Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Fiction. Hardback from Scholastic Books. Published in 2005. Purchased at Meijer (who had the lowest price).

Book six in the series.

I had to let my daughter read this one first, since she was chomping at the bit to get to it. She finished it in one day, and I finished it the next day. (We didn't get much done those two days, but we had a good time!) My son just finished listening to the audio version on loan from the library. (Shame on J. K. Rowling, she won't let Audible sell the audio versions of Harry Potter, so we have to revert to getting it from the library.)

This series continues to get darker, the reading level growing with the age characters portrayed. My daughter went ahead and told me who the main character was who is killed, so I was prepared for it. Well, as prepared as one can be so see a favorite character dead and especially at the hands of the person who did the killing. (I'm trying not to spoil it in case someone hasn't read it yet, but it's not easy!)

Great book. Am looking forward to the final installment of this series and to anything else J. K. Rowling may write in the future.

Publisher's summary:
The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet...

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered six installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
from amazon.com, click here: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince