Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 3 – THE INVITATION
First Paragraph:By the time Harry arrived in the kitchen, the three Dursleys were already seated around the table. None of them looked up as he entered or sat down. Uncle Vernon’s large red face was hidden behind the morning’s Daily Mail, and Aunt Petunia was cutting a grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 20 THE FIRST TASK
First Paragraph: Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. When he’d finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 19 THE HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL
First Paragraph: The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. The […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 18 THE WEIGHING OF THE WANDS
First Paragraph: When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of his own four-poster, intending to talk to Ron, to force Ron to believe […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 17 THE FOUR CHAMPIONS
First Paragraph: Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard correctly. Esteemed Reader, I must say this up front: I adore J.K. Rowling. Of course I do. I admire great middle grade writers every […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 16 THE GOBLET OF FIRE
First Paragraph(s): I don’t believe it!” Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. “Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!” “For heaven’s sake, Ron, he’s only a Quidditch player,” said Hermione. “Only a Quidditch player?” Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn’t believe his […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 15 BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG
First Paragraph: Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully formed in his mind, as though his sleeping brain had been working on it all night. He got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room. Here he took a piece of […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 14 THE UNFORGIVABLE CURSES
First Paragraph: The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions. Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 13 MAD-EYE MOODY
First Paragraph: The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined their new course schedules at breakfast. A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of aging […]
Middle Grade Ninja: NINJA BOOK CLUB: Chapter 12: THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
First Paragraph: Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the […]