evil Lord Voldemort killed his parents. But in the world of wizards Harry is famous as a survivor of the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle and spoiled pig like cousin, Dudley.

A mysterious letter, delivered by friendly giant Hagrid, wrenches Harry from his dreary, muggle-ridden existence: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Soon enough however, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts with his owl Hedwig and his new friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger…and that's where the real adventure - humorous, haunting and suspenseful - begins. This magical, gripping, brilliant book - a future classic for sure - will leave kids (and adults!) clamouring for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Book 2 - Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets

Total Chapters: 18 Total Pages: 251

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, isn't it? In J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the highly anticipated sequel to the award winning Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, he is in terrible danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer with the horrid Dursley's he is thwarted in his attempts to hop onto the train to begin his second year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But when his only transportation 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 year within the haunted halls of Hogwarts. Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls and only Harry can hear them 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 words on the wall proclaim, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." But what exactly does it means? 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, whim and a touch of the macabre that will leave readers young and old desperate for the next instalment. Remember, Enemies of the Heir, Beware…

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Book 3 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Total Chapters: 22 Total Pages: 317

For most children the summer holidays are something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, an uncle and a cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursley's dreadful visitor, Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the non-magic world of muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and owl, Hedwig. As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighbourhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called The Leaky Cauldron. What Harry must face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off so easily. It seems that Sirius Black - an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban - is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? Why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for the next book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Fortunately there are three more Harry adventures in the works.

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Book 4 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Total Chapters: 37 Total Pages: 636

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling offers us equal parts danger and delight - and any number of dragons, house elves, and death defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision so harrowing enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars - the Death Eaters - are out for murder.

Readers, we will cast an invisibility cloak over any more plot and reveal that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie with two international wizarding schools, the stylish French Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contestants?

Quidditch buffs need not go into mouring: we get our share of this great game at the World Cup. As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world so vivid and so comic.

Long before her fourth instalment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker and it's true that every exhilaration is equalled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the books emotion running as deep as its dangers. Along the way, though she conjures up new characters such as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories. (This Daily Prophet scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.) At her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot lines open, awaiting Book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the author herself is part veela - her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete.

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Book 5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Total Chapters: 38 Total Pages: 766

As his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approaches, 15-year-old Harry Potter is in full-blown adolescence, complete with regular outbursts of rage, a nearly debilitating crush, and the blooming of a powerful sense of rebellion. It's been yet another infuriating and boring summer with the despicable Dursleys, this time with minimal contact from our hero's non-Muggle friends from school. Harry is feeling especially edgy at the lack of news from the magic world, wondering when the freshly revived evil Lord Voldemort will strike. Returning to Hogwarts will be a relief... or will it?

The fifth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series follows the darkest year yet for our young wizard, who finds himself knocked down a peg or three after the events of last year. Somehow, over the summer, gossip (usually traced back to the magic world's newspaper, The Daily Prophet) has turned Harry's tragic and heroic encounter with Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament into an excuse to ridicule and discount the teen. Even Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of the school, has come under scrutiny by the Ministry of Magic, which refuses to officially acknowledge the terrifying truth that Voldemort is back. Enter a particularly loathsome new character: the toadlike and simpering ("hem, hem") Dolores Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, who takes over the vacant position of Defense Against Dark Arts teacher--and in no time manages to become the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, as well. Life isn't getting any easier for Harry Potter. With an overwhelming course load as the fifth years prepare for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels examinations (O.W.Ls), devastating changes in the Gryffindor Quidditch team lineup, vivid dreams about long hallways and closed doors, and increasing pain in his lightning-shaped scar, Harry's resilience is sorely tested.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, more than any of the four previous novels in the series, is a coming-of-age story. Harry faces the thorny transition into adulthood, when adult heroes are revealed to be fallible, and matters that seemed black-and-white suddenly come out in shades of gray. Gone is the wide-eyed innocent, whiz kid of Philosopher's Stone . Here we have an adolescent who's sometimes sullen, often confused (especially about girls), and always self-questioning. Confronting death again, as well as a startling prophecy, Harry ends his year at Hogwarts exhausted and pensive. Readers, on the other hand, will be energized to continue reading on through the new release Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, out July 16th 2005.

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Book 6 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Total Chapters: ???? Total Pages: ????

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