Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by J K Rowling

Interest age: 10+
Reading age: 10+

Published by Bloomsbury, 2014

Adventure
Coming-of-age
Fantasy

About this book

There is much heartache for Harry as he tries to complete the task left to him by Dumbledore and find the Horcruxes containing pieces of Voldemort's soul. His quest results in a terrifying denouement, which will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Rowling depicts a relatively gritty parallel world, with a recognisably teenage hero, some flawed characters and where the people who die - and there are several - really are gone forever.

About the author

J K Rowling has written fiction since she was a child, and she always wanted to be an author. Her parents loved reading and their house in Chepstow was full of books. In fact, J K Rowling wrote her first ‘book’ at the age of six – a story about a rabbit called Rabbit. She studied French and Classics at Exeter University, then moved to Edinburgh – via London and Portugal. In 2000 she was awarded an OBE for services to children’s literature.

The idea for Harry Potter occurred to her on the train from Manchester to London, where she says Harry Potter ‘just strolled into my head fully formed’, and by the time she had arrived at King’s Cross, many of the characters had taken shape. During the next five years she outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was first published in 1997.