Grade 4 Up-Harry is now 14 years old and in his fourth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where big changes are afoot. This year, instead of the usual Inter-House Quidditch Cup, a Triwizard Tournament will be held, during which three champions, one from each of three schools of wizardry (Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beaux-batons), must complete three challenging magical tasks. The competitors must be at least 17 years old, but the Goblet of Fire that determines the champions mysteriously produces Harry's name, so he becomes an unwilling fourth contestant. Meanwhile, it is obvious to the boy's allies that the evil Voldemort will use the Tournament to get at Harry. This hefty volume is brimming with all of the imagination, humor, and suspense that characterized the first books. So many characters, both new and familiar, are so busily scheming, spying, studying, worrying, fulminating, and suffering from unrequited first love that it is a wonder that Rowling can keep track, much less control, of all the plot lines. She does, though, balancing humor, malevolence, school-day tedium, and shocking revelations with the aplomb of a circus performer. The Triwizard Tournament itself is a bit of a letdown, since Harry is able, with a little help from his friends and even enemies, to perform the tasks easily. This fourth installment, with its deaths, a sinister ending, and an older and more shaken protagonist, surely marks the beginning of a very exciting and serious battle between the forces of light and dark, and Harry's fans will be right there with him.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"Readers are in for a delightful romp with this award-winning debut from a British author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl. There is enchantment, suspense, and danger galore (as well as enough creepy creatures to satisfy the most bogey-men-loving readers, and even a magical game of soccerlike Quidditch to entertain the sports fans). ---Publishers Weekly, starred reviewHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"the magical foundation so necessary in good fantasy, are as expertly crafted here as in the first book." --Booklist, starred review Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban "Isn't it reassuring that some things just get better and better?"--School Library Journal Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. The muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four."--Publishers Weekly starred review-- July, 2000"Harry is now l4 years old and in his fourth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where big changes are afoot. This year, instead of the usual Inter- House Quidditch Cup, a Triwizard Tournament will be held, during which three champions, one from each of three schools of wizardry (Hogwarts, Durinstrang, and Beaux-batons), must complete three challenging magical tasks. The competitors must be at least 17 years old, but the Goblet of Fire that determines the champions mysteriously produces Harry's name, so he becomes an unwilling fourth contestant. Meanwhile, it is obvious to the boy's allies that the evil Voldemort will use the Tournament to get at Harry. This hefty volume is brimming with all of the imagination, humor, and suspense that characterized the first books. So many characters, both new and familiar, are so busily scheming, spying, studying, worrying, fulminating, and suffering from unrequited first love that it is a wonder that Rowling can keep track, much less control, of all the plot lines. She does, though, balancing humor, malevolence, school-day tedium, and shocking revelantions with the aplomb of a circus performer. The Triwizard Tournament itself is bit of a letdown, since Harry is able, with a little help from his friends and even enemies, to perform the tasks easily. This fourth installment, with its deaths, a sinister ending, and an older and more shaken protagonist, surely marks the beginning of a very exciting and serious baffle between the forces of light and dark, and Harry's fans will be right there with him".-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library--School Library Journal, August 2000" Was it worth the long, agonizing wait and all the hype and hoopla? You bet! Harry's fourth challenging experience willmore than live up to his myriad fans' expectations--though the 734 pages divided into 37 chapters may be a bit daunting to your readers. The very length, however, allows an even richer tapestry of magical events and humorous escapades, even as the tale takes the long-predicted darker turn. . . . Any inclination towards disbelief on the part of readers is swept away by the very brilliance of the writing. The carefully created world of magic becomes more embellished and layered, while the amazing plotting ties up loose ennds, even as it sets in motion more entanglements. The long climax races relentlessly to a stunning denouement that leaves the way open for the next episode. Le the anticipation begin." Sally Estes--Booklist, August 2000, starred review"As the bells and whistles of the greates prepublication hoopla in children's book history fade, what's left in the clearing smoke is--unsurprisingly, considering Rowling's track record--another grand tale of magic and mystery, of wheels within wheels oiled in equal measure by terror and comedy, feature an engaging young hero-in training who's not above the occasional snit, and