
By J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)
Book #2 in the Harry Potter series
A warning, a diary, and petrified students. Is Harry the heir of Slytherin?
Harry Potter's return to Hogwarts is marred by a dire warning from Dobby, a house-elf. As students turn to stone, suspicion falls on Harry as the heir of Slytherin. With Ron and Hermione, he must unravel the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. Facing a pompous new professor, a haunted bathroom, and a magical diary, Harry discovers he can speak Parseltongue, a trait linked to dark wizards. As danger looms, can Harry clear his name and save Hogwarts from an ancient threat?
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the summer after Harry’s first year at Hogwarts has been his worst summer ever… the Dursleys more distant and horrible than ever before. But just as he’s packing his bags to return to school, a creature named Dobby the house-elf announces that if Harry goes back to Hogwarts, disaster will strike. And it turns out, Dobby is right. Harry and Ron miss the Hogwarts Express, so they fly to school in a blue Ford Anglia, crash landing in the notorious Whomping Willow. Soon other worries accumulate: the outrageously stuck-up new professor Gilderoy Lockhart; a ghost named Moaning Myrtle, who haunts the girls’ bathroom; the strange behavior of Ron’s little sister, Ginny Weasley; rumors about the “Chamber of Secrets,” a cavern buried deep below Hogwarts; and a magical diary owned by Tom Riddle, a Hogwarts student of long ago. Harry is also shocked to discover that he can speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes - a rare ability that Lord Voldemort also possessed - and that anti-Muggle prejudice exists in the Wizarding world, even affecting Harry’s friend Hermione. But all of these seem like minor concerns when someone starts turning Hogwarts students to stone: an evildoer said to be the fearsome Heir of Salazar Slytherin, on of the founders of the school. Could it be Draco Malfoy, Harry’s most poisonous rival? Could it be Hagrid whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one person everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself?
Rowling had her first experience of writers block when writing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "I was worried that it wouldn't live up to readers' expectations--I'd heard that your second novel is the hardest to write." Rowling had delivered her second manuscript to the publisher just two weeks after her first book was published, but since she wasn't pleased with it, she asked the publisher (Bloomsbury) for it back and worked on it for another six weeks.
As of 2012, 77 million copies had been sold worldwide.
Deborah Loudon from The Times said Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be “re-read into adulthood” and said “the ingredients of Rowling's success are traditional - strong plots, engaging characters, excellent jokes and a moral message which flows naturally from the story.” The book also reached the top of The New York Times Bestselling List in 1999 in 1999.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was first published in the United Kingdom on July 2, 1998 by Bloomsbury. The book was published in the United States on June 2, 1999 by Scholastic Inc.
Sparknotes has a great summary.
Rated PG, run time of 2h 41min, and a rating of 7.4/10 on IMDb (where you can also find a trailer and cast information. Here's a review of the video game!
7.0
out of 7
“The adventure continues! This second book in the Harry Potter series begins to introduce slightly more depth and themes of self-introspection. It's just as much fun as the first, and readers can enjoy this book knowing they still have five more to go!”
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