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Rowling, J. K.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
London : Bloomsbury, 1999.
IL 5-8  RL 6.9
ISBN 0439136350

(9 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

Harry Potter is looking forward to his third year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Summer holiday with his aunt and uncle had been as unpleasant as always. He had been successful at staying out of their way so he was able to do some studying this year. When Aunt Marge comes for a visit, Harry is desperate. Aunt Marge never lets up on Harry. She's always telling him how awful he is and how he always messes up. When Harry can't stand it anymore, he goes against the rules and uses witchcraft on her. Believing he will be expelled from school, Harry runs away from home. He is picked up by Knight's Bus which brings him to London. Everyone on Daigon's Alley is being especially nice to Harry. Even the Minister of Magic has a special interest in Harry. Not only is Harry not expelled, he is being treated like a prince. What is going on? What awaits Harry this year at Hogwarts? Could all this fuss have something to do with the escaped convict Sirius Black? Or even the mysterious Grim that Harry has spotted. Spend another year with Harry, Hermione and Ron to find out all about the PRISONER OF AZKABAN.

Booktalk #2

My name is Hermione Grainger, a brilliant student at Hogwarts, a famous wizardry and witchcraft school for 3 years. My best friends are Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Harry is the most interesting person I've ever met. He grew up with his atrocious muggle aunt and uncle, because his wizard parents were killed by a former evil Great Wizard who is not to be named. About 3 years ago, Harry got a letter from Hogwarts telling him he had to go to school there. Harry found out that his parents were wizards and that they also went to Hogwarts so he pleaded with his cruel uncle and was finally able to go. He got on the train to Hogwarts and met Ron Weasley and me! He's always getting into trouble though... Last year we got into the Chamber of Secrets and the year before that we got the Sorcerer's Stone! This year who knows what kind of trouble we'll get into?! A lot of strange things have been happening lately. The weirdest so far was when Harry got a mysterious Christmas present with a card that had no name on it. The weird thing is that no one WE know has the money to buy what he got. AND to top it all off, Sirius Black who was Harry's late father's best friend is a mass murderer, or so people think. He was jailed in Azkaban where the most dangerous criminals go. The guards there suck all the joy out of you and people go crazy. No one has ever escaped the prison but Sirius has! AND he's out to get Harry, and it's rumored that he wants to murder Harry. Harry wants to find this Sirius Black character and get back at him for exposing his parents' secrets. The secrets that caused his parents' death. BUT did Sirius Black really expose the secrets? Does Harry end up finding Sirius? Find out by reading HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J. K. Rowling. (Natalie C., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)

Booktalk #3

Defeater of you know who, that's my best friend Harry Potter, a hero before he could talk. We have lots of adventures together, along with our friend Hermione. Hermione's the smart one, Harry the famous one and me, well, I'm just Ron. Ron Weasley to be exact. This story begins at our third year at Hogwarts. The Hogwarts' professors had been acting peculiar. They knew something that we didn't but were soon to find out. You-know-who's faithful servant had escaped form Azkaban, the world's most famous prison and was after Harry. What does the teacher find in Harry's cup? Is it danger? Is it death? Will the great Harry Potter live to tell his story? To find out, read HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. (Corrine S., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)

Booktalk #4

This is the third book in the Harry Potter series, PRISONER OF AZKABAN, by J.K. Rowling.  When Sirius Black escapes from the Azkaban Prison, which no one has ever done before, everyone thinks he is out to kill the wizard's hero, Harry Potter.  Muttering the words, "He's at Hogwarts", people assume this follower of Lord Voldemort is after Harry himself!  Harry doesn't know exactly what is going on, but everyone is acting so weird and so protective, that he know something is fishy.  When the mean, lifeless dementors start to surround his Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the palm reader tells him his life is about to end, rumors start to fly about Sirius Black being at the school, searching for Harry!  (Read bottom of p. 178 to top of 179)  Is it really true?  Will Harry ever meet face to face with the man who supposedly killed his parents?  Or are the rumors just someone else trying to scare Harry away from his favorite place in the world, Hogwarts?  Find out when you read HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, by J. K. Rowling.  (Lani Y., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)

Booktalk #5

Ask students to name the most entertaining city they have ever been to.  Ask what made that city/town special.  Let several respond. Then ask who they went with, which will lead into familyrelationships.  Which family member would they not like to go with and why?  What qualities make for trust in a family?  If you had to go with friends, who would it be and why pick that particular one? After discussion, introduce the third book in the Harry Potter series, and tell them that more sinister characters are introduced and a new town full of very magical things is also in the book.  ("Naomi Bates" <mira93@yahoo.com>)

Booktalk #6

After spending a lonely summer being ignored by his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Cousin Dudley, Harry Potter can hardly wait to begin his third year at Hogwarts. But, in a moment of uncontrolled desperation Potter finds himself alone on the streets of London. How will he get to Hogwarts? Will the Hogwarts Express leave from platform 9 _ without him again like last year? And why does he keep seeing a big black dog with wide gleaming eyes?

