Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) Library Binding – Large Print, April 1, 2000

Excellent audio book, especially since the narrator changes his voice to the characters' voices! Very entertaining!

I haven’t read this since I was a kid. So many details that I’d forgotten. I really enjoyed getting to revisit this!

Harry finally getting the truth about his parents death and Sirius black gutting his freedom harry got to connect with his parents best friend

Great read!!! I really enjoyed the book than the movie. The book gives way more details. The answered questions that left us wondering in the movie. Great book and author!!!

Now thirteen, Harry Potter heads into his third year at Hogwarts. Third year is a big step for Harry and friends; they get to choose electives, learn harder magic, and best of all, get to go to Hogsmeade on field trip weekends. As usual though, Harry's horrible Muggle aunt and uncle won't sign his permission form or even acknowledge his wizarding background; they tell people he's been sent to a reform school for dangerous criminal boys. Ha--if they only knew Harry's real school will be more dangerous and exciting than ever this year!J.K. Rowling has, what can I say, outdone herself. Prisoner of Azkaban gets off to a bang of a start, with Harry learning a convicted killer named Sirius Black is after him, having escaped from the notorious Azkaban. To his credit though, Harry isn't about to let a little thing like a serial killer ruin his big third year. He's got plans, such as winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor for the first time in years. But J.K. goes beyond the simple "avoid the crazed killer" plot. She adds well-timed and delicious details and subplots, such as Hagrid finally getting to teach Care of Magical Creatures, a secret that could land Hermione in the hospital wing all year (at minimum), and Harry's discovery of the Marauder's Map. Most authors would drop their Quaffles somewhere, but J.K. manages to keep all her plot threads tight and making sense.Harry Potter and friends, as well as some new characters, get some superb development here. As another reviewer noted, the Hogwarts kids are growing up, and it's obvious in the problems they face and how they respond to each other, as well as the people in their lives. Harry faces some traumatic truths about what happened to his mom and dad; Ron continues growing into his place at Hogwarts; and Hermione pulls off one of the most breath-stopping climaxes in the series so far. (I tend to agree with a fan who says every book should be called Harry Potter and the Time Hermione Did Absolutely Everything). Even the bad guys get a little more sympathetic. For example, I still hate Snape, but I had to admit he had a point when he complained about Harry getting special treatment and doing as he pleased. Maybe it's the adult/former teacher/Muggle in me, but I couldn't help feeling Snape got a bad deal--until the end, that is, when he turned right back into a first-class jerk.If I hate Snape, I have to say I love Lupin. He made Defense Against the Dark Arts fascinating for me and his students; I wanted to go to one of his classes. He's the kind of teacher I always wanted to be. I also identified with him based on his secrets and standing as an outcast. There are rumors floating around that J.K. wrote Lupin's affliction to stand in for HIV/AIDS. If she did, that's brilliant--it points us to the stigma faced by people with illnesses and disabilities, and encourages us to treat them with respect in a non-preachy way. Speaking of Lupin, I absolutely loved the subplot with him, his friends, and the Marauder's Map. The scene where the Map insults Snape is downright hilarious.Other favorite parts of note: As a cat-lover, I cheered for Hermione adopting a cat. The subplot with Hagrid and Buckbeak is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and triumphant--not an easy mix to pull off. I'm not into sports, but that Quidditch final had me loathe to put the book away. GO, GRYFFINDORS! And I do wonder what's going to happen between Harry and Cho Chang...kudos for picking a Ravenclaw girl, Harry. We're the best of the lot. :)Read it--you'll love it!

4.5 stars. This movie one of my favorites so the book was even better. It allowed me to understand the beginning of the next book. This book is when things really start to kick off and become darker and darker. I also forgot who actually gave Harry the Firebolt and who created the map!

I am so late to the "Harry Potter party," but I am reading these books with my teenage nephew - and loving them! This is the third book, and I do believe it was the best one so far...riveting, with good character development. It was easy to "buy in" to the story and truly feel the suspense and every other emotion of the characters. Great read!

“I solemnly sear that I am up to no good.” (ch. 10 pg. 192)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the Harry Potter series. It follows Harry and his friends through the excitement that is their third year at Hogwarts. In the start of the book, we find Harry doing his homework by flashlight under his bed sheets- as any proof of his time at that wizarding school is forbidden by the Drusley’s. It’s Harry’s birthday and for the first time in his life, he receives birthday cards and presents from his friends Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid. During a visit from Aunt Marge, Vernon and Harry make a deal, if he can keep Hogwarts a secret, Vernon will sign Harry’s permission slip to visit Hogsmead on the weekends. Unfortunately that goes out the window when Marge insults Harry’s family and he accidentally inflates her, whoops. The Knight Bus then picks up Harry after he leaves the house suddenly, but not after seeing something peculiar in the bushes…The main conflict of this novel is the fact that escaped prisoner Sirius Black is on the loose and dangerous. Dementors have made Hogwarts their home for the year and even made a little pit stop on the Hogwarts Express to make sure Sirius Black wasn’t aboard. While they didn’t find the prisoner on the train, they did find Harry, because of the sorrow and death he has already witnessed the dementors were drawn to him. The mysterious person (who we find out to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher) is at the ready to produce a Patronus charm, which is used to ward of dementors with a happy memory.The school year starts and the dementors are not respecting the boundaries that Dumbledore has put into place. They even disrupt a Quidditch match and send Harry flying off of his broom and his Nimbus 2000 into the Whomping Willow. Harry get used to his new classes and the frequent disappearance and reappearance of Hermione as she seems to be taking more class than any average witch or wizard can handle. Third year is when students start taking Divination and it’s not Harry’s favorite subject to say the least. Professor Trelawney often tells Harry he is in grave danger after finding the Grim in his cup, and she becomes overcome with a prophecy when they are alone in the classroom. "It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight... before midnight... the servant... will set out... to rejoin... his master..." (ch.16 pg.324)The story concludes with Harry, Ron and Hermione using Hermione’s Time Turner to not only save Hagrid’s friend Buckbeak, but also Harry’s innocent godfather Sirius Black, who has spent the last 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he did not commit. With the help of their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (who is also a werewolf!) Remus Lupin; Harry finds out more about his parents past and how their secret keeper and friend Peter Pettigrew betrayed them.This is easily my favorite Harry Potter book out of the seven. I’d give it ten out of five stars if I could. It introduced me to my favorite character of the series (Remus Lupin) and helped to continue the story of Harry Potter and helped Harry find out more about his parents before they died. He also was reconnected with his godfather and James’ best friend Sirius Black.“Mischief Managed” (Ch, 10 pg, 194)