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There is really only one flaw in the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: It is not a kids' book.
Hit the pause button on your panic response, however, if you are one of the multitudes of parents who stood in line to get the hefty tome for your little darlings on Friday night. Save the book so you can read it. The Half-Blood Prince is also a fine if slow-paced novel for the over-12 crowd who can handle the death of a beloved main character (whose identity will not be revealed here), pregnant women being abandoned and the word "slut." Not to mention the reality of teen hormones as expressed by references to "hooking up" and "snogging."
Little kids, entranced by the early Harry Potter novels set in that magical world of wands, wise wizards and dragons, truly need to grow into the later titles of the Harry Potter series.
It has clearly evolved from a charming tale of a mistreated orphan making his way through the world's coolest boarding school to the serious saga of a knight going forth to battle evil in the fascinating form of Lord Voldemort.
Mercifully, in Book 6, Harry Potter, now 16, is over the most trying age. In the magical world, teenagers become full-fledged adults at 17. And almost all the adolescent angst of the fifth book has vanished. Indeed, the reader is periodically startled by the mature Harry dealing on equal terms with former authority figures such as the Minister of Magic.
The sixth installment offers both familiar pleasures and new ones. The old gang returns: Ron and Ginny Weasley; Hermione Granger; odious Draco Malfoy; and of course, the Hogwarts staff.
What keeps the series vital, however, is Rowling's undeniable ability to create memorable characters for each book. Her newest addition: Professor Horace Slughorn. This corpulent, clever, comfort-craving old charmball is a brilliant, very British social climber.
A former Hogwarts teacher, he deliberately gathered around him all the most promising students, including Harry's mother. Determined to remain retired, he is lured back to Hogwarts by Dumbledore, who cleverly tempts him with the opportunity to add Harry, now known as "the Chosen One," to the "Slug Club."
Free of the frantic, hurried, loping pace of the overwrought fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, this sixth installment is clearly a setup for the final book. Until the rip-roaring conclusion, the Half-Blood plot emerges from Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore. This instruction consists of using the memory device, the Pensieve, to uncover Lord Voldemort's past when he was known as Tom Riddle, a charismatic, handsome and mysterious orphan at Hogwarts.
In the climax of Book 6, Rowling layers in all the dramatic eternals: betrayal, revenge, death, love, hate, loyalty and sacrifice. OK, this reader thinks these elements are a bit grim for young readers but, hey, I can't wait for Book 7.
*Sales records tumble, 5D
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