Rating: 
Summary: Emotional and insightful. Highly recommended!
Review: I read this book as an unabridged audiobook not realizing I was diving headfirst into a long running series. Despite my complete lack of knowledge about the previous five books events my enjoyment of the book wasn't lessoned by bouts of confusion which says a lot for the talent of the author. Yeah, there were a few gaps here and there but nothing I couldn't get past or figure out by continuing to read along.Kit Rodriquez is a young wizard (as I'm sure most of you know), who along with his talking dog Ponch, are attempting to figure out why it is taking so long for a potential wizard to complete his Ordeal (something that must be done, apparently, before he can become a full blown wizard). As they investigate and eventually enter the boys' mind, Kit learns that Darryl is autistic and witness shocking moments of violence upon the young defenseless boy that are perpetrated by The Lone Power. Both Kit and Ponch, especially, are shocked and determined to reach the boy, even if it means entering strange and dangerous worlds inside Darryl's mind. Kit's best friend and usual partner in wizardry, Nita, has her own set of troubles. The death of her beloved mother has sent her family members and herself into a deep depression. Dad and Nita's sister are having a difficult time getting out of bed and it's up to Nita to keep them moving through life. It's so easy and tempting to drown in sadness, as Nita acknowledges, but she's taken it upon herself to keep her remaining family intact. As if that weren't more than enough to bear, she's also been plagued by some very odd dreams involving clowns. Eventually her dreams get her involved with Kit's current dilemma with The Lone Power and Darryl. This book was great from beginning to end. The plot was interesting and it was a tremendously emotional read. Nita's grief and efforts to keep plodding through life with the glimmer that maybe someday things wouldn't hurt quite so much were written with realism. Even Ponch, the dog, has some surprisingly emotional revelations and reactions to the things he's seeing. Kit's a plucky young character who is easy to like but it's strong and insightful Nita's story that will stick with me for some time to come. There's also enough humor mixed in to prevent the story from becoming overly gloomy. I particularly enjoyed Ponce's take on things and Kit's interactions with a prickly DVD player and an antagonistic TV. I'm definitely going to locate the other books in the series to catch up on what I've missed.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional and insightful. Highly recommended!
Review: I read this book as an unabridged audiobook not realizing I was entering headfirst into a long running series. Despite my complete lack of knowledge about the previous five books events my enjoyment of the book wasn't lessoned by bouts of confusion which says a lot for the talent of the author. Yeah, there were a few gaps here and there but nothing I couldn't get past or figure out by continuing to read along. Kit Rodriquez is a young wizard (as I'm sure everyone but me already knows), who along with his talking dog Ponch, are attempting to figure out why it is taking so long for a potential wizard to complete his Ordeal (something that must be done, apparently, before he can become a full blown wizard). As they investigate and eventually enter the boys' mind, Kit learns that Darryl is autistic and witnesses shocking moments of violence upon the young defenseless boy that are perpetrated by The Lone Power. Both Kit and Ponch, especially, are shocked and determined to reach the boy, even if it means entering the strange and dangerous worlds inside Darryl's mind. Kit's best friend and usual partner in wizardry, Nita, has her own set of troubles. The death of her beloved mother has sent her family members and herself into a deep depression. Dad and Nita's sister are having a difficult time getting out of bed and it's up to Nita to keep them moving through life even if she has to resort to magic to do it. It's so easy and tempting to drown in sadness, as Nita acknowledges, but she's taken it upon herself to keep her remaining family intact. As if that weren't more than enough to bear, she's also been plagued by some very odd dreams involving clowns. Eventually her dreams get her involved with Kit's current dilemma with The Lone Power and Darryl. This book was great from beginning to end. The plot was interesting and it was a tremendously emotional read. Nita's grief and efforts to keep plodding through life with the glimmer that maybe someday things wouldn't hurt quite so much were written with realism. Even Ponch, the dog, has some surprisingly emotional revelations and reactions to the things he's seeing. Kit's a plucky young character who is easy to like but it's strong and insightful Nita's story that will stick with me for some time to come. There's also enough humor mixed in to prevent the story from becoming overly gloomy. I particularly enjoyed Ponch's take on things and Kit's interactions with a prickly DVD player and its antagonistic remote control. I'm definitely going to locate the other books in the series to catch up on what I've missed.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional and insightful. Highly recommended!
