Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone, was written by bestselling author, J.K Rowling. The Sorcerer’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series.
SUMMARY
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone is about a boy that learns there’s so much more to life than what his abusive family had led him to believe. This is a story of adventure and friendship. The magical, Wizarding-World or witches and wizards is hidden to the eyes of muggles, us normal folk. Select children are invited to enter the hidden world to attend the school of Hogwarts. Unknown to Harry Potter, he’s famous in this realm. Harry desires to know more of his past, who his parents were, and why/how they were killed.
In this young reader novel, Harry and his friends will uncover secrets of Hogwarts and reveal that a dark lord has risen from the shadows.
CHARACTER
Harry Potter is a young boy who’s mistreated by his blood relatives. He lives with his Aunt and Uncle, he has since he was just a baby. He was left on their front porch after the horrific death of his parents, James and Lily Potter. Harry’s parents were involved in magic, and were killed by the one who must not be named… Voldemort. Voldemort attempted to kill the infant Harry, but by the love of his mother, it deflected the deathly magic that Voldemort used, killing Lily, and only putting a scar on Harry’s forehead. As Harry Potter grows, he is treated like a dog by his family. One one fateful day, he’s rescued, taken to the Wizarding-World, and the magical school, Hogwarts.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This book, is a quick, simple read that focuses on friendship, curiosity, and overcoming fear. The Sorcerer’s Stone moves along at a solid pace, shifting from point A to Z without slowing down much. With the book moving at such a fast pace, Rowling still gives us a great amount of character introduction (there’s a lot) and superb world building (it’s big). Rowling doesn’t waste any time with overly expressed details or pointless misdirection. The story unfolds naturally, and brings up new questions about Harry’s past as well as the history of Hogwarts.
The friendship built up by the first year Gryffindor trio – Harry, Hermione, and Ron is fantastic. Ron and Hermione have a bit of tension between them – that young immature boy vs. girl attitude. It’s a comical fault of Ron, he’s the primary instigator. Overall the gang gets along pretty well, each of them posses something that the other doesn’t. Ron is poor, Harry has a cache of gold left by his parents, Hermione’s parents are dentists, so they’re well off. Harry is an Orphan, and desires what Hermione and Ron have, family. Hermione is a muggle, which means she isn’t a witch by blood, while Ron and Harry do have the “magical gene” passed on to them. Their friendship truly feels authentic and they work so well together as a team. Hermione follows the rules a bit more tightly than Ron and Harry, who are usually just asking for trouble. They all share a pretty heavy dislike for the bully in the first year class, Draco Malfoy, who’s in the house of Slytherin. Slytherin has a rough history, as it’s where the primary antagonist spent his years at Hogwarts.
This story is fun and heart warming. The treatment of Harry by his family, was heartbreaking. I was pleased by the events that unfolded that lead to Harry’s escape of the abuse, to see a whole new world. I truly am impressed with the way Rowling told this first story, and leaving it wide open for more to be told.
RATING: I will give Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone, an A.