Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Just from the visual presentation of the first page of the latest Harry Potter book you can tell this volume is written for an older reader. The paragraphs are longer and the page if filled with print. Like it's protagonist, J. K. Rowling's writing style is maturing over the course of the series.

As The Half-Blood Prince opens, it is apparent that Harry has grown beyond the teen angst he displayed in Order of the Phoenix. The weight of the prophecy that declared him "the chosen one" is settling about his shoulders. It is a weight that will be all but unbearable by the end of this book when Harry suffers another tragic loss and understands path of his future.

The Half-Blood Prince may have the least action of all the Potter books. Except for the compelling closing chapters, this is not a book of doing. It is a book of discovery. Harry explores the the one power that Dumbledore says is greater than any magic. It is the power that shaped the lives of Harry, Voldemort, and the Half-blood Prince. It is the power that saved Harry's life and linked his destiny to Voldemort's. It is the power of love.

Rowling managed to surprise me on every front, except for the ultimate couplings revealed in this book. The identity of the Half-blood Prince and even the promised demise of a major character were gut-wrenching and are sure to cause distress in younger readers. The book ends at the darkest moment in the story arc. We know that life for Harry, and the form of the final book will not be the same. But, even in the darkness, Rowling ignites a spark of hope.

I, like millions of readers around the world, will be both overjoyed and deeply saddened when the last book is published.

— KB SHAW, Publisher, Spectrum - Member SCBWI