From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-This book has just one thing going for it. It's the first biography for youngsters about the popular author. The only other sources of information are articles in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. Unfortunately, the text reads like a rough draft of a junior-high research paper. Incomplete and fragmented sentences abound as Shapiro rambles on in a confusing manner. Quotations are loosely traced to articles and interviews in their sentences, but are not properly documented ("'It was a little like having the Beatles here,' said an excited, out-of-breath bookstore representative to Entertainment Weekly after the event"). The author writes in absolutes without noting sources, e.g., "Her eyes were always wide in amazement at the world around her-." Events appear out of nowhere as if they'd been previously mentioned. It's a shame that the book is too inaccurate, unsubstantiated, and poorly written to be suitable for research purposes. Do your kids a favor and direct them to Scholastic's Web site (scholastic.com) for information on Rowling.
Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Gr. 5-8. This is a cut-and-paste job with a couple of glaring errors. But at the moment, there are only one or two books available on Rowling, and older kids won't be ashamed to carry around this book (actually published by an adult imprint) because of its paperback format. The fact of the matter is that Rowling's life was not all that interesting until she started writing about Harry: normal upbringing, a graduate of Exeter University, a year in Paris, a string of undistinguished jobs, and a brief marriage, which left her with a daughter. The book must have been in production before the name of the most recent Harry Potter was changed from the
Doomspell Tour nament to
Goblet of Fire , but the mistake will jump out at readers. There also seem to be missteps in the chronology. Keep this for report writers and Harry lovers until something better comes along, which should be soon.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
