ESCAPE TIME!  with KC Heath

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
J.K. Rowling
Scholastic Inc. 1999
Pb 435 pages
ISBN # 0-439-13636-9

 

Azkaban is wizard prison, a horrible place guarded by dementors--cloaked creatures that are "glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water."  They suck the "peace, hope, and happiness" out of you as you turn cold with fright, driving their prisoners insane, and sometimes even sucking the very life out of them too.  Now the dementors are out of Azkaban, out looking for the infamous Sirius Black who escaped them.  It is said Sirius betrayed James and Lily (Harry's parents) to Voldemort, the Dark Lord.  Sirius Black has been in Azkaban all these years, paying for the murder of Peter Pettigrew, another wizard who, it is said, caught Sirius in the act of betrayal.  Twelve Muggles died that night in the cross-fire of the battling wizards.

Now Sirius is after Harry, so everyone says, and thus Harry cannot leave Hogwarts with the other Third Years when it is their time to go down into the village of Hogsmeade (an "entirely wizarding village" that offers many treats to the Hogwarts children).  Fred and George Weasley help out there, producing The Marauder's Map!  (They have all the secret passages memorized anyway.)  So Harry's biggest problem isn't getting into Hogsmeade, or even avoiding the convicted murderer Sirius Black, it is fighting off the dementors that have surrounded Hogwarts to protect him.  The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor teaches Harry how to fend off these terrible creatures, but it is a very difficult and powerful spell, and Harry has trouble getting it to work.  And this becomes a real problem when the dementors cause Harry to fall off his broom during a quidditch match, thus causing Gryffindor House to lose a game. 

But there's more to this story than an escaped prisoner and scary dementors.  Hermione has an over-loaded schedule this year--how is she getting to all of her classes?  Hagrid's hippogriff is under a death-sentence, thanks to Malfoy.  And Ron's pet rat Scabbers has gone sickly (Hermione's new cat makes him worse).  Sound like minor problems?  Oh, you know author Rowling: she ties all the little details in together.  Quite sufficiently, too.

So, enjoy this charming tale from the hilarious beginning where Harry accidentally blows up Uncle Vernon's sister into a "monstrous balloon," through the bumpy middle where you don't know how Gryffindor House is going to win the Quidditch Cup this year, clear until the scary ending where we come face to face with a murderer!

This book is definitely recommended for all Harry Potter fans.