The captivating adventures of Harry Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley continue in J.K Rowling’s third installment of the Harry Potter series. Yet even under the watchful eyes of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s Headmaster Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid the Keeper of the Grounds and Keys and new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and the tired, dowdy, gray faced Professor Lupin the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Potter appears to be in grave danger. The heir apparent to You-Know-Who, Dark Lord-Voldemort, has escaped the dreaded fortress of Azkaban. Convicted of killing wizards and muggles alike, this infamous escapee is now actively seeking out Harry Potter, and the Dementors otherwise known as Death Eaters are actively seeking out him, Sirius Black. Professor Snape the Potions Teacher is fuming mad he didn’t get the Defense Against the Dark Arts post and Potter’s new Divination teacher Professor Trelawney keeps "seeing" his death. Is Harry Potter safe within the protected walls of Hogwarts, the place he considers home? No, because there is a traitor lurking in the corridors and secret hiding places around the castle and grounds!

Old friends and teachers appear to not be themselves, spells are woven, death omens are wearily averted, slimy Slytherins continue their despise for Harry, and gut-wrenching fast-flying Quidditch games are played on the finest broomstick now available, "The Firebolt!" Year three at Hogwarts casts the most exciting, endearing, and enchanting school term yet for Harry Potter!

Karen Kargel  (Colorado Blue Spruce Children's Award)
 

Booktalk #7

Harry hated summers more than anything. He had to live with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his awful, multi-chinned cousin Dudley. Although Harry attended the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, during the summers the Dursleys locked up his spellbooks, wand and broomstick and forbade him to do anything connected with magic. The summer after his 2nd year had caused Harry no end of trouble. Professor Snape, Harry's least favorite Professor, had given Harry a lot of homework to be done over the summer. One assignment was to write an essay on Witch Burning in the 14th century Was Completely Pointless. So, one weekend, Harry retrieved his spell books, quill & parchment so that he could work on his homework at night under the covers where none of the Dursleys would know.

That summer, Aunt Marjorie was going to be paying another of her not so happy (for Harry) visit to the Dursleys, so Uncle Vernon laid out some rules for Harry about her stay. She had been told that Harry was a student at the Brutus Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. Harry agreed to go along, but only if Uncle Vernon would sign Harry's permission slip to visit Hogmeade on certain weekends when he was at Hogwarts.

Aunt 'Marge' was a large, beefy, purple-faced woman who doted on her little "Dudders." Dudley was a perfect match for her as he had spent the entire summer eating and watching T.V. One of Aunt Marge's favorite activities was comparing Dudley to the skinny, rotten (to her) Harry. Finally, on the last night of her visit, Aunt Marge began talking about how awful Harry's mother and father had been. Harry kept getting madder and madder until suddenly Marge stopped talking and started to bulge and float up toward the ceiling. Before anyone could stop him, Harry ran to the locked cupboard, opened the door (magically), grabbed his trunk, ran upstairs, threw his books and wands in the trunk and ran out into the street. What a fix! Harry had just done some serious magic...not allowed to students outside of Hogwarts...and he was certain to be expelled. Where could he go?!

Then, he felt something watching him from the shadows. Something big and black with gleaming eyes. Just as Harry fell over his trunk in surprise, a triple-decker bus appeared out of thin air. Harry boarded the bus and headed to London. On the way, he picked up a newspaper and read about the most infamous prisoner ever to be held at the Azkaban Fortress, one Sirius Black who had murdered 13 people in the Muggle world with a single curse. Black was a supporter of "you know who (Lord Voldemort)." (It was a magical bus after all.)

When Harry got off the bus at Diagon Alley, he ran smack into the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Rather than expelling Harry, the minister told Harry that the Reversal Department had been dispatched to puncture Aunt Marge and modify her memory. Harry was allowed to spend the last 2 weeks of vacation at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry couldn't believe it!! He wasn't going to even be punished! Why?! Regardless, he thoroughly enjoyed his two weeks of freedom from the Dursleys. The day before the return to Hogwarts, Harry ran into Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and had a lovely dinner with all the Weasleys.

In bed that night, Harry heard Ron's parents arguing over why Cornelius Fudge had not warned Harry about Sirius Black and his pursuit of Harry. Apparently, Black believed that "you know who" would come to power again if Harry were dead. Would Harry live through his 3rd year at Hogwarts despite the Prisoner of Azkaban?

Marilyn Bunker  (Colorado Blue Spruce Children's Award)

Booktalk #8

This is the third of the Harry Potter books and the best one so far. In the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry gets a big sign at the beginning of the year that he might not make it home for the summer. Srange things start happening at Hogwarts more than usual. This year Voldemort is on the return and Harry finds out a secret about Azkaban and his family. Will Harry figure out what's going on in time or will he not see the end of the year? Find out and read this wonderful book of magic, fun, and danger.  (Matthew, student, Musselman Middle School. Bunker Hill, WV dbjenkin@access.k12.wv.us)

Booktalk #9

I think this book was the best book she has written yet. It has a great opening pretty good ending.  If you want to read a book that is enjoyable interesting and exciting. This a book for you. I think if you want to find the secrets of harry Potter read this book.  (Erik, middle school student Hadonfield, NJ)

SUBJECTS:      Fantasy
                         Witches -- Fiction
                         Wizards -- Fiction
                         Schools -- Fiction

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