Over the last twenty years, J. K. Rowling has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers around the world with her inimitable Harry Potter series, an adventurous tale of a young wizard’s coming of age. In the course of seven books, this epic fantasy saga tells the story of Harry Potter, a boy wizard at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Together with his friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, as well as other various modern-day wizards, witches, and Muggles, Harry fights an ongoing battle against Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard with an obsessive quest for power and immortality.

Edited by Lana A. Whited (English Professor and Director of the Boone Honors Program at Ferrum College) and M. Katherine Grimes (Associate English Professor and English Program Coordinator at Ferrum College). The newest addition to Salem Press’ acclaimed Critical Insights series, this volume provides sixteen insightful essays that dig deep at the heart of J. K. Rowling and her fantastical magnum opus, examining both author and work from a multitude of angles.

Critical Insights: The Harry Potter Series is a collection of essays by scholars, some of whom are established international specialists in such fields as children’s literature, fantasy, and even Harry Potter studies. Some are creative writers themselves. Others are more recent college graduates, some still in master’s and doctoral programs, who read J. K. Rowling’s famous series in their youth and are now taking their places among the dozens of other academics who have examined the Harry Potter series from hundreds of angles.

Each essay is 2,500 to 5,000 words in length, and all essays conclude with a list of "Works Cited," along with endnotes. 

Additional resources include:

• Chronology of J. K. Rowling's Life
• Works by J. K. Rowling
• Bibliography
• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Index