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.
