Until its tremendous climax with the death of Dumbledore, much of the sixth book in the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, seemed to be treading water: compulsive page-turner though it is, it does not advance the story in proportion to its length. That could never be said of this seventh and concluding volume, which brings the whole astonishing phenomenon of Harry Potter to a splendid close. The book is not in any sense free-standing; it depends on the reader’s prior knowledge of the entire series, and especially that flawed sixth book. But the quality of this final episode is extraordinary even by Rowling’s highest earlier standards. The pace, dexterity and ingenious showmanship of Rowling’s management of twists, turns, surprises, flashbacks, and mini-climax after mini-climax in this spellbinding story merit a job on the Hogwarts staff as Professor of Magical Yarnspinning.

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Nine adults tell their stories of having cancer as children and surviving. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, rhabdomyosarcoma, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, chondrosarcoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, and malignant brain tumour are discussed in some detail.

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You will remember that in David Almond’s Skellig, there was a man with wings who lived in the garage and ate insects: perhaps a tramp, perhaps an angel. In this story for younger readers, Dad believes he is a bird.

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Any bibliophile fortunate enough to live in this labyrinthine city will appreciate that there are at least as many stories as bricks in its two towns and modest spread of suburbs. This small book, dense with historical information, quotations from children’s fiction, photos, drawings and bold, simplified maps, does an excellent job of compressing at least a sample of these stories between its pages.

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