Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)

Rowling, J. K.; GrandPré, Mary

ISBN 10: 0786222743 ISBN 13: 9780786222742

Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print, 2000

Synopsis

What's a young wizard to do when he must spend the summer with distasteful relatives and refrain from practicing magic? Thirteen-year-old Harry Potter puts up with this situation until Aunt Marge so annoys him that he violates a code of ethics by using his magic on her. Instead of being punished, Harry is allowed to finish out his holiday at the Leaky Cauldron Inn, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. But as Harry's third year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry begins, things turn serious when Sirius Black, the man who killed Harry's parents and has it in for Harry, too, escapes from Azkaban Prison. While trying to find out why Sirius murdered his parents, the young hero learns more about his own past and actually "hears" the end of his mothers life. In this third book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Hangs out with his friends Ron and Hermione, meets the "Hippogriffs" and "Dementors," and continues to make readers care very much about his fate.

No Canadian Rights for the Harry Potter Series

HARRY POTTER and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter publishing rights © J. K. Rowling. (s05)

About this title

Review

For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig.

As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

From the Inside Flap

FOR TWELVE long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts ... he's at Hogwarts".

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0786222743
• ISBN 13: 9780786222742
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 592