The name J.K. Rowling is one that is on the lips of millions of readers worldwide, but before 1997 few people knew the brilliant woman behind the phenomenally successful Harry Potter books. And now, four books into the series, few yet know the real story of Ms. Rowling's childhood and career as a writer.
      She was born near Bristol, England, attended Exeter University, and became a teacher. Between 1990 and 1994 she transferred to Portugal to teach English, married a journalist there, gave birth to their daughter, Jessica, divorced her husband, and returned to the United Kingdom, settling in Edinburgh, Scotland. There she "found herself in the classic single-mother trap. She could not afford child-care, so she could not go to work and lived off public assistance." Every day, to escape her damp, unheated flat, she'd take the baby to the nearest cafe and write away while nursing a cup of coffee.
      She began work on the Harry Potter books in 1990. The idea "just came: bang!" From the beginning, she planned it as a seven-volume series because it would take place during the seven years between the ages of 11 to 17 to train a wizard and each book would take place during a year of Harry's life at Hogwarts, the school for wizards.
      As a first book by an unemployed Edinburgh-based schoolteacher and single mother, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone did not seem to have a bright future. When Rowling first met her agent, Christopher Little, over a lunch in London in 1995, he felt it only right to sound a cautionary note: "Now, you do realize, you will never make a forturne out of writing children's books?" Three years later, that first book has leapt to the top of the bestseller charts, both in the United States and England and has been awarded some major prizes.

    Say you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under the stairs of a family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd, magical twist of fate you find yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy owl, a phoenix-feather wand, and jellybeans that come in every flavor, including strawberry, curry, grass, and sardine. Not only that, but you discover that you are a wizard yourself! This is exactly what happens to young Harry Potter in this enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
    In the nonmagic human world--the world of "Muggles"--Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited him when his parents were killed by the evil Voldemort. But in the world of wizards, small, skinny Harry is famous as a survivor of the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley.
    A mysterious letter, delivered by the friendly giant Hagrid, wrenches Harry from his dreary, Muggle-ridden existence: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly,"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Soon enough, however, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts with his owl Hedwig... and that's where the real adventure--humorous, haunting, and suspenseful--begins.
    "This magical, gripping, brilliant book--a future classic to be sure--will leave kids clamoring for more Harry Potter."

Awards: National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal.

    It's hard to fall in love with an earnest, appealing young hero like Harry Potter and then to watch helplessly as he steps into terrible danger! As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop the train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical flying car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly vexed) Whomping Willow.
    Still, all this seems like a day in the park compared to what happens that fall within the haunted halls of Hogwarts. Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls only to Harry, and it seems certain that his classmate Draco Malfoy is out to get him. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as dreadful things begin to happen at Hogwarts. The mysteriously gleaming, foot-high words on the wall proclaim, "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." But what exactly does it mean? Harry, Hermione, and Ron do everything that is wizardly possible--including risking their own lives--to solve this 50-year-old, seemingly deadly mystery.
    "This deliciously suspenseful novel is every bit as gripping, imaginative, and creepy as the first; familiar student concerns--fierce rivalry, blush-inducing crushes, pedantic professors-- seamlessly intertwine with the bizarre, horrific, fantastical, or just plain funny. Once again, Rowling writes with a combination of wit, whimsy, and a touch of the macabre that will leave readers young and old desperate for the next installment."

    For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. Harry accidentally causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig.
     As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected?
     "Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works."

    J.K. Rowling offers up equal parts danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves, and death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the Death Eaters--are out for murder.

     From School Library Journal "Harry has just returned to Hogwarts after a lonely summer. Dumbledore is uncommunicative and most of the students seem to think Harry is either conceited or crazy for insisting that Voldemort is back and as evil as ever. Angry, scared, and unable to confide in his godfather, Sirius, the teen wizard lashes out at his friends and enemies alike. The head of the Ministry of Magic is determined to discredit Dumbledore and undermine his leadership of Hogwarts, and he appoints nasty, pink-cardigan-clad Professor Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and High Inquisitor of the school, bringing misery upon staff and students alike. This bureaucratic nightmare, added to Harry's certain knowledge that Voldemort is becoming more powerful, creates a desperate, Kafkaesque feeling during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. The adults all seem evil, misguided, or simply powerless, so the students must take matters into their own hands. Harry's confusion about his godfather and father, and his apparent rejection by Dumbledore make him question his own motives and the condition of his soul. Also, Harry is now 15, and the hormones are beginning to kick in. There are a lot of secret doings, a little romance, and very little Quidditch or Hagrid (more reasons for Harry's gloom), but the power of this book comes from the young magician's struggles with his emotions and identity. Particularly moving is the unveiling, after a final devastating tragedy, of Dumbledore's very strong feelings of attachment and responsibility toward Harry. Children will enjoy the magic and the Hogwarts mystique, and young adult readers will find a rich and compelling coming-of-age story as well."
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

