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".
Say
you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under the stairs of a
family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd, magical twist of fate you find
yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy owl, a phoenix-feather wand,
and jellybeans that come in every flavor, including strawberry, curry,
grass, and sardine. Not only that, but you discover that you are a wizard
yourself! This is exactly what happens to young Harry Potter in J.K.
Rowling's enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone
Harry
Potter is in terrible danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a
long summer with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop
the train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his
second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical flying
car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly vexed)
Whomping Willow. Still, all this seems like a day in the park compared to
what happens that fall within the haunted halls of Hogwarts.
For
most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for
our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle,
and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the
Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon
and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle
Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who
strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles),
Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig.
In
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling offers up equal parts
danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves, and
death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks
with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing enough to make his
lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his
godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the
season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make
Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the
Death Eaters--are out for murder.
As
the triumphant start of a trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring leaves you begging for more. By necessity, Peter Jackson's
ambitious epic compresses J.R.R. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the
Rings, but this robust adaptation maintains reverent allegiance to
Tolkien's creation, instantly qualifying as one of the greatest fantasy
films ever made.
