Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter, No. 2
By J. K. Rowling
Scholastic Trade - August 15, 2000
ISBN: 0439064872 - Digest edition
Reading Ages: 9-12 (all ages)

Reviewed by Brenda Weeaks, MyShelf.Com
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Harry Potter has just about survived another summer with the Dursleys. Just as his misery is about to end, a visitor shows up causing chaos in an attempt to keep Harry away from Hogwarts School Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not to worry. Ron rides to the rescue in a turquoise flying car.

Harry and Ron make a crash landing into Hogwarts and the Whopping Willow. Once the three chums, Harry, Ron and Hermione, are settled and ready to study wizardry, they find themselves in another mystery more sinister and dangerous than the last. It involves the Chamber of Secrets. The last time The Chamber was opened, a student died.

Harry hears a threatening voice. The chums find the school cat petrified after a ghost "deathday" party. Soon more are found in a petrified state, including one of Harry's best friends. Who's stiffening them and why? And what is that voice Harry is hearing? Is it from the Chamber? Can Harry stop whatever it is before it actually kills someone?

It's no wonder kids and adults have trouble putting this series down once they pick it up. Rowlings's work is unique and imaginative, full of irresistible details, such as the Whomping Willow, the near-headless ghost looking for a transplant; the Howler, a red letter blaring Ron's mother's voice, reprimanding him in the Great Hall for all the students to hear; the Mandrakes, a plant with roots that resemble a howling, ugly baby that throws a fit and refuses to be repotted; the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, an office that confiscates bewitched objects like teapots and flying cars to protect Muggles from magic. I could go on and on. Rowlings comes up with these fun, imaginative things as well as providing a comprehensive story that reads like a fable with a parable quietly wrapped in side.

Without a doubt, it's a series destined to be a classic.

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