Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Harry Potter, Book 2

There's a little diversity at Hogwarts. Lee Jordan is described as having dreadlocks, and the Indian Patil twins are in Gryffindor house. Some diverse family structures are described: Harry lives with his aunt and uncle and Neville with his grandmother. Harry and Ron bond over growing up with second-hand clothes and wishing they had more money. Ron's insecurity over being from a poorer family comes up a lot. Women have prominent roles at Hogwarts: Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout are both heads of houses. There are two girls on the Gryffindor quidditch team. There's only one large-size character who isn't a bad guy, and that's Hagrid. Lots of negative language around the size of Dudley and his father and Malfoy's Slytherin friends Crabbe and Goyle.

Kids are in peril often, but at the hand of fantasy creatures most of the time: giant spiders and an angry tree attack, and a basilisk (giant serpent) has Medusa-like abilities, nearly killing characters and putting them in a rigid, comatose state -- it also chases Harry. Harry falls from his broom and breaks his arm, then bones in his arm are magically and mistakenly removed. A house elf punishes himself by hitting his head repeatedly. In a practice wizards' duel, a (small) snake threatens a student. A spell backfires and Ron coughs up slugs. Two main characters almost die in the book's climax. Two fathers have a fistfight. A party for ghosts makes light of many ghosts who had been beheaded and can take off their heads for sport. Mentions of Harry's parents dying in a magical attack when he was a baby. Harry is routinely treated poorly and threatened by his aunt and uncle.

A mention that Percy Weasley's younger sister Ginny catches him kissing his girlfriend.

Hermione is called a "mudblood" by Draco, an offensive term in the Potter world meaning "dirty blood," for being part wizard and part muggle.

Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you're flying through the Potter books faster than a Quidditch seeker because kids have been begging, note that after Book 2, the series gets more complex and scarier, and a break between Book 2 and Book 3 may be warranted, especially if you're doing a read-aloud party with siblings of different ages. Harry Potter Age-by-Age Guide as well as details in individual reviews will help you decide. Also of note: this one is tough on kids who are afraid of monsters like giant snakes and spiders. Both attack school kids in tense scenes. Some kids (and a cat) end up in a coma-like state, and two students nearly die in the book's climax. There are also a lot of ghosts, but they are often more silly than scary. Something not in the movie (that otherwise sticks very close to the source material) is Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party, where decapitated ghosts throw their heads around for sport. Main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded for their bravery, but after quite a bit of rule breaking. The story is full of positive messages about friendship and that our choices show what we truly are more than our abilities and backgrounds. This book is also available in an illustrated edition with art by Jim Kay.