11 Million Copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Sold in First Nine Weeks

    NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scholastic announced today
 that since the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince nine weeks
 ago, Harry Potter fans have purchased more than 11 million copies of the U.S.
 edition of J.K. Rowling's sixth book in the phenomenally popular series.
 Following its release at midnight on July 16th, the book sold a record-
 breaking 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours. Harry Potter and the Half-
 Blood Prince has been widely praised by reviewers and has been #1 on both
 adults' and children's bestseller lists nationwide.
     The release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also boosted sales
 of the first five Harry Potter titles, both hardcover and paperback, which
 climbed back onto national bestseller lists. Together with Harry Potter and
 the Half-Blood Prince, the books occupied six out of 10 positions on the
 Barnes & Noble, Borders and Bookscan bestseller lists. Additionally Harry
 Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel rose
 to #6 on the USA Today bestseller list during the week of July 28, as more new
 readers came to the series.
     "We are thrilled that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince not only
 continues to break publishing records in terms of sales, but more importantly
 has received phenomenal reviews. It is clearly a modern classic," said Lisa
 Holton, President, Scholastic Children's Trade Books.
     In The New York Times review, Michiko Kakutani wrote: "The achievement of
 the Harry Potter books is the same as that of great classics of children's
 literature, from the Oz novels to 'The Lord of the Rings': the creation of a
 richly imagined and utterly singular world as detailed, as improbable and as
 mortal as our own." And according to a four-star review in People, "This book
 is the most intense -- and absorbing -- yet."
     Author J.K. Rowling and Illustrator Mary GrandPre have been nominated for
 a Quills Award for best children's chapter book/middle grade for Harry Potter
 and the Half-Blood Prince. The Quills Awards, the first national book awards
 program in which the readers, not the critics, choose the year's best books,
 will be announced on October 11, 2005.
     Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the follow-up book to J.K.
 Rowling's #1 bestsellers Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter
 and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry
 Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
 In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling provides fans with the
 sinister Lord Voldemort's back-story and ties up various plot lines. Readers
 know what Harry needs to do next and are left with a keen sense of
 anticipation for the seventh and final book in the series.
     There are over 116.5 million copies of the U.S. edition of the first six
 Harry Potter books in print. Each of the books has been a #1 bestseller and
 continues to remain on bestseller lists.
 
     Scholastic Corporation (Nasdaq:   SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and
 distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology.
 Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products
 for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines,
 technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film,
 videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a
 variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-
 based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs;
 retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's
 Internet site, http://www.scholastic.com.
 
 

SOURCE  Scholastic Corporation