clicking along so smoothly that it seems shorter than it is. Good thing too, with this page count. That's not to say that the pace doesn't lag occasionally-particualrly near the end when not one but two bad guys halt the action for extended accounts of their misdeads and motives--or that the story lacks troubling aspects. As Harry wends his way through a fourh year of pranks, schemes, intrigue, danger and triumph at Hogwarts, the racial and class prejudice of many wizards moves to the forefront, with godded wizards gathering to terrorize and isolated Muggle family in one scene while authorites do litle more than wring their hands. There's also the later introduction of Hogwart's house elves as a clan of happy slaves spaking nonstandard English. These issues may be resolved in sequels, but in the meantime, they are likely to leave many readers, particularly American ones, uncomfortable. Still, opening with a thrilling quidditch match, and closing with another wizardly competiton that is also exciting, for very different reasons, this sits at the center of Rowling's profected seven-volum saga and makes a sturdy, heartsopping (and doorstopping) fulcrum for it." --Kirkus Reviews, August 21, 2000 The fourth book in the Harry Potter phenomenon, at 734 pages, is what you call a wallow-one that some will find wide-ranging, compellingly written, and absorbing; others, rambling, tortuously fraught with adverbs, and unnecessarily long. Year Four at Hogwarts finds Harry enjoined as the surprising fourth contestant in the Triwizard Tournament--"a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry"-during which he bests a dragon, rescues Ron from merpeople, and finds his way through a maze that, unbeknownst to Dumbledore and the powers of Good, leads to the Dark wizard Voldernort and to the death of one of the other contestants. Before and in between the book's major action (the tournament is not announced until page 186, and Harry's involvement not until page 271), Rowling explores her major theme of Good vs. Evil and her minor themes of the value of loyalty and moral courage and the evils of yellow journalism, oppression, and bigotry. We find out, for instance, that Hagrid is not just oversized but part-giant, which is considered a shameful heritage; we see Hermione being taunted as a "mudblood' for her mixed Muggle-wizard parentage. Rowling's, emphasis here is much less on school life (not a single inter-house Quidditch match!) and much more on the wider wizard world and, simultaneously, on Harry's more narrow, personal world, as he has his first fight with Ron and asks a girl to his first dance. But on the whole, the emotional impact is disappointingly slight. The death of the Hogwarts student causes nary a lift of the reader's, eyebrow; the complicated explanation for Voldemort's infiltration of Hogwarts is fairly preposterous and impossible to work out from the clues given. The characterization, as well, seems to be getting thinner, with Dumbledore in particular reduced to a caricature of geniality. As a transitional book, however, Goblet of Fire does its job--thoroughly if facilely-and raises some tantalizing questions. Will Snape really turn out to be one of the good guys? What's the connection between Harry and Voldemort's wands, between Harry and Voldermort himself. When Harry tells his tale of Voldemort's return, what does the fleeting gleam of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes signify? Stay tuned, Pottermaniacs, for Year Five. M.V.P.--The Horn Book, Nov/Dec 2000
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"Readers are in for a delightful romp with this award-winning debut from a British author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl. There is enchantment, suspense, and danger galore (as well as enough creepy creatures to satisfy the most bogey-men-loving readers, and even a magical game of soccerlike Quidditch to entertain the sports fans). ---Publishers Weekly, starred reviewHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"the magical foundation so necessary in good fantasy, are as expertly crafted here as in the first book." --Booklist, starred review Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban "Isn't it reassuring that some things just get better and better?"--School Library Journal Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. The muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four."--Publishers Weekly starred review-- July, 2000"Harry is now l4 years old and in his fourth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where big changes are afoot. This year, instead of the usual Inter- House Quidditch Cup, a Triwizard Tournament will be held, during which three champions, one from each of three schools of wizardry (Hogwarts, Durinstrang, and Beaux-batons), must complete three challenging magical tasks. The competitors must be at least 17 years old, but the Goblet of Fire that determines the champions mysteriously produces Harry's name, so he becomes an unwilling fourth contestant. Meanwhile, it is obvious to the boy's allies that the evil Voldemort will use the Tournament to get at Harry. This hefty volume is brimming with all of the imagination, humor, and suspense that characterized the first books. So many characters, both new and familiar, are so busily scheming, spying, studying, worrying, fulminating, and suffering from unrequited first love that it is a wonder that Rowling can keep track, much less control, of all the plot lines. She does, though, balancing humor, malevolence, school-day tedium, and shocking revelantions with the aplomb of a circus performer. The Triwizard Tournament itself is bit of a letdown, since Harry is able, with a little help from his friends and even enemies, to perform the tasks easily. This fourth installment, with its deaths, a sinister ending, and an older and more shaken protagonist, surely marks the beginning of a very exciting and serious baffle between the forces of light and dark, and Harry's fans will be right there with him".