The Harry Potter Series

Harry Potter Collection 1-7
by J.K. Rowling

From the publisher:
"Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone -- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban -- Harry Potter and the goblet of fire -- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- Harry Potter and the half-blood prince -- Harry Pottter and the deathly hollows. Presents all seven books of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, which follows the boy wizard through his years at Hogwarts as he tries to stop the evil Lord Voldemort with the help of his friends.
The Harry Potter series has been hailed as "one for the ages" by Stephen King and "a spellbinding saga' by USA Today. And most recently, The New York Times called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the "fastest selling book in history."" 

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first book coming out, and because I haven't read them in years, I just did a marathon re-read of all 7 books.  Once again, I am struck with the genius of J.K. Rowling.  These books are classics that will stand the test of time and be around forever.  The characters will be loved and revered for generations.  The plot is amazingly cohesive and well thought out from start to finish.  The world of wizards and Muggles seems practically real.  Many, many children who didn't care about reading have been and will be hooked by these books (one of my own daughters is one of them).   I love them.  Since I haven't read them in many years, but have seen the movies a zillion times, I was so struck by how much is changed or left out of the movies.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a Harry Potter movie hater - I love the movies - I just have to divorce the movies from the books in my mind when I watch them.  However, I was reminded of a lot of important moments that I love and have missed in the movies.  Oh, I love these books!  

Now, are these books for everyone?  Of course not.  We all have different tastes.  I may have a hard time understanding why someone would dislike them, but we all have different opinions.  I do get concerned when I hear of children reading Harry Potter too early.  Some of the plot lines are quite complex, and each book gets darker and darker with really intense and scary things going on.  So much sadness, so much death.  Much has been said about the witch and wizard aspect of these books and they have been challenged many times over the years in school libraries.  But ultimately these books are about good triumphing over evil and there are many lessons about character and moral virtues.  I recommend them to everyone starting about the 4th grade (or older).   

Areas of concern:
*There is a little bit mild of cussing throughout the series, but not much.
*Dramatically intense situations
*Many incredibly sad deaths
*Some torture of children by adult wizards

Suggested ages (I'm using Deathly Hallows for this - earlier for the first 3 books):
Booklist - Grades 6-12
School Library Journal - Grades 6+
(If you have sensitive children.... I had a friend who let her kids read the first 3 books when they were the same age as Harry in the books - then they could finish at their own speed.  I love this idea!)

  

The Iron Trial

The Iron Trial
by Holly Black &
Cassandra Clare

From the publisher:
"Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . ."

This book was recommended to me by some of my 8th graders who absolutely love it. I can't say that I loved it, but I mildly enjoyed it and can see why middle schoolers would love it. My main problem was that I didn't connect to the main character. I thought he was obnoxious and unsympathetic (like Dark Harry in The Order of the Phoenix .... no, Harry was much less obnoxious and much more sympathetic). Could it have been my annoyance with his name? Callum.... pronounced Cal-um... correct? And yet his nickname is Call. I'm sorry, is that supposed to be pronounced the way it is spelled, or the way a nickname for Callum should be said? It drove me crazy because I can not read the word Call as Cal. Actually, though, I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. The plot was interesting, and there was a big twist at the end that I didn't see coming. I thought the world-building was cool - an underground magic school where the lichens and fungus taste like all your favorite foods, but believe me I would much prefer my magic school to be in beautiful Scotland next to a mysterious loch. I'm going to tepidly recommend this one for adults, but strongly recommend it for middle schoolers. 

Areas of concern: (Actually a pretty clean read, which is surprising coming from these two authors.)
*A mother's violent death and her instructions to "Kill the Child"
*A scary wolf-attack scene (I put that in because I had a daughter who was scared silly of wolves :) )
*Death of a student
*Several instances of bullying

Suggested Ages:

Kirkus Reviews - Ages 9-13

School Library Journal - Grades 5-8