Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Scholastic, 2005 [0-439-78454-9]
As he turns 17 Harry and the gang enter their 6th year at Hogwarts. In this book we learn much of the early history of Voldemort through a system of Dumbledore gathering people's memories so that he and Harry can experience. In between that, Harry and his friends are growing up and are having the relationship struggles of early teens. Early in this 652 page book, Harry needs to borrow a used copy of the Potions text book and gets one that has a lot of handwritten notes in it, signed by "The Half-Blood Prince." As you probably know by now, a significant character dies in this book. I will not ruin it by telling you who (although someone did tell me.) After such a long time between books, I was worried about not being able to get into the story and characters again, but Rowling starts out the book reminding the reader of previous happenings in an easy and not over-done way. The climax scene is a visual and heart-wrenching experience for the reader. What I say here, will not influence whether you buy the book, but I also encourage you to read this series since you can be sure your students will be reading it.