So You Want to Be a Wizard: The First Book in the Young Wizards Series

By Diane Duane

Book Overview

A mysterious library book opens the door to a world of magic and danger in the first book in the beloved Young Wizards series. Bullied by her classmates, Nita Callahan is miserable at school. So when... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015216250X
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 2.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Stephen King without the potty mouth.

Yep, it is pretty much the “Dark Tower” all over again. Impossible, menacing objects and cliffhangers with solutions come out of the air at the last moment to keep from painting the hero and heroine into an inescapable corner. The neighborhood girl gang is targeting thirteen-year-old Nita. They intend to beat the snot out of her. In the process of evading her fate, she ducks into the library b-a-s-e-m-e-n-t. Minding her own business and pawing through the books, one snags her. You guessed it; the title is “So You Want to Be a Wizard.” Naturally, young wizards can out wiz, out-think, and outrun the bad guys (maybe), in this first book of a series.

Great book!

When 13-year-old Nita has to escape from some bullies, she retreats to her home away from home - the public library. While examining the shelves one book literally seems to grab her hand; its title is SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD. Intrigued by such a title she checks the book out, and finds that it is indeed an introductory book to wizardry. However, this new knowledge presents Nita with a good deal of responsibilities. Finding another new wizard in the form of 11-year-old Kit, the two set out an adventure that takes them to an alternate Earth, teams them with a creature of most unearthly form and abilities, and pits them against an evil godling and all his hellish minions. Can they win, and what will be the cost? Though this book is listed as a juvenile book, its story is rich enough to entertain just about any reader. There is very little humor in this book; the action is serious and non-stop. This is a great book, with no sex or anything else a parent need worry about. I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

So You Want A Great Read?

This is THE Wizardry book -- Diane was doing Young Wizards way before JK Rowling even thought of ol' HP, and Diane does it better. Nita is a loner, an outsider, a smart, lonely bookworm who gets snagged by the Powers That Be to be a Wizard -- we're not talking cutesy punny-spells ala' HP, we're talking a real Wizard, one who vows to protect & serve Life. Nita doesn't leave the "real" world behind; she's now one of those vowed to protect it from the Lone Power (who invented Death). These books are great mind-stretching, thinking reads, without ever becoming preachy. I fell in love with this book while in high school, and now I'm 37 years old and still eagerly waiting for Diane to write more of the series.

This is one of the best books I've ever read!

I have read almost every fantasy and sci-fi book that I can find and this was one of the best. It's about a girl named Nita (Juanita) who's having a hard time at school and takes refuge in the library to avoid getting clobbered. There she finds a book titled 'so you want to be a wizard' that tells her about her potential to be a one. She thinks it's all a joke but she reads it anyway. Nita, a hispanic boy named Kit, and a white hole named Fred that they picked up try to open a world gate to get Nita's pen back and have their plans go horribly wrong. Flung into a different dimension for fiddling with the world gate they have to battle the Lone Power and his oddly deranged machines to escape. I'm in 7th grade and I have lent this book to all my friends and even the ones who don't like to read love it. If you like fantasy and/or science fiction then this is definetly the book to read.