Rating: 
Summary: . . . And You Thought You Knew Manhattan . . .
Review: "So You Want To Be A Wizard" is the beginning of an exciting and tantalizing series where wizardry and life in the city are a little too close for comfort. Nita, an intelligent but physically unendowed 13-year-old, finds refuge in the kid's section of the library after a particularly bad beating by a group of school bullies - and finds a book that not only tells her that there *is* magic but how to get it, why to get it, and how to use it.Kit, a 12-year-old Hispanic boy with school troubles similar to hers, teams up with her in a wizardly Ordeal to gain their powers. Shifted "sideways" into an alternate Manhattan, they discover both their wizardly talents and find friends in each other. I originally read first High Wizardry (the last books in the series), then Deep Wizardry (the second book) and then this, before going on to A Wizard Abroad. I also enjoyed her Feline Wizards series, of which only two books are in print so far. However, other YA readers may not: they are on an adult reading level and you need to appreciate this. I also recommend other books (most of these are fantasy) by Patricia Wrede (her Dragons series, "Dealing with Dragons", "Talking with Dragons", etc), the Unicorn series by Tamora Pierce ("Black Unicorn", "Red Unicorn"), the "Hero and the Crown" and "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley. All of these books, including (especially!) So You Want To Be A Wizard have strong female protagonists. I am, after all, a 13-year-old girl and really dislike the knight-in-shining-armour- rescues-the-damsel-in-distress stuff. I believe you will really enjoy So You Want to Be A Wizard. Either buy it here or ask for it at a library. Interlibrary Loan works really well! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books I've ever read!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An epic story in a compact form
Review: As a young adult librarian, I try to read as many books for that audience as I can. I happened across "So You Want to Be a Wizard" and decided to read it. Being a great fan of fantasy, I am very familiar with the typical epic tale that takes thousands of pages to reach its conclusion. This novel has many of those great epic characteristics (references to creation/creator(s), the choosing of ordinary-seeming young people to be saviors of the universe, the battle between good and evil, etc.), yet manages to tell the complete story in less than 400 pages. The novel is about two junior high students, Nita and Kit, and what befalls them when they attempt to use their new-found wizard abilities to locate Nita's stolen pen. In the process they meet a white hole, who they nickname Fred (a white hole being the opposite of a black hole - a black hole absorbs things; a white hole emits things). It turns out that Nita's pen is in an alternate New York City, where cars, elevators, door locks, and other mechanical objects are all self-aware - and vicious. The landmarks and buildings of New York City are very integral to the setting of this novel. Natives of the city would really appreciate this. Despite the inclusion of a universe-threatening battle between good and evil, there is a lot of humor in this book. Fred's difficulties in adapting to the planet earth were particularly amusing. In my opinion this is an excellent fantasy novel. I came to care for the characters very much. Not many novels make me both laugh and cry, but this one did.
Rating:
Summary: this is the best book that i have ever read
Review: Nita Callahan and Kit Rodriguez used to be