Stories and reviews written by Richard Burnett.

Saturday, July 8th, was the day all Harry Potter fans were waiting for. Information about the fourth book in the series had been kept pretty much of a secret.  Bookstores had to sign agreements with the publisher not to sell the book before that date.  There was so much anticipation, that the books had to be pre-ordered to insure that copy would be available for purchase on the day of release.  Even further, buyers were so eager to get their hands on a copy, many bookstores opened at midnight, so that at one minute after 12:00, they could sell the books to long lines of waiting fans. 

My closest bookstore, at Jamestown Mall, luckily, didn’t open until 8 o’clock Saturday morning, so I got a good night’s sleep.  I did get up early and found a line at the mall entrance by 7:30.  While waiting, I talked to some kids and their parents and took a few pictures.  Phil Meier, age nine, of Atonement Lutheran Elementary School, was familiar with all three of the previous Harry Potter books.  He said he also had read some Goosebumps and some Animorphs books, but liked Harry Potter best.  Phil guessed it would take “about three weeks” to get through the new one. 

Mitchell Ryals, a fourth grader, also of Atonement Lutheran Elementary School, said he liked the Harry Potter books because they had “a lot of comedy in them” and “at the end there was usually a scary part.”  Mrs. Ryals, Mitchell’s mom, said they had read the previous books together and were looking forward to the new one.

Tifffany Tocco, a seventh grader from Hazelwood Junior High, said she hadn’t liked the Goosebumps books.  She indicated it was “the Harry Potter books that really got me into reading.” She said they read the first two in class but that she had read the third one on her own.  She liked the way one book sets you up for the next one. 

Once inside the mall, we found an even longer line in front of the bookstore. Those unlucky persons who had not pre-ordered the fourth Harry Potter book were turned away during this early buying surge.  Those who did pre-order received a set of small pennants featuring Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, the four houses that make up Hogwarts Wizard School.  They also received a certificate naming them as honorary students at Hogwarts that was signed by Albus Dumbledore, the school’s headmaster.  Finally, they were allowed to select a finger puppet from a basket with a wide selection of miniature puppets. Then everybody went home to tackle the long-anticipated 734 page book titled Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
 
 

I bought my copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire early on Saturday morning and had finished it by mid-morning on Tuesday – all 734 pages of it!  In order to do that, I had to put aside all other reading except a quick scanning of the morning newspapers.  My reaction on finishing?  Well, I’m a grown-up and the books aren’t really written for people like me. Besides, I was reading it because I had to write about it for Young Saint Louis.com, so it was a little like a homework assignment.  Still, I was glad I read it. 

Since I have read all three of the previous Harry Potter books, I can honestly say that if you enjoyed the first ones, you will really enjoy the new one.  It is an unusually long book.  However, if you are fully into the Hogwarts atmosphere and all the complications that result from Harry’s being targeted by Lord Voldemort, the most cunning and evil of all sorcerers, the book doesn’t seem overly long. 

There are plenty of smaller crises that involve Harry and his close friends, Ron and Hermione, before the major confrontation between Harry and Lord Voldemort.  You have heard rumors that somebody dies in this fourth book.  Well, somebody does, but not until very near the end of the book.  It was one of the good guys and it was a hero’s death.  But you have to read the book to find out who it was. 

In this volume, Harry is now fourteen years old and his increasing maturity and self-confidence is starting to show through more than in the earlier books.  He is still shy and struggling to overcome his fear of girls, especially pretty ones.  Hermione is also growing up, and she resents that boys so often only admire girls’ looks and don’t appreciate their brains.  So it’s not all goblins, and ghosts, and wizards.  It’s really about people. 

I have one piece of advice.  If you haven’t read book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, do not read this new and lengthy book until you have read the earlier one. Otherwise, book four doesn’t make a lot of sense.  The good news is that the first book is out in paperback or is now readily available in the local public library.  It is also a lot shorter. 
 
 

Shiloh Season  is a paperback book about Marty Preston, a sixth grader, who lives in Friendly, West Virginia, and his dog, Shiloh.  It is the second book in a series of three books, the first one of which was just called Shiloh.  If you read the first one, which has been very popular in recent years, you already know what to expect in the second book.  But, if you haven’t read Shiloh, the author brings you right up to date quickly, so that Shiloh Season stands on its own legs. 

Shiloh Season has all the elements of a good “boy and his dog” book.  The dog is a great companion and helps the boy deal with the small problems that come up in everyday living.  Still, the dog has problems too that only the boy can help him deal with.  The central problem for the dog is his terrible fear of his former owner, a man who abused Shiloh and continues to abuse other hunting dogs that he owns.  Shiloh doesn’t even want to go on the road that leads to the man’s property.  Unfortunately, the man is a fairly close neighbor. 

This little book is only 120 pages and sells for just $2.99.  The author is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and the publisher is Aladdin Paperbacks.
 
 

Most of us learned that it was Isabel and her husband, Ferdinand, who as queen and king of Spain, provided the money for Christopher Columbus to take his voyage in 1492 and “discover” America.  Some of us were also taught that it was Isabel, the Queen, who was the one who believed in Columbus and in his contention that the world was round and not flat. She was willing to risk her jewels in order to finance his risky adventure.

The small hardback book titled Isabel, Jewel of Castilla, is the fictional diary of a young Isabel.  We learn that as a teen-aged princess, she was promised in marriage to different rulers in order to secure support for her brother, who was the King of Castilla, one of the Spanish kingdoms.  She loved Fernando, the young prince of Aragon, another Spanish kingdom.  Her diary tells of the intrigue and dangers Isabel had to endure before she finally was able to marry the prince she loved.  Their marriage eventually brought about the uniting of Castilla and Aragon into a powerful new kingdom, Spain. 

For readers who like to see history brought to life in the details of actual figures’ day-to-day living, books in The Royal Diaries series are just what they are looking for.  Isabel, Jewel of Castilla was written by Carolyn Meyer, published by Scholastic, Inc. with a 2000 copyright, sells for $10.95, and has 204 pages. 
 
 

Just as Isabel, Jewel of Castilla is a fairly “heavy” book for girls to read, so is Antarctica, Escape from Disaster fairly heavy reading for boys.  The book deals with an effort to be the first to reach the South Pole on the part of a ship load of adventurers in 1910.  The ship gets stuck in the polar ice and is finally crushed to pieces.  The real objective, then, is to survive and find a way to get back home.  The obstacles are overwhelming – bitterly cold weather, a food shortage, companions going mad, cracking ice underfoot, unpredictable storms when trying to sail out once water is reached, killer whales, and hungry leopard seals. 

Scenes in the book reminded me of scenes from the movie, The Perfect Storm, which I had just seen a few days before reading Antarctica, Escape from Disaster.  The book would have its greatest appeal to a boy interested in sailing ships and sea adventures.  The reader has to be able to cope with page after page of description of men’s fighting to simply stay alive and often failing in the attempt.

The novel is a 251 page paperback published by Scholastic, Inc., authored by Peter Lerangis, copyright 2000, and costing $4.50.  If you decide to read the book, I suggest you have warm clothes and food handy and a rope to tie yourself to the chair so you won’t wash away in the icy sea.