Review: I read this book as an unabridged audiobook not realizing I was entering headfirst into a long running series. Despite my complete lack of knowledge about the previous five books events my enjoyment of the book wasn't lessoned by bouts of confusion which says a lot for the talent of the author. Yeah, there were a few gaps here and there but nothing I couldn't get past or figure out by continuing to read along. Kit Rodriquez is a young wizard (as I'm sure everyone but me already knows), who along with his talking dog Ponch, are attempting to figure out why it is taking so long for a potential wizard to complete his Ordeal (something that must be done, apparently, before he can become a full blown wizard). As they investigate and eventually enter the boys' mind, Kit learns that Darryl is autistic and witnesses shocking moments of violence upon the young defenseless boy that are perpetrated by The Lone Power. Both Kit and Ponch, especially, are shocked and determined to reach the boy, even if it means entering the strange and dangerous worlds inside Darryl's mind. Kit's best friend and usual partner in wizardry, Nita, has her own set of troubles. The death of her beloved mother has sent her family members and herself into a deep depression. Dad and Nita's sister are having a difficult time getting out of bed and it's up to Nita to keep them moving through life even if she has to resort to magic to do it. It's so easy and tempting to drown in sadness, as Nita acknowledges, but she's taken it upon herself to keep her remaining family intact. As if that weren't more than enough to bear, she's also been plagued by some very odd dreams involving clowns. Eventually her dreams get her involved with Kit's current dilemma with The Lone Power and Darryl. This book was great from beginning to end. The plot was interesting and it was a tremendously emotional read. Nita's grief and efforts to keep plodding through life with the glimmer that maybe someday things wouldn't hurt quite so much were written with realism. Even Ponch, the dog, has some surprisingly emotional revelations and reactions to the things he's seeing. Kit's a plucky young character who is easy to like but it's strong and insightful Nita's story that will stick with me for some time to come. There's also enough humor mixed in to prevent the story from becoming overly gloomy. I particularly enjoyed Ponch's take on things and Kit's interactions with a prickly DVD player and its antagonistic remote control. I'm definitely going to locate the other books in the series to catch up on what I've missed.
Rating:
Summary: Young Wizards Alone
Review: In the previous book in the series, "A Wizard's Dilemma," the focus was on Nita (Juanita) Callahan, while Kit (Christopher) Rodriguez became more of a supporting character to Nita's activities. In this, the sixth book in the series, Diane Duane has Kit take the leading role with Nita initially more in the background. In the previous book Nita worked very hard to save her mother's life. Nita managed to prolong her mother's life as she fought cancer, but ultimately she succumbed. The opening of this book finds Nita morose and grieving, and Kit is temporarily without his partner. As it turns out magic has been rubbing off on Kit's dog Ponch, who has developed some interesting magical abilities of his own. Kit works to discover the extent of Ponch's powers and the meaning of Ponch's powers. While Kit is trying to figure out Ponch's powers he finds himself in the mind of Darryl, an autistic boy. Darryl's mind is a continually changing and often surrealistic landscape of themes and imagery, often confusing, always fascinating to Kit. Kit discovers that Darryl is in an intense and long-running battle with the Lone Power, a battle in which the Lone Power is extremely vicious and vindictive, for reasons that Kit will eventually need to discover. While Kit and Ponch are learning about Ponch's abilities and Darryl, Nita has strange and sometimes bizarre dreams. It takes some time for Nita and Kit to discover that Kit, Nita and Ponch are all interacting with Darryl. The trio eventually discovers that Darryl has the Lone Power under control, but Darryl need not keep battling the Lone Power and Kit and Nita can show Darryl how to end the battles. This book looks at autism from a very interesting and unique viewpoint, and describes the world as an autistic person might perceive it. Diane makes a very good attempt to describe a poorly understood condition, and the results make very good reading. While many of the books in this series stand alone, this book would suffer from the lack of background. At the very least I recommend reading the first book in the series, "So You Want to Be a Wizard," preferably the second book in the series, "Deep Wizardry," and the fifth book in the series, "A Wizard's Dilemma." However, I also recommended in my review of the latter book reading "A Wizard Abroad" prior to reading that book. The only book in this series that adds little background information is the third book, "High Wizardry."
