Wait, did he ever leave? In the nine years since the last book was published, I’ve read the complete series aloud (twice), watched the movies (at least once), celebrated a Potter-themed Halloween, sent Larrabee to WEST’s Hogwarts camp, and enjoyed Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Harry Potter Festival.

But now there is a new book: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The script of the play that just opened in London. Published on Harry’s birthday (July 31). And it picks up the story where we left it at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Wow!

Larrabee and I have been on a reading binge for the last few days. We just finished the book and handed it over to Blaine.

I don’t want to include any spoilers since this book is just out, so I’ll keep my comments brief.

The story is good. And it’s a pleasure to revisit some of the settings and characters from the Harry Potter books. I recommend it!

But reading a play is a different experience than reading a novel. It’s particularly tricky to read aloud. At the beginning, Larrabee had to read along so that he’d understand who was speaking. And he found it confusing to follow a story revealed almost entirely through dialogue. We eventually got used to it, though. We learned the characters well enough to distinguish them and lost ourselves in the story.

Parents should also know that this story has the darkness of the later books. And if your child isn’t familiar with the earlier Harry Potter books, this book is not the place to start. In fact, anyone who hasn’t been immersed in the wizarding world in recent years will want to brush up on his or her Harry Potter before diving into this book.

I’d love to see the play some day. For now, I’m looking forward to our summer trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood!