Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J.K. Rowling. The first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday, when he receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes close friends and a few enemies during his first year at the school and with the help of his friends, he faces an attempted comeback of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just fifteen months old.

     The book was first published in the United Kingdom on June 26, 1997 by Bloomsbury. It was published in the United States the following year by Scholastic Corporation. It won most of the British book awards that were judged by children and other awards in the United States. The book reached the top of the New York Times list of best-selling fiction in August 1999 and stayed near the top of that list for much of 1999 and 2000. It has been translated into at least seventy-three languages and has been made into a feature-length film of the same name, as have all six of its sequels. The novel has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it the third best-selling novel of all time.

     Most reviews were very favorable, commenting on Rowling's imagination, humor, simple, direct style, and clever plot construction, although a few complained that the final chapters seemed rushed. The writing has been compared to that of Jane Austen, one of Rowling's favorite authors; Roald Dahl, whose works dominated children's stories before the appearance of Harry Potter; and the ancient Greek story-teller Homer. While some commentators thought the book looked backwards to Victorian and Edwardian boarding school stories, others thought it placed the genre firmly in the modern world by featuring contemporary ethical and social issues, as well as overcoming obstacles like bullies.

     Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by some religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft under the guise of a heroic, moral story. Other religious commentators have written that the book exemplifies important viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people's decisions shape their personalities. The series has been used as a source of object lessons in educational techniques, sociological analysis, and marketing.