Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanAuthor: J.K Rowling
Series: Harry Potter
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Children/ Young Adult
Format: Book - Personal Collection
From Goodreads: 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.
What I thought: Given it took me less than a day to read Chamber of Secrets what else could I do but move straight onto the Prisoner of Azkaban!
A lot of people say the next book is where the series started to get dark and that is true, but there are shades of it in this one. A dangerous, murderous prisoner, haunted houses, attempts on Harry's life. Suddenly it's not so light and fluffy any more! Azkaban may possibly be my favourite book in the series for it's cross over nature. I still class it as a children's rather than a YA read, but the line is getting thinner.
Recommended for: everyone! A true classic
Challenges: 100+ Challenge. I’m not adding this to my YA challenges as I feel it’s not really a YA book, more a children’s.