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Thirteen-year-old Nita, tormented by a gang of bullies because she won't fight back, finds the help she needs in a library book on wizardry which guides her into another dimension.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
sandstone78 For the socially awkward girls who come into their own and fight against evil
50
sandstone78 The particular blend of science fiction, fantasy, and modern day life, the personal and the epic, feels similar in both of these series and universes to me.
aulsmith Kids discover very interesting books in the library
Member Reviews
I finally decided to listen to the audio version because I already knew I'd enjoyed the narrator's voice in other works. She did justice to it. SYWTBAW is one book that I think is a must-read for adolescents. It is much stronger and better written than HP. Again, I was totally entranced by the final battle in Central Park. Powerful. Worthy themes.
I genuinely enjoyed this YA fantasy novel and, frankly, wished that I had read it years ago. There are so many tropes and images here that later writers seem to have picked up, yet this wonderful adventure not only predates them all, I would venture to say that it does many things better than its descendants.
Like much of children's fantasy fiction, this book involves wizards, wands, talking creatures, even a handy bit of time manipulation, among other familiar ideas, but there is much here that still feels fresh even more than a quarter century after the book was first published. The main characters, Nita and Kit, are eminently relatable -- they come from ordinary families with ordinary problems and neither has a secret closet full of show more gold, a convenient wizened old expert in the field, or anything similarly unlikely to make life easier. Magic itself, in this book, is not easy, as these two young folks discover once they are elbow deep in it.
What is more, there is a crucial awareness of sacrifice in the novel, which grows stronger as the story progresses; those who have lightly dismissed fantasy literature as "merely escapist" should read all the way to the end here, as Nita and Kit each lose, and gain, and lose again as they not only learn their chosen field of magic, but save the world on their first outing. Not a simple task, and Duane does not allow it to be such; each time the reader thinks that the problem has been solved, there is more to come. That makes for good, compelling reading.
There is a certain melancholy tone to the book that may not sit well with some readers, but for others that undercurrent of sadness will ring true with the realism (and, yes, I know I am describing a fantasy) of the novel's characters and atmosphere. All in all, I was so well pleased with this opening installment that I started the next book immediately -- and that is a recommendation in itself. show less
Like much of children's fantasy fiction, this book involves wizards, wands, talking creatures, even a handy bit of time manipulation, among other familiar ideas, but there is much here that still feels fresh even more than a quarter century after the book was first published. The main characters, Nita and Kit, are eminently relatable -- they come from ordinary families with ordinary problems and neither has a secret closet full of show more gold, a convenient wizened old expert in the field, or anything similarly unlikely to make life easier. Magic itself, in this book, is not easy, as these two young folks discover once they are elbow deep in it.
What is more, there is a crucial awareness of sacrifice in the novel, which grows stronger as the story progresses; those who have lightly dismissed fantasy literature as "merely escapist" should read all the way to the end here, as Nita and Kit each lose, and gain, and lose again as they not only learn their chosen field of magic, but save the world on their first outing. Not a simple task, and Duane does not allow it to be such; each time the reader thinks that the problem has been solved, there is more to come. That makes for good, compelling reading.
There is a certain melancholy tone to the book that may not sit well with some readers, but for others that undercurrent of sadness will ring true with the realism (and, yes, I know I am describing a fantasy) of the novel's characters and atmosphere. All in all, I was so well pleased with this opening installment that I started the next book immediately -- and that is a recommendation in itself. show less
This was one of my favorite books of all time when I was a kid, so it's pretty impossible for me to give this an unbiased review. I read it first when I was pretty young (elementary school aged, for sure) and read it at least once more (though probably several times) in my childhood. It's a very science-influenced fantasy story with a nice twinge of darkness that really captured my young imagination, and though I may have been blinded by nostalgia, it actually held up pretty well in my re-read now as a 24-year-old. This book will forever be a 5-star read for me.
Nita Callahan, perennial geek on the bad side of the school bully, runs across an unusual book while hiding in the children's section of the town library: So You Want to be a Wizard. She thinks it's a joke until she starts learning real magic (or rather, wizardry) from it. But it's not all fun and games when Nita and fellow wizard Kit accidentally end up in an alternate universe that's not at all friendly to humans.
Duane's fantasy (with a sci-fi twist) is a joy to read and only gets better as the series goes on. What other system of magic uses terminology like temporal-spacial claudication instead of magic door? The writing is clean and crisp, the worldbuilding is fantastic, and the characters are wonderful and come in ever-expanding show more varieties. This series is a yearly-reread. show less
Duane's fantasy (with a sci-fi twist) is a joy to read and only gets better as the series goes on. What other system of magic uses terminology like temporal-spacial claudication instead of magic door? The writing is clean and crisp, the worldbuilding is fantastic, and the characters are wonderful and come in ever-expanding show more varieties. This series is a yearly-reread. show less
This is one of my all time favorite series, hands down. I first read this book (in audio cassette form) back when I was about the same age as the main characters. The concepts and story are engaging and wonderfully described, and the book is scary, funny, and insightful in turn. I love the characters, who after so long are very vividly alive in my head, and dont think I will ever get tired of this book. This series is absolutely worth checking out.