Rating:
Summary: Young Wizards Alone
Review: In the previous book in the series, "A Wizard's Dilemma," the focus was on Nita (Juanita) Callahan, while Kit (Christopher) Rodriguez became more of a supporting character to Nita's activities. In this, the sixth book in the series, Diane Duane has Kit take the leading role with Nita initially more in the background. In the previous book Nita worked very hard to save her mother's life. Nita managed to prolong her mother's life as she fought cancer, but ultimately she succumbed. The opening of this book finds Nita morose and grieving, and Kit is temporarily without his partner. As it turns out magic has been rubbing off on Kit's dog Ponch, who has developed some interesting magical abilities of his own. Kit works to discover the extent of Ponch's powers and the meaning of Ponch's powers. While Kit is trying to figure out Ponch's powers he finds himself in the mind of Darryl, an autistic boy. Darryl's mind is a continually changing and often surrealistic landscape of themes and imagery, often confusing, always fascinating to Kit. Kit discovers that Darryl is in an intense and long-running battle with the Lone Power, a battle in which the Lone Power is extremely vicious and vindictive, for reasons that Kit will eventually need to discover. While Kit and Ponch are learning about Ponch's abilities and Darryl, Nita has strange and sometimes bizarre dreams. It takes some time for Nita and Kit to discover that Kit, Nita and Ponch are all interacting with Darryl. The trio eventually discovers that Darryl has the Lone Power under control, but Darryl need not keep battling the Lone Power and Kit and Nita can show Darryl how to end the battles. This book looks at autism from a very interesting and unique viewpoint, and describes the world as an autistic person might perceive it. Diane makes a very good attempt to describe a poorly understood condition, and the results make very good reading. While many of the books in this series stand alone, this book would suffer from the lack of background. At the very least I recommend reading the first book in the series, "So You Want to Be a Wizard," preferably the second book in the series, "Deep Wizardry," and the fifth book in the series, "A Wizard's Dilemma." However, I also recommended in my review of the latter book reading "A Wizard Abroad" prior to reading that book. The only book in this series that adds little background information is the third book, "High Wizardry."
Rating:
Summary: A Friendship Rebuilt
Review: Nita and Kit have been apart a lot after the death of Nita's mother. Nita is trying to deal with the loss of her mother while trying to hold the rest of the family together. She also begins to have strange dreams as someone or something seems to be trying to contact her. Kit is sent to check on a new young wizard who seems to be stuck in his Ordeal. The boy turns out to be autistic and a major target for the Lone Power. Kit is again joined by Ponch who is turning into quite a marvel. Kit and Nita's paths come together and their friendship reflourishes as they help Daryl and challenge the Lone Power once again. Some very good character development and realistic situations. I actually enjoyed this one more than the previous book. I am now looking forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: A Friendship Rebuilt
Review: Nita and Kit have been apart a lot after the death of Nita's mother. Nita is trying to deal with the loss of her mother while trying to hold the rest of the family together. She also begins to have strange dreams as someone or something seems to be trying to contact her. Kit is sent to check on a new young wizard who seems to be stuck in his Ordeal. The boy turns out to be autistic and a major target for the Lone Power. Kit is again joined by Ponch who is turning into quite a marvel. Kit and Nita's paths come together and their friendship reflourishes as they help Daryl and challenge the Lone Power once again. Some very good character development and realistic situations. I actually enjoyed this one more than the previous book. I am now looking forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Go ahead..read it!
