Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that time) the seventh highest-grossing film ever and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based on "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews. On Harry Potter's twelfth birthday, the Dursley family—Harry's uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley—hold a dinner party for a potential client of Vernon's drill-manufacturing company. Harry is not invited, but is content to spend the evening quietly in his bedroom, although he is confused why his school friends have not sent cards or presents. However, when he goes to his room, a house-elf named
Harry Potter her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name because she has no middle name. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all "Harry Potter" books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997. It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998