A Review of The Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Introduction: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Background: The story focuses on Harry Potter, a student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione on their quest to defeat Voldemort. In the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry finds out that an escaped prisoner named Sirius Black is the man who betrayed Harry’s parents, Black’s friends, and revealed where they were hiding to Voldemort, who eventually murdered them. Thesis statement: Harry and his friends set out to catch Black after Harry finds out he is his godfather, but it is revealed that a man named Pettigrew, another friend of Harry’s parents, betrayed them, and framed Black for the incident.

Topic sentence: This book’s genre is fantasy and mystery, though more fantasy than the latter. Evidence & citing: Fantasy stories usually include magic, things that are purely fiction, and a conflict of good versus evil. This book includes all three of those characteristics. Commentary: Magic being the main one, the majority of the characters are wizards or witches and are able to perform magic. The second characteristic, fictionalized elements, are also common in this book. For example, one of the main creatures featured is a Hippogriff, which is a fictional animal with the front half of an eagle and the second half of a horse.

Topic sentence: Many people read this genre of books, and it’s one of my favorite genres. Evidence & citing: The main reason I like fantasy novels so much is because they transport you to another world and another life, where you can be a whole new person. Commentary: Fantasy books create a new world where our laws, cultures, ways of life, etc. don’t apply; they offer an escape from reality and I think that that’s an aspect every fictional story should have. Evidence & citing: Another reason I generally read fantasy is because most of the stories have something really cool in them, like magic or dragons, or people who can transform themselves into any appearance.

Topic sentence: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is honestly one of the best books I have ever read and is definitely one of my favorites so far. Evidence & citing: I would rate this book a 10/10 because I really enjoyed the storyline, the new characters introduced, the mystery that takes place in this particular story, and J.K. Rowling’s writing style. In my opinion, the two books that preceded this one weren’t as good - I couldn’t really get into them as well as this one. Evidence & citing: I especially enjoyed the new characters, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Lupin is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year, and is also one of Harry’s parents’ friends. He and Harry quickly form a bond much closer than that of just a teacher and student, and it was pretty cool to read about from Harry’s perspective. Sirius Black was believed to be a murderer and was in prison at Azkaban for twelve years, when in reality he was framed and is a nice guy who wanted revenge on Pettigrew for what he did to two of his best friends. Commentary: The mystery in this story is figuring out who Black really is and what events actually transpired. I really liked being able to read through it and piece it together - even though I already knew what happened because of the movie. Evidence & citing: Finally, the last thing that made me really enjoy this book is J.K. Rowling’s writing style. Commentary: I really liked how she does commentary from Lee Jordan at the Quidditch matches, the way she writes Harry’s thoughts and the way he thinks, and how she brings back characters from the past, like Black and Lupin.

Conclusion paragraph: I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about magic, fictional creatures, and anything that helps them escape from the real world. I think anyone who read and liked the A Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin, The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, or The Lord of the Rings series, also by J. R. R. Tolkien would very much enjoy this book. All of the books have things in common - some type of magic, mythical creatures, like dragons, and an escape from reality.

Works Cited

• CHARACTERISTICS OF FANTASY AND FUTURISTIC FICTION. www.wcpss.net/cms/lib/NC01911451/Centricity/Domain/3924/Fantasy-Science Fiction versus Fantasy.doc.