Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is due to be sold in bookstores July 16. Over 7,000 books have been pre-ordered through Amazon.com, and the number is growing by the minute.

Many ordered their copy way back, months ago. Last year Borders sold 85 books in five minutes and I bet that record will be beaten. This year a national Harry Potter Party will be held in Illinois.

We know some people will stop at nothing to get their hands on the new book, literally. A man Aaron Lambert, 19 years old, stole two copies of Half Blood Prince,
and said, "It was very hard, they've even got foreign contract workers in there so the staff don't know what it's all about. The whole warehouse is on camera- I had to be
really careful. I planned it for weeks. They're doing everything they can to stop people getting hold of it. But they couldn't stop me!"

But they did. He demanded  50,000 pounds, the British currency, for a sneak preview of the book. Luckily the book was recovered, and author J.K. Rowling has put a court order on the men that says they are not allowed to "spill the beans" so to speak, until the release date, July 16.

I know that I, along with thousands of other eager children, will be waiting at midnight in bookstores to receive my copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.