| $@%&! level: None “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low (aside from the Quidditch games, which can get pretty aggressive) Back Cover: “Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys had been so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature who says that if Harry returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls' bathroom. But then the real trouble begins—someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself!” |
That doesn't mean you shouldn't read it. You definitely should read it, and not just so you can get through to the rest of the series. You get to experience such joys as Harry's first Quidditch match against Draco Malfoy, the dangers of having a house elf try to rescue you, the dangers of asking Hagrid for information (which include carnivorous giant spiders), and the new lows of child abuse from the Dursleys. (Seriously, how did Child Protective Services, or whatever governmental institution the UK has to fill the same spot, never notice the way that family treated their nephew?) And of course, it being Harry Potter, there has to be a mystery for him to solve, and a final confrontation that leaves him in the hospital wing again. It's kind of nice that, for the mystery, Harry himself is one of the chief suspects. (And if you haven't yet read it or watched the movie, by some miracle, I'd be really surprised if anyone guessed the true culprit until it was revealed.) I enjoy how the Harry Potter books play with the idea of fame, and how public opinion swings back and forth so quickly. After all the hero worship Harry got in the first year, having everyone think he's a seriously evil wizard is an interesting change. No less difficult for Harry to deal with, but in a very different way. That's one of the things I love about the Harry Potter books—they keep you on your toes.