Review: Okay, so I like this series. In this latest Young Wizards' novel, Nita is only partially through the process of recovering from her mother's untimely death from cancer. Her doubts about her own wizardry keep her from getting involved when her best friend and wizard partner, Kit, gets assigned to see what's holding up the Ordeal of a young autistic boy named Darryl. But it's pretty clear, soon, that Nita won't be able to stay on the sidelines as she forges a link of understanding with Darryl and Kit begins to get trapped in Darryl's internal world. This was a pretty good read. I really enjoyed getting to know Kit, in particular, better. Our main characters here are getting experienced with wizardry, so it may not seem quite as new or exciting. The real point of the book, however, is what's going on in the characters. How both Nita and Kit are handling their situations. What it's going to take to get Nita back in the saddle and engaged with the world again. I was slightly irritated that the Lone Power didn't get a little more credit here. (He can be a great baddie when he's written right.) I was also irritated that Kit got sent into a situation only Nita really had the skills to handle right. (Because of the way Kit gets into Darryl's world and the nature of Darryl's universe, Darryl starts warping him. Only Nita knows how to get through to Darryl in a way that won't hurt her.) Typical of Duane to underestimate Kit and always let Nita save the day somehow. But, overall, plenty of fun. And by now, you really care about the characters.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as always
Review: Read it in one day (not speedreading). Need I say more?
Rating:
Summary: Kit and Nita's next adventure is confusing to say the least
Review: The 6th book in the Young Wizards series is short but it doesn't disappoint. As Nita recovers from the death of her mother, Kit takes center stage in this thrilling book. Kit has never really been sent out on a mission, problems usually come to him. But when Tom and Carl, the local Senior Advisors, ask him if he wants to look for someone, he accepts it, thinking it to be no big deal. Unfortunately Kit finds that this particular person it very hard to find. Darryl is an autistic boy who has spent the past 3 months on his ordeal, a difficult process that usually only takes a few days. When Kit "finds" Darryl he finds out quickly that he's not really there. The only way to find him is, with the help of his dog Ponch, to enter Darryl's mind, a very dangerous place. Kit quickly finds out that the reason Darryl is having so much trouble has to do with the Lone Power itself. If only Kit could talk to him. At the same time, Nita, is recovering from the death of her mother. Her house is strangely quiet with just her wizard sister and her father to take care of them. As she tries to get back to normal life she finds her dreams are being haunted by some very strange creatures in deed, robots, clowns and knight. Nita has no idea why these creatures are in her dreams but she soon realizes that they need help, her help. And if she helps them, she might be able to help Kit. Wizard Alone is not only an exciting edition to the Young Wizards series but it has the most character development out of any of the books in the series. I won't give anything away but Kit and Nita, like in the last book, do spend a lot of time apart. That gives us a chance to look at their individual personalities more than ever before. Diane Duane does a wonderful job of facing things that we don't usually see in fantasy novels, such as autism. I actually know more about autism now than ever before from reading this. Ms. Duane also deals very well with Nita's recovery from her mother death. Most books tend to either have the characters wallow over the pain they feel with long passages involving weeping over the sight of their gravestone (such an overdone scene)! or just get over it far too quickly like it never happened. Ms. Duane does neither. She focuses more on the recovery than the pain and how it has changed Nita and her family. Although this book isn't quite as good as Wizards Dilemma, the best book in the series, it's still one of the better ones. It was great to see Kit as the main character for once. The book is also filled with some really great humor. You'll never look at an egg beater the same way again! I highly recommend to any fans of this series, pick up this book. It's really amazing. I can't wait until the 7th book, A Wizards Holiday, comes out in about a year. ...Dai Sitho!
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