Harry Potter series until
How is the choice?
I didn't start reading the Harry Potter series until "Goblet of Fire" was published - just in time to endure the monster wait for "Order of the Phoenix". I tore through the first four books with utter delight. After hearing the ridiculous amount of controversy surrounding these works, I was prepared for shoddy writing and nefarious, subversive pseud-literature. Obviously, I found neither."Order of the Phoenix" is indeed darker than its predecessors. This book isn't intended for five year olds, and I see no reason why good children's literature full of suspense, magic and a bit of thrill shouldn't be available. Thank goodness J.K. Rowling seems to agree. The regular cast of lovable characters are back, in the midst of pubescent angst, and dealing with an evil sorceror to boot. Harry's life is never dull.At 800 plus pages, this is one of the more involved children's books around, though the reading isn't difficult for young adults. I definitely would not recommend this book, or any in the series, to very young children as there are more advanced themes that many parents may not feel to be suitable. Obviously, informed parents would want to read the book first anyway.Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cho...all of them are growing up. The fact that their characters develop a broader emotional range is indicative of this fact. I certainly remember myself at 15. Everything that was good at all was absolutely wonderful, and anything not completely in my favor spelled the end of the world. In Harry's case, these extremes could very well be accurate, which is one of the reasons these books hold so much more magic than any wand from Olivander's could summon.J.K. Rowling's imagination runs wild, as it always does. Her warm sense of humor intertwines with sometimes scary subject matter and creates a truly unique story line. Hopefully, the wait for the next installment will be shorter. Hopefully, the attentive reader will realize that "Order of the Phoenix" is not a stand alone work, and that it needs to be measured, finally, by not only what came before it, but by what will come after it. 