Synopsis: 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?

Review: I am so late reading the Harry Potter series, and I am really only discovering this amazing world J.K. has created for the very first time. And it’s mindblowing.

Prisoner of Azkaban is a bit darker than it’s predecessors, Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets. Readers really feel like we’re starting to delve deeper into the dark side of Hogwarts and we also uncover more of the history as well.

Harry is back for his third year at Hogwarts when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, and is after Harry.

The reason these books are so fantastic is that you think you know something, and then towards the end J.K. Rowling pulls out a M. Night Shyamalan on us all with the twist endings! And they are the best sorts of endings too.

Now that these books are getting quite involved, there’s not too much I can say that wouldn’t spoil the book for the two people in the universe that are still yet to read this book. I will say however, that it’s no surprise this series has received the acclaim that it has… it’s phenomenal.

Rating: 5 out of 5