| Booktalk
#1
I'm Harry
Potter. Have you heard of me? Yeah, apparently I'm the most famous kid
in the wizarding world. But then again, you muggles probably don't understand
-- not that I do! It's a little overwhelming to be a normal 11 year old
boy living with my cruel and unfair aunt and uncle one day, and then a
famous wizarding boy the next. But that's all last year -- it's in the
past now.
I have
finally found a place where I fit in at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. But then I got this message from an Elf telling me not to go
back to Hogwarts because disaster will strike! Of course I didn't listen,
but how was I to know what would really happen? So when someone -- or something
-- is out to get the kids in school, who are they to suspect? Draco Malfoy,
know for being loyal to the dark side, a monster, or ME!?!? (Read pgs.
253-254) To find out all this and more of what goes on in Harry's Magical
world, read HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling. (Valerie
Y., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)
Booktalk #2
Harry
Potter, by now you've probably heard this name many times, and hopefully
you've read the books. If you haven't, you don't know what you're missing.
Harry Potter is a young boy who lives with his evil Aunt Petunia, Uncle
Vernon and cousin Dudley. Harry is a special being because he is a wizard.
Harry goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry and his
two best friends often get involved in suspicious things, which there are
many of at Hogwarts. When they find a secret diary, they have to investigate
further. Which leads to many other eerie adventures and surprises (Read
p. 304-305) To find out more about Harry and his adventures, be sure to
read HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS. (Ali P., 8th grade student,
Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)
Booktalk #3
Harry
is getting ready to return to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry
for his second year. After his adventures in his first year at Hogwarts,
faculty and students alike await another exciting year. Harry does
too, after a visit from a weird guest, his runaway from his mean aunt and
uncle and his magnificent entrance on the first day of school. Harry's
year gets much stranger when Angus Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker, finds his
cat, Mrs. Norris, turned to stone. Soon, more students are found,
frozen solid, and Harry almost loses someone who is very close to whatever
is hidden in the Chamber of Secrets. To learn about the secret chamber
and find out all about Harry's peculiar year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft
and Wizardry, read J.K. Rowling's HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS.
(Thomas G., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)
Booktalk #4
Ask students
if they have ever kept a journal or diary with a show of hands. Also,
in this same way, ask them if they have ever written one in secret code.
If so, ask some participants to tell how they made the code up. After
this discussion, ask if anyone has ever gone down into a cave. If
answers are yes, ask what feelings came up, if it was a commercial cave
or an undiscovered one, what they expected to find down there. Afterward,
introduce the second of the Harry Potter novels and tell them it deals
with secret diaries and spooky caves, as well as new and interesting characters.
("Naomi Bates" <mira93@yahoo.com>)
Booktalk
#5
Harry
Potter is looking forward to going back to school after spending a miserable
summer holiday with his aunt and uncle. He had been forced to live with
his aunt and uncle after his parents were killed. It was obvious that he
wasn't welcome in their home. His life changed dramatically when he received
word that he was actually a wizard and would be attending Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His first year had been an adventure and he
looked forward to leaving his dreadful relatives behind in the Fall. A
short time before Harry is to leave, he is visited by a house elf who warns
him not to return to Hogwart's, Dobby does all he can to keep Harry out
of Hogwart's including trying to get him expelled for using magic when
he was forbidden to. Harry does return to Hogwart's and is reunited with
his good friends Ron and Hermione. But all is not well at Hogwart's. Strange
things are happening and there is a rumor going around that the Chamber
of Secrets has been opened and that a monster has been let loose. The legend
of the Chamber states that only the true heir to the dark lord Slytherin
can open the Chamber. People begin to think Harry is responsible. But when
his best friend Hermione is a target, people begin to doubt that Harry
has anything to do with the dark events at the school. Join Harry as he
shares his life during his second year at Hogwart's.
Booktalk
#6
It’s been a long and miserable
summer with the Dursleys. Harry can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts to begin
his second year of school and see his friends again. Unfortunately however,
almost as soon as the school year commences, strange and frightening things
begin to happen. The door on Platform 9 3/4 doesn’t open for Harry and
Ron, so they miss the Hogwarts Express. Once they arrive at school by flying
car Harry is again faced with his arch enemy Draco Malfoy, and if that’s
not bad enough there’s a new, extremely annoying, Defense Against the Dark
Arts teacher who seems to think that Harry is his new best friend.
Then one night large letters
appear on the wall: "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of
the Heir, Beware." Shortly after, someone – or something, turns several
students into stone. Rumor spreads that Harry is the long-dreaded heir
of Slytherin, one of the school's founders, who supposedly created a Chamber
of Secrets that houses a horrible monster that can only be released by
the heir. Once again, Harry, Rom and Hermione must decipher the puzzle
and save the day before it’s too late.
(Susan Dunn, Colorado
Blue Spruce YA Book Award, 2003) |