-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library--School Library Journal, August 2000" Was it worth the long, agonizing wait and all the hype and hoopla? You bet! Harry's fourth challenging experience willmore than live up to his myriad fans' expectations--though the 734 pages divided into 37 chapters may be a bit daunting to your readers. The very length, however, allows an even richer tapestry of magical events and humorous escapades, even as the tale takes the long-predicted darker turn. . . . Any inclination towards disbelief on the part of readers is swept away by the very brilliance of the writing. The carefully created world of magic becomes more embellished and layered, while the amazing plotting ties up loose ennds, even as it sets in motion more entanglements. The long climax races relentlessly to a stunning denouement that leaves the way open for the next episode. Le the anticipation begin." Sally Estes--Booklist, August 2000, starred review"As the bells and whistles of the greates prepublication hoopla in children's book history fade, what's left in the clearing smoke is--unsurprisingly, considering Rowling's track record--another grand tale of magic and mystery, of wheels within wheels oiled in equal measure by terror and comedy, feature an engaging young hero-in training who's not above the occasional snit, and clicking along so smoothly that it seems shorter than it is. Good thing too, with this page count. That's not to say that the pace doesn't lag occasionally-particualrly near the end when not one but two bad guys halt the action for extended accounts of their misdeads and motives--or that the story lacks troubling aspects. As Harry wends his way through a fourh year of pranks, schemes, intrigue, danger and triumph at Hogwarts, the racial and class prejudice of many wizards moves to the forefront, with godded wizards gathering to terrorize and isolated Muggle family in one scene while authorites do litle more than wring their hands. There's also the later introduction of Hogwart's house elves as a clan of happy slaves spaking nonstandard English. These issues may be resolved in sequels, but in the meantime, they are likely to leave many readers, particularly American ones, uncomfortable. Still, opening with a thrilling quidditch match, and closing with another wizardly competiton that is also exciting, for very different reasons, this sits at the center of Rowling's profected seven-volum saga and makes a sturdy, heartsopping (and doorstopping) fulcrum for it." --Kirkus Reviews, August 21, 2000 The fourth book in the Harry Potter phenomenon, at 734 pages, is what you call a wallow-one that some will find wide-ranging, compellingly written, and absorbing; others, rambling, tortuously fraught with adverbs, and unnecessarily long. Year Four at Hogwarts finds Harry enjoined as the surprising fourth contestant in the Triwizard Tournament--"a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry"-during which he bests a dragon, rescues Ron from merpeople, and finds his way through a maze that, unbeknownst to Dumbledore and the powers of Good, leads to the Dark wizard Voldernort and to the death of one of the other contestants. Before and in between the book's major action (the tournament is not announced until page 186, and Harry's involvement not until page 271), Rowling explores her major theme of Good vs. Evil and her minor themes of the value of loyalty and moral courage and the evils of yellow journalism, oppression, and bigotry. We find out, for instance, that Hagrid is not just oversized but part-giant, which is considered a shameful heritage; we see Hermione being taunted as a "mudblood' for her mixed Muggle-wizard parentage. Rowling's, emphasis here is much less on school life (not a single inter-house Quidditch match!) and much more on the wider wizard world and, simultaneously, on Harry's more narrow, personal world, as he has his first fight with Ron and asks a girl to his first dance. But on the whole, the emotional impact is disappointingly slight. The death of the Hogwarts student causes nary a lift of the reader's, eyebrow; the complicated explanation for Voldemort's infiltration of Hogwarts is fairly preposterous and impossible to work out from the clues given. The characterization, as well, seems to be getting thinner, with Dumbledore in particular reduced to a caricature of geniality. As a transitional book, however, Goblet of Fire does its job--thoroughly if facilely-and raises some tantalizing questions. Will Snape really turn out to be one of the good guys? What's the connection between Harry and Voldemort's wands, between Harry and Voldermort himself. When Harry tells his tale of Voldemort's return, what does the fleeting gleam of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes signify? Stay tuned, Pottermaniacs, for Year Five. M.V.P.--The Horn Book, Nov/Dec 2000
