Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author:  JK Rowling
Publisher:  Arthur A. Lenie Books, An Imprint of Scholastic Press
Copyright:  1997
ISBN:  0-590-35340-3
Genre:  Fiction
Source:  I own this copy

Summary from Scholastic Books:  In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry, an orphan, lives with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley.

One day just before his eleventh birthday, an owl tries to deliver a mysterious letter—the first of a sequence of events that end in Harry meeting a giant man named Hagrid. Hagrid explains Harry's history to him: When he was a baby, the Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, attacked and killed his parents in an attempt to kill Harry; but the only mark on Harry was a mysterious lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

Now he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the headmaster is the great wizard Albus Dumbledore. Harry visits Diagon Alley to get his school supplies, especially his very own wand. To get to school, he takes the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station. On the train, he meets two fellow students who will become his closest friends: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Harry is assigned to Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, and soon becomes the youngest-ever Seeker on the House Quidditch team. He also studies Potions with Professor Severus Snape, who displays a deep and abiding dislike for Harry, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with nervous Professor Quirrell; he and his friends defeat a mountain troll, help Hagrid raise a dragon, and explore the wonderful, fascinating world of Hogwarts.

But all events lead irrevocably toward a second encounter with Lord Voldemort, who seeks an object of legend known as the Sorcerer's Stone…

Review:  This is the first book in what is destined to be a classic series, that of Harry Potter.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the UK) has made an enormous impact on children's lives (adults too, yes) everywhere, as readers are introduced to a world of wizardry, a young orphaned boy who discovers he has special "gifts", and the school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that helps him develop those very gifts.  

Harry Potter is orphaned as an infant, his parents killed by the nefarious Lord Voldemort, a wicked wizard, and left with a lightning scar on his forehead which proves to be a link to the event and the murderer.  Taken to live with his "muggles" aunt, uncle and cousin; Harry Potter knows he doesn't belong in this world.  He is undermined at every turn by his abusive relatives, but his circumstances change on his eleventh birthday.

Rescued by Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Harry Potter leaves his home of the previous years, to board at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Here he makes two very good friends in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and learns what it means to be a wizard, a famous one at that.  His role and purpose become apparent as his curiosity leads him into perilous circumstance, with his best friends in tow.

J.K. Rowling has created a world that most can relate to; not for the witchcraft, but for the relationships within school, home and society.  What child doesn't dream that he/she can alter their circumstance, stand up to the bully, discover their true gifts and talents, and be recognized ultimately for the  special person he/she is?  In Harry Potter's world, children find this....the something they can relate to and they celebrate in Harry's successes as he conquers the obstacles in his life.

Rated 4.5/5

This is book one of the Harry Potter Reading Challenge hosted by Giraffe Days.

 July's read is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.