HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX is the phenomenal fifth installment of the amazing Harry Potter series. In this book, Harry has to deal with magical problems before he even gets back to Hogwarts. Tension between the different factions of wizards is growing exponentially and beginning to affect the lives of most of the characters. Coming into adolescence, Harry's personality is beginning to shift from innocent little boy to surly and angst-ridden teenager. Romance begins to play a bigger part in the social scene at Hogwarts as the characters mature. Scary becomes scarier as Harry and his friends face evil once again.

The main villain is, of course, You-Know-Who...but in this installment, a quite horrible woman, Professor Umbridge, plays the part perfectly. The reader can not help but HATE her character with every fiber of their being. There is no middle ground with Professor Umbridge, she is BAD. However, Harry is beginning to doubt himself as "The Harry Potter". Even his vision of his parents is shaken in this book.

Never preachy about good and evil, the book nevertheless makes it very obvious who we are rooting for. The story is exciting, a page-turner from beginning to end. Many flashlight batteries will be worn out reading this novel under the covers! No story spoilers, but the characters of Fred and George Weasley and the parts they play in this book provide some of the most satisfying and funny cheer-out-loud scenes in recent memory.