Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
ISBN: 043935806X

Other Books in Series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Plot Summary: When Harry Potter goes back for his fifth year at Hogwarts, he finds the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, gradually taking over the school as per the instructions of her real employer, the Ministry of Magic. Meanwhile, his godfather, Sirius Black, introduces him to the Order of the Phoenix, a band of magical rebels dedicated to defeating Voldemort and his followers. In the same spirit, Harry forms Dumbledore's Army among like-minded peers at Hogwarts, banding together to drive out the tyrannical Umbridge after she takes over Dumbledore's position as Headmaster. Harry's involvement in both of these groups, combined with his other problems, push him almost to the breaking point, and although he makes it through his various ordeals, victory will not come without a strong measure of personal tragedy.


Critical Evaluation: This is the longest, most complicated, and arguably darkest of the Harry Potter books, and presents the main character at his most difficult: angry, impulsive, conflicted, lashing out at those around him. However, the fact that J.K. Rowling is willing to let her "hero" be unlikeable lends the book an air of realism, as many reader's Harry's age will identify with his awkward sense of self. Although most of them will not have dealt with problems on the magnitude of Harry's, they will surely relate to his feelings, and will cheer him on as he fights back against the forces trying to take over his world.
Reader's Annotation: Harry Potter has his work cut out for him: trouble at home, romance at school, Professor Umbridge trying to take over Hogwarts, and as if that weren't enough, Voldemort and his followers are back. Harry may get through this year at Hogwarts, but it and he will never be the same.

About the Author: J. K. Rowling was born in Yate, Gloucestershire, England in 1965, the elder of two daughters. She first started writing short stories as a child, reading them to her younger sister, and drew her inspiration for many of her future stories and characters from those in her daily life. She earned a B.A. in French and Classics at the University of Exeter and studied in Paris for a year, after which she got a job as a researcher and administrative assistant for Amnesty International. After her mother's death from Multiple Sclerosis, Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English as a Second Language, where she met her first husband. She moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, with her daughter after her divorce, where she wrote her first Harry Potter book while on welfare and studying for a teaching license. She continued teaching until the books were a success, after which she received writer's grants and was able to pursue her writing career full-time. She married her current husband, Neil Michael Murray, in 2001 and has two children with him. She currently lives in Edinburgh with her husband and children, and is active in various philanthropic causes in addition to her writing.

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: None

Booktalking Ideas:

Hook: Marietta betrays Dumbledore's Army, but Cho defends her to Harry. This sours their relationship.
Approach: Plot and character-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Pressures on Marietta: mother works for the Ministry, organization is outlawed. Is Hermione's punishment for talking - permanent boils spelling out "SNEAK" on the tattler's face - justified, or too harsh? Harry and Cho's disagreement drives them apart - who is right? Is one of them being too harsh or too lenient, and why?

Hook: After Harry talks back to Umbridge in class, she makes him write "I Must Not Tell Lies" over and over - in his own blood.
Approach: Scene-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Umbridge's saccharine, pink, fluffy-kitten persona is never more at odds with her actual behavior than in this scene. Could a teacher get away with this kind of punishment at a real school in the present day? Ask students if they have had an unfair form of punishment, and whether or not they were able to do anything about it or the teacher suffered any consequences as a result. Doesn't hurt Harry, but does leave a scar, both physically and mentally, and ends up turning him even more against Umbridge. Counter-productive to give harsh punishment, then, as it does not teach the intended lessons.

Hook: "Caps-Lock Harry": always angry, always screaming at people, constantly upset about what is going on in his life.
Approach: Character-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: When Harry gets mad at people in this book, do they usually deserve it? Why or why not? Does he have a right to feel and behave the way he does, or is he overreacting. Discuss how it feels to be dealing with issues like the ones Harry faces, and how it feels to be his age. Do people tell him off for his behavior, and if not, why not? Do they manage to get their point across, whether they do or not? Discuss individual scenes and characters in relation to Harry's anger, and how his explosions are dealt with by himself and others.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Middle/High school

Challenge Issues: Violence, disrespect for authority, witchcraft, character death. Harry is frequently disrespectful to his family, friends, and authority figures at Hogwarts, although not always without cause. His home life is highly dysfunctional, and Dolores Umbridge, for all that she is an authority figure, abuses that authority in frequently sadistic ways. Harry is at a difficult age, but he is dealing with unusually difficult problems as well, so his occasional lack of perfection is understandable. This book is not the first in the series to kill off one of the characters, but the character who dies is close to Harry, and Harry feels the loss strongly. Children and teens who have experienced loss in their lives will appreciate the chance to "feel along" with Harry as he copes with grief.
As for the issue of witchcraft, it is worth noting that the characters in the Harry Potter books celebrate Christian holidays, even as they exhibit and develop powers which many Christians condemn. The members of the various underground organizations in Order of the Phoenix are also not entirely unlike early Christians, who were persecuted for their faith. The book neither celebrates nor condemns any organized religion, preferring to focus on the morality and ethics of various characters' actions, and how this affects the quality of their lives and those around them.

Why I Chose This Book: Of all the Harry Potter books, this was the one which disturbed me the most profoundly, even as an adult reader. It is in many aspects a "difficult" book to deal with, from its sheer length to its dark vision of the abuse of authority, its unsympathetic portrayal of the protagonist, and the murder of one of the main characters in the series. To me, it represents J.K. Rowling's willingness to "push the envelope" when it came to expanding, deepening and developing the magical world she created in the first books.