Which I thought was wonderful, by the way. I only hope that the US publishers don't Americanize it for you readers across the pond because I think there's an eerie English/Scottish/Welsh countryside atmosphere that permeates this novel and adds to the overall experience. So, apparently there is some juice left in British YA after all, I'd begun to assume JKR had drained that one dry. A story of nature vs nurture, outsiders, family and prophecy. The story of a boy who was never given a chance. And no one will ever know if that kid was always his father's son or if the other people in his life made him that way. And people nod their heads and say 'See! I told you so'. It makes him exactly what everyone expected him to be. It makes him lash out and get into fights and become something of a delinquent. And it makes him angry that people constantly expect the worst of him.

Everyone has their eye on that kid his whole life, expecting him to become just like his father, watching for his first mistake. you know the kid I'm talking about? The one who has that dad? Well, everyone expects he'll turn out just the same. maybe he drank a lot, got into fights, ended up in prison.

Then there's that one kid (or more) who had a dad who was known for causing trouble. Do you know a story that goes something like this > There's a poor family consisting of a mother and her bunch of kids, each one from a different father.

Half blood sally green