It's much more fun not knowing what's coming--and in the case of Rowling's delicious sixth book, you don't want to know. Just sit tight, despite the earth-shattering revelations that will have your head in your hands as you hope the words will rearrange themselves into a different story. But take one warning to heart: do not open Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until you have first found a secluded spot, safe from curious eyes, where you can tuck in for a good long read. Because once you start, you won't stop until you reach the very last page.

A darker book than any in the series thus far with a level of sophistication belying its genre, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince moves the series into murkier waters. The strength of Book 6 lies in her subtle development of key characters, as well as her carefully nuanced depiction of a community at war. No one and nothing is safe, including preconceived notions of good and evil and of right and wrong.

It's official! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's magical Harry Potter series, will be released on July 21, 2007. In the February 1 announcement from the book's publisher, Lisa Holton, President of Scholastic Children's Books, said, "We are thrilled to announce the publication date of the seventh installment in this remarkable series. We join J.K. Rowling's millions of readers--young and old, veterans and newcomers--in anticipating what lies ahead." Save the date, and let the countdown begin!

Biography Wordhunt Fill in the blanks with words from the list below. Want to print this click here.
J. K. Rowling is the writer who _______ 1 _______ the Harry Potter books. The name J.K. Rowling is now known to millions of readers worldwide, but before 1997 few knew the brilliant woman behind the _____ 2______ successful Harry Potter books. She began work on the first book in 1990. The idea "just came: bang!" From the beginning, she planned it as a seven- ____ 3 ______series because it would take place during the seven years between the ages of 11 to 17 to train a ______ 4 _____. Each book takes place during a year of Harry's life at ______ 5 _____, the school for wizards. Rowling was told by her agent in 1995 that the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone did not have a ____6____future. He told her, "...you will never make a fortune out of writing children's books?" Today, J. K. Rowling is one-woman ______ 7 ____ and the second richest woman in the United Kingdom after the queen.	J. K. Rowling was born near Bristol, England. Rowling confided that the ____ 8 ____ of Harry's friend Hermione is loosely based on herself at age eleven. English was her favorite subject and she created serial stories for her friends at lunchtime, tales involving heroic deeds. She attended Exeter University, and became a teacher. Between 1990 and 1994 she ____ 9____ to Portugal to teach English, married a journalist there, gave birth to their daughter, Jessica, divorced her husband, and returned to the United Kingdom. She settled in Edinburgh, Scotland. She "could not afford child-care, so she could not go to work and lived off public assistance." Every day, to ______ 10____ her damp, unheated flat, she'd take the baby to the nearest cafe and write away while nursing a cup of coffee.	Harry Potter, an orphan, has led a _______11 ____ life with the Dursley family. The Dursleys are _______12______ . Harry had arrived unannounced and the Dursleys resented his ____13 ____ . Harry has been forced to live in a broom closet under the stairs. "Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright green eyes," and "He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape." When Harry turns eleven, he is swept off by the giant ______14_____ , keeper of the keys at Hogwarts, on a flying motorcycle. Thus begins Harry's adventures and it is "a ripping good yarn." "The language is witty, the plotting tight, the imagination soars." It's fun. Harry becomes a star at ____ 15 ____ , an aerial sort of soccer match played on broomsticks. He forms friendships with Ron and Hermione and encounters the ______16____ Draco Malfoy. He investigates the secrets of Hogwarts, battles evil, and discovers that he is his own person.

created quidditch phenomenally transferred intrusion volume escape Hagrid

character Hogwarts miserable muggles industry wizard sly bright

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