From the Publisher
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,
by J.K. Rowling, the fifth in the bestselling series has been
scheduled for release on Saturday, June 21, 2003.
"We are thrilled to announce
the publication date. Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix is absolutely superb and will delight all J.K.
Rowling's fans. She has written a brilliant and utterly
compelling new adventure, which begins with the words:
"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.... The only
person left outside was a teenage boy who was lying flat on
his back in a flowerbed outside number four.
"Later in the novel, J.K.
Rowling writes:
"Dumbledore lowered his hands
and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. 'It is
time,' he said 'for me to tell you what I should have told you
five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you
everything.'
-Barbara Marcus, President of
Scholastic Children's Books in the United States, and Nigel
Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing in Britain
Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix is over 255,000 words compared with over 191,000
words in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The new
book is 38 chapters long, one more than Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire.