About the book

Author: Duane, Diane

Title: So you want to be a wizard.

Publication: San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1983. ISBN 9781449880378.

DAISY audio format narrated by Christina Moore. CELA library call number DA46572. 369 pages in the paper edition; 7 hrs., 24 mins. as a recorded book.

About the story

This is the first in an excellent series of books that follow the adventures of Nina (aged 13) and Kit, short for Christopher, who is a year younger. I read them first in the early 2000s, and found them delightful.

Set in New York, Nina finds a library book that becomes her guide into a new reality, where magic exists and is based on very complicated seies of calculations. She accepts increasingly difficult challenges and very serious responsibilities, she learns a lot and makes good friends of truly staggering diversity.

I have read several of these books, it’s a series I really love. They have only just been published on the CELA site and I heartily recommend them for people aged 12 and up who enjoy a good story and a very different way of looking at the world. If you know a teen or a sci-fi/fantasy lover, they will enjoy this all-ages series.

They all last in the 7-hour range, and the narrator (Christina Moore) is excellent.

This is the reading order (CELA provides these):

  1. So you want to be a wizard. Delacorte. 1983. CELA library DA46572. ISBN 0-15-204738-7.
  2. Deep wizardry. Delacorte. 1985. CELA libraryDA46325. ISBN 0-15-216257-7.
  3. High wizardry. Corgi. 1990. CELA library DA46395. ISBN 0-15-216244-5.
  4. A wizard abroad. Corgi. 1993. CELA library DA46630. ISBN 0-15-216238-0.

Reading order, continued, but not provided by CELA (yet). Note: You CAN request them, though! CELA is good that way.

  1. The wizard’s dilemma. Harcourt. 2001. ISBN 0-15-202551-0.
  2. A wizard alone. 2002. ISBN 0-15-204562-7.
  3. Wizard’s holiday. 2003. ISBN 0-15-204771-9.
  4. Wizards at war. 2005. ISBN 0-15-204772-7.
  5. A wizard of Mars. Harcourt. 2010. ISBN 0-15-205449-9.
  6. Interim errantry. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2015. ISBN 151868825X.
  7. Games wizards play. Harcourt. 2016. ISBN 054741806X.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They are very positive books, which encourage readers to consider very different worldviews.

Highly recommended for readers aged 12 and up (all the way up).