Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: J K Rowlings

Genre: Fantasy/Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 2003

Pages in Book: 766 pages

Reading Level: 9-12 years

Summary: This is the fifth of the Harry Potter series. In this book, Harry’s cousin is attacked by Dementors. He is forced to use magic to fight them off, and because of this it gets Harry in trouble. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic refuses to admit that Voldemort has returned. Professor Umbridge comes to Hogwarts and begins teaching the new Defense Against the Dark Arts. She single handedly begins taking down the school. Rules after rules are created, and it comes to a point where pretty much everything is against the rules. Harry, Hermione, and Ron find a secret room that allows them to practice their magic. Harry begins teaching his followers magic tricks, because it’s at the point now where they need it to survive. Harry goes into the Ministry of Magic’s building to find the record of prophecy. They are caught, and Harry and Voldemort begin fighting. His uncle Sirius Black dies in the attempt to save his godson.

Reaction: Honestly, this was my least favorite book of all the Harry Potter series. I thought that the entire book was very dreary, and boring. There wasn’t a happy part in the entire thing, and it seems like everything just went downhill from that point on. Harry lost his only last family member that was alive, and it almost seems as if that was his last chance at help. Overall, I wasn’t very impressed with this book.

Recommendation: I’d only recommend this book, because after reading the following two books, you need to know what goes on in this book to understand the following ones. If you’re really into these types of books, then I think those people would enjoy the books more than I did.

Potential Problems/Conflicts: I just thought that the books were very dreary and boring. Nothing that happened was happy, and it seems that everything went from bad to worse. I just wasn’t impressed with the book. There was a lot of death, and it just got sadder and sadder as you continued reading.