Note on the Millennium edition ebook; I thought the updates and changes made to the series made sense, but it was weird to read a book I know so well with changes in. There were quite a few typos in my copy as well, which I found a bit annoying. Happy to finally have these books available on show more my kindle though, and hope the updates make the books more relatable to a new generation of readers. show less
Note on the Millennium edition ebook; I thought the updates and changes made to the series made sense, but it was weird to read a book I know so well with changes in. There were quite a few typos in my copy as well, which I found a bit annoying. Happy to finally have these books available on show more my kindle though, and hope the updates make the books more relatable to a new generation of readers. show less
Oh boy what a wonderful, rich, refreshing read! I'm sad I didn't encounter this book as a kid--I really think it would have blown me away. As it was, I was sucked into the world almost immediately, and really enjoyed spending time in it- the magic was just this like delightful thing that wraps you up and really makes you feel like comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on what is happening. And the way that Duane makes tone happen is a really delightful part of this book--like I said, I was so sucked in and so delighted by the world and the characters, and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series!
Gorgeous, as usual. I've read this (the original edition) probably a dozen times over the years. I just got and read the New Millennium Edition - Diane Duane updated the tech and events (which I think was kind of silly - it'll only get outdated again) and reorganized the timeline over the first few books (OK, that one makes sense, if there were problems). The story itself hasn't changed - the same great concepts, interesting characters, exciting crisis, and weird choices (talk about saving the universe(s)!). I noticed very few changes - I doubt the bike computer was digital in 1983, Kit looked at the World Trade Center instead of the in-process Freedom Tower, and the comment near the end used to be "Call me" rather than "Text me" (but show more then he went ahead and called anyway, so Dairine knew about it). Few and minor changes, the story remains superb, and the timeline should make more sense (though I can't say I noticed any oddities before). And I was crying at several points, as usual, and laughing at some others. I do love Kit and Nita... show less
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ThingScore 100
So You Want to Be a Wizard leaves the reader satisfied with the adventure's conclusion but wanting to know more about the system of magic, the other wizards, and the alternate universes. This is a book to be enjoyed by readers of any age.
added by Nevov
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YA Girl learns magic and talks to a tree in Name that Book (July 2018)
Boy finds magic book, Girl has macbook with whole apple (no bite mark) in Name that Book (March 2017)
Author Information
135+ Works 35,838 Members
Author Diane Duane was born in New York City on May 18, 1952, and grew up in Roosevelt, Long Island. She is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Duane studied nursing in college and became a psychiatric nurse. She began writing full time in 1980 and has published numerous novels, including several with her husband, Peter Morwood. She show more also writes screenplays, served as senior writer for the BBC-TV education series "Science Challenge," and writes scripts for CD-ROM computer games. Her "Young Wizards" series won a special commendation in the Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize in Children's Literature, 2003. She currently lives in County Wicklow, Ireland. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Diane Duane is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Awards and Honors
Series
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- So You Want to be a Wizard
- Original title
- So You Want to be a Wizard
- Original publication date
- 1983; 2011
- People/Characters
- Nita Callahan; Kit Rodriguez; Betty Callahan; Dairine Callahan; Harold Edward Callahan; Khairelikoblepharehglukumeilichephreidosd'enagouni (Fred, an intelligent white hole) (show all 13); the Eldest; the Lone One; the Lotus Esprit; Macchu Picchu (Peach); Ponch; Carl Romeo; Tom Swale
- Important places
- Dark Manhattan (alternate universe); Hempstead, New York, USA; Manhattan, New York, New York, USA; Nassau County, New York, USA; New York, USA; New York, New York, USA (show all 7); Long Island, New York, USA
- Epigraph
- By necessity every book must have at least one flaw; a misprint, a missing page, one imperfection.... the Rabbis... point out that even in the holiest of books, the scroll resting inside the Ark, the Name of Names is inscribe... (show all)d in code so that no one might say it out loud, and chance to pronounce properly the Word that once divided the waters from the waters and the day from the night.... As it is, some books, nearly perfect, are known to become transparent when opened under the influence of the proper constellation, when the full moon rests in place. Then it is not uncommon for a man to become lost in a single letter, or to hear a voice rise up from the silent page; and then only one imperfect letter, one missing page, can bring him back to the land where a book, once opened, may still be closed, can permit him to pull up the covers around his head and smile once before he falls asleep.
—Midrashim, by Howard Schwartz
I have been a word in a book.
—"The Song of Taliesin" in The Black Book of Caemarthen - Dedication
- For Sam's friend
Once again,
for Sam’s friend - First words
- "Part of the problem," Nita thought as she tore desperately down Rose Avenue, "is that I just can't keep my mouth shut."
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The wizard threw her pillow at her sister, got up, and went to breakfast.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- So You Want to Be a Wizard (20th): Twentieth-Anniversary Edition has an additional short story, Uptown Local. Please do not combine with the unmarked editions.
So You Want to Be a Wizard: New Millennium Edition is a re... (show all)vised text so that current tech is not too different to that in later books.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, Kids, Tween, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .D84915 .S — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
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- Reviews
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- Rating
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- ISBNs
- 29
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- ASINs
- 17