WARREN, Michigan, U.S.A. — The long-awaited new Harry Potter book is out.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince begins normally enough, with Harry leaving the Dursleys yet again.
But by the end of the book, readers are left confused, shocked and sad.
In this installment, author J.K. Rowling squeezes out every last drop of emotion that you have — and then asks for more.
Politely, of course.
This book shows how much the series, and the hero, have matured.
Younger readers may not enjoy the new volume as much as the previous ones, but teens and adults will understand. This is no longer a children’s series.
Even with all the emotional ups and downs, Rowling still manages to answer the questions brought up by the preceding books: among them, where Snape’s loyalties truly lay and where Wormtail has been hiding.
Even Lucius Malfoy’s dark activities are illuminated.
While answers are revealed, however, new questions are subtly wedged in.
Who, for example, is R.A.B., and how does this mysterious person know Lord Voldemort?
There is no question about it, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a wonderful book.
If you haven’t been reading Harry Potter, you should start now.
I guarantee that you’ll be waiting as eagerly as the rest of us Potter-fanatics for the seventh, and final installment in the series.
Liane Harder is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
