145caitlin10's Blog

You stopped reading Harry Potter at the fourth book? Why did you do that? Go finish that book  and don’t come back until you have. Oh, so you’ve finished the fourth? Go read the fifth. Now. I’m waiting for you. I’ve got all the time in the world.

Man these people have no idea what they’re doing. They are missing out on one of the best books of all time. Yes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don’t care if you’ve seen the movie. I don’t care if you’ve read the back of the book and have a basic idea of what it’s about. If you’ve read it, go grab it and get back here, and do it quickly. I can’t wait for just you forever.

Good, you’re back. Didn’t you love it? This book is captivating, and it grabs you in the gut from the minute you start.

The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing; the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flower bed outside number four.

Brilliant, and that’s only the first paragraph. If that wasn’t beautiful writing to you, you obviously need to read that again until you realize how amazing this writing is. Who is this teenage boy you ask? Superman? Nope. The ball boy for the Boston Celtics? Not even a smidge close (where do you get ball boy from lying in a flower bed?). Harry Potter? Thank you. Someone is good at guessing. Now let’s get to the book.

 Harry Potter’s fifth year at Hogwarts is approaching, and there’s a lot on his mind. Well, I don’t blame him. He’s got his O.W.L. tests (Ordinary Wizarding Level) that he has to study for, but how can he do that with a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who’s like eating a toads insides?! There’s also a surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but I don’t want to spoil ANYTHING about that. But most importantly, You-Know-Who is getting stronger and stronger, and for Harry, that means he’s in more danger than anybody else.

Then there’s the dream. The haunting, silent dream. The door. The door at the end of the silent hall. The door that’s haunting Harry. Will he ever figure out what that door is, or what it means? Why is he dreaming about this door? I mean, sure it could be any regular door that could be hiding a juggling bear for Harry’s birthday, but do you really think that’s what it is? A juggling bear, possibly in a bow tie? I don’t think so either. And no, it’s not a juggling elephant. Anyways, you should pay attention to this dream, it’s very important to the climax of this story. 

Every single character is three-dimensional. Even minor characters, like Aunt Petunia, isn’t just there. She has a personality. It’s perfectly clear that Aunt Petunia doesn’t like Harry at all. Harry is probably the character who changes the most. There are points in this book where Harry is blowing up at someone (“YOU’VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN’T YOU? YOU’VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I’VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSELY’S FOR A MONTH! AND I’VE HANDLEDMORE THAN YOU TWO’VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT!” p. 65) and then there are some points where he’s very calm and trying to make everything right (“Look, let’s not talk about that right now…Let’s talk about something else…” p.561). That’s one of the things I like about Harry-he’s not perfect. In usual stories, the main character usually does nothing wrong and is some goody-two-shoes student who aces every single test and has never gotten in trouble and always does everything perfectly. Harry, on the other hand, has gotten in trouble more than several times and does almost nothing perfectly. Another character I think is unique is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in this book. I can’t get to in-depth about her without spoiling, so let me put her to you this way-she’s terrible, mean and awful squashed together in her own special way. And just when you think she can’t get any more horrible, she does. That’s what I love about the characters. And no, there are no juggling animals in Harry Potter. I’m sorry to disappoint you.

The writing in this book (like I’ve said in the introduction) is breathtaking. My absolute favorite Harry Potter book. I mean, read this: The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic clinking noises. Tiny puffs of pale green smoke that thickened and coiled in the air…A serpents head grew out of the end of it, opening its mouth wide (p. 470). Can’t you picture that perfectly? The writing is obviously so carefully done. There is nothing in this book that isn’t important to either the story or Harry’s life. There are multiple covers to this book, and I like them all. Below is the American cover.

Of course, there are some other ones, like my favorite the one below.

That bird is a phoenix. Order of the Phoenix. I like that cover the best because I think it’s beautiful. The phoenix on the front matches up so well with the flames behind it, and I like the pink-ish clouds behind it. There are also cool illustrations at the top of the page. My favorite is a drawing of Dobby the house elf wearing multiple hats upon his head (p. 374). It makes me laugh.

The ending. Oh the ending. How can I do this? Let me just say, wow. It was almost satisfying, but I can’t exactly tell you why, because it would spoil, and that;s the last thing I want to do is SPOIL. Once you read the ending of this-I’m just going to stop there. I’m afraid to do this. You don’t want me spoiling, do you? I didn’t think so. So let me leave it at that and move on.

This book is for EVERYBODY. And I mean everybody. Girls, boys, old people, young people, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, moms , dads, sisters, brothers and YOU, mister I’m-not-going-to-read-Harry-Potter-five! Go read this book. I mean it.

To read a review from Betsy Bird on this remarkably brilliant story, click here. This book was featured in her list of the Top 100 Children’s Books of all time at number 38, and it’s predecessor, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is at number 35. Just a little sidenote.