Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Bibliographic Information: Rowling, J. (2005). Harry Potter and the half-blood prince. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Plot Summary: The battle between good and evil wages on as Harry enters his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Voldemort has returned, and is gathering his army of Death Eaters to take over the wizarding world.  Severus Snape, former Death Eater but now a member of The Order of the Phoenix (those fighting against Voldemort), is asked to make an unbreakable vow to protect Harry’s rival, Draco Malfoy, and in order to protect his true allegiance to Professor Dumbledore, does so.  

Back at Hogwarts Snape is named the new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which takes Harry by surprise.  Harry receives a Potions book with the inscription “The Half-Blood Prince,” and finds that the added notes from the previous owner help him excel in his Potions class.

Later on, Dumbledore and Harry discover that Voldemort, in efforts to preserve his life, split his soul into seven parts and his each in a different object.  Two of these objects have already been destroyed, and now they will hunt down the rest.  

Draco, as always, is up to no good, and he confronts a Dumbledore in the tower.  Having just returned from destroying a Horcrux, Dumbledore is extremely weak, and tries to convince Draco that he is not a killer.  Intent on following through with his mission, Draco tries to summon up the courage to kill Dumbledore, but is interrupted when Snape bursts through the door.  It is now time for Snape to show where his true allegiance lies.  Is he an honorable member of the Order of the Phoenix, or is he still a dangerous Death Eater?

Critical Evaluation: Rowling continues to keep reader enthralled in Harry’s hunt for Voldemort.  Now that he has returned, the threat of evil looms closer to the magical, and muggle world.  The complexity of Rowling’s characters reels readers in as they try to decide if Snape is really good or evil, or is Ron and Hermione will ever confess their love for each other.  What Rowling has done an excellent job portraying is the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  She does a great job keeping their friendship real.  Arguments, jealousy, love, and loyalty define their relationship, and their personalities balance each other out. Rowling does well revealing how Harry will be able to defeat Voldemort.  All of the details are well thought out and build to the series finale Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

It is good to see Harry more accepting of his role as the chosen one to defeat Voldemort.  In earlier books, Harry resented his scar and the prestige that came with it.  As Harry matures, he only becomes a bigger threat to Voldemort.

    

Reader’s Annotation: Voldemort is back. Snape is the Defense Against the Dark Art teacher.  Things aren’t boding well for Harry...

Information about the author: JK Rowling, born Joanne Rowling, assumed the pen name “JK” after encouragement from her publisher in hopes to appeal to young boys- their target audience.  Rowling’s writing career blossomed from humble beginnings.  After graduating from Exeter University with a degree in French and Classics, she moved to Portugal to teach English as a second language.  There she met Jorge Arantes, and they married in 1992.  Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993, and eventually their marriage ended in divorce, and Rowling moved to Edinburgh near her younger sister (Rowling, n.d.).  

Rowling supported Jessica and herself on welfare while she worked on Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.  The book was published in 1997, and the Harry Potter series dominated book sales for the next ten years.  

Rowling recently published her first non-Potter and adult novel, Casual Vacancy, which has been received with mixed reviews (Bio, n.d.).

Genre: Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: English (literature)

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1. Harry searching for a Horcrux

2. Voldemort’s perspective.

Reading level/Interest age: 10+

Challenge Issues: This novel contains magic, which is considered offensive by some.

To defend challenged material I would:

1.    Read/watch/listen to the material to become familiar with the content.

2.    Familiarize myself with the Arizona Common Core curriculum standards http://www.azed.gov/azcommoncore/teacher/ to defend how the material can support the learning of these standards.

3.    Refer to the Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

4.    Refer to the collection policy of my library.

5. Collect reviews from staff/students/patrons who have used the material

Why I chose this book:  The success of the Harry Potter  series is unprecedented.  The tale of Harry and his friends is loved by millions of readers around the world, and is a staple in any library collections.  The timeless war between good and evil keeps readers reading because they want to know the fate of Harry and his arch-nemesis Voldemort.  

References:

Rowling, J. (n.d.) Biography. J.K. Rowling. Retrieved 1 May 2013 from

    http://www.jkrowling.com/en_US/#/about-jk-rowling

Bio. True Story (n.d.) J.K. Rowling biography. A+E Television Networks, LLC.

    Retrieved 1 May 2013 from

http://www.biography.com/people/jk-rowling-40998?page=2