Number of pages in each of the Harry Potter books

Number of pages in each of
the Harry Potter books
The
The
The
The Order The
The
The
Sorcerer's Chamber Prisoner
Haff-Biood Deathly
Goblet of the
Stone
of Secrets ofAzitaban of Fire Phoenix Prince
Hailows
6
SCHOLASTIC NEWS / MAY 7 & 14, 2007
aitlin McAfee lives in a
quiet neigyiborhood in
Springfield, Missouri.
But at the stroke of midnight
on July 21, she'll be soaking
up the bright lights of New
York City.
The 16-year-old will be in
the Big Apple to celebrate the
release of Harry Potter and
the Deathly HaUows. That's the
seventh and final book in the Harry
Potter series.
"I've lived with Harry for eight
years," says Kaitlin. "He has really
become a friend to me. I figure we
should go out with a bang."
Kaitlin is just one of millions of
kids worldwide who have grown up
with Harry Potter. For the past decade, they've read book after book,
following Harry's every move as he
solves the mysteries of Hogwarts
with his pals, Ron and Hermione.
The series has been one of the biggest publishing phenomenons. Sales
of the Harry Potter books have set
records. Hany Potter and the HalfBlood Prince, the sixth Harry Potter
book, was the fastest-selling book in
history. Nearly 7 million copies were
phenomenonE (feh-nom-uh-non) tu>un.
Something veiy unusual and remarkable.
ROUGH
E YEARS
1998
has been almost 10 ye
nee readers were firsi
itroduced to Harry Pot
l i s lifiu^ )iii(' .s'lfiw.s t h e •
each b<
UC series.
1999
2OOO
sold in the
first 24 hours
it was on sale. Also,
the first five Harry Potter books
have been turned into blockbuster
movies. The fifth movie, Han~n Potter arid (he Order of the Phoenix,
will hit movie screens July 13 (See
From the Page to the Big Screen,
page 9).
Most important, the books have
turned a generation of kids into avid
readers. Reading experts say that
the Harry Potter series has helped
make kids want to keep gobbling up
books.
Soon, the moment, of truth will airive. J. K. Rowling will reveal Harry
Potter's fate when her final Harry
Potter book hits bookshelves this
summer. While kids everywhere
await its arrival, Schol.asfic News
talked to kids nationwide about what
Harry has meant to them.
Wild About Harry
KaitUn says she has a soft spot for
Harry Potter books because of the
bond they've created between her
and her 80-year-old grandfather. He
introduced her to the books when
she was 8.
"He sat, me
down on the couch
one day and just started reading to
me," she says. "We got through the
first book, then came the second,
then the third, then the fourth. It was
a lot of nights spent reading together
Through Harry, I really have become
closer to my granddad."
Harry has gotten Michael Byrne
through some tough times. Michael
also began reading the books when he
was 8. At the time, he was undergoing
chemotherapy after being diagnosed
with bone cancer.
"Harry has to go through a lot of
bad things, but he's still positive and
doesn't let them overcome him," says
the eighth-grader from Corona, California. "It gave me strengt:h. It helped
me think positive."
Now that the countdown to the
release of the final book has begun,
Michael is rereading the first six novels. He's looking for clues that will
help him figure out how it all ends.
Thomas Staley says he's pulling
for Harry to defeat Lord Voidemort.
Over the years, the fifth-grader says,
he has grown attached to the Potter
d i a g n o s e : (dyp-iilig-nohss) verb. To determine what
disoaw a pci-son has or wiial tlie cause ot"a iirtiblr '
Ortter
of the Phoenix
sales hit 5 million
copies In 24 hours.
SCHOLASTIC NEWS / MAY 7 & 14, 2007
7
characters, especially to Harry.
"Harry, for me, is an ideal main
chiiracter," says the 11-year-old from
Hingham, Massachusetts. "He has his
fame, but he's so humble. He's brave.
He's very adventurous. He likes to
help the other people around him.
He's not perfect. He's real."
Harry's Legacy
In an age when young people are
plugged into video games, iPods, and
the Internet. Hany has turned millions
of kids into bookworms. In all, more
than 325 millicm Harry Potter books
have been sold worldwide. The books
have been translated into at least 64
languages.
"It's wonderful that Harry Potter
has encouraged so tnany children
to get hooked on books," says Linda
Gambrell, President of the Internalioiial Reading Association. "They're
spetiding titoir free time reading. Once
kids get engaged in Hany Potter, they
are highly motivated to read other
books."
In a recent study done by Scholastic Inc., Harry Potter's U.S. publisher,
three out of four Hairy Potter readers
reported that they have become more
interested in reading other books.
8
SGHOLASTIC NEWS /MAY 7 & 14, 2007
Thomas is one of those kids. "Now,
that I've read the Harry Potter books,
I want to feel that same excitement
about other books," he says. "I keep
taking out hooks from the library. I
keep reading and reading."
Kiishna Patel, 11, of Florida, says
the Harry Potter books have had the
same effect on her. "I can't wait to see
all the other surprises waiting in [other] books."
Although the Harry Potter series
will soon come to an end, the books
will not be forgotten. Harry's tale will
be read by generations to come.
As for Kaitlin, she'll be forever grateful to J. K. Rowling and a lovable boy
wizard named Harry.
"It's so crazy how one series of
books can shape your life," she says.
"Because of J. K. Rowling and Harry
Potter, I want to be a writer. They've ii\spired me to create my own stories."
What is your favorite genre
C/ahn-ruh), or type, of book?
Is it fiction or.nonfiction?
Mysteries or scieticefiction?All
are great. Explain your choice.
[
The plot is the story line of any
story. Plot involves four main
buiiding biocks: Conflict—or
the main character's probiem;
Development—detaiis about the
confiict; Ciimax—what happens
to resoive the probiem; and
Resoiution—or how the story
ends. Build your own piot beiow.
Use a separate sheet of paper if
you need to. Tiien, use your piot
to write your own short story!
1. Conflict—
2 . Development—
3. Climax—
4. Resolution—
engaged: (en-ga^d) adjective. Being busy and
L
occi5»ied with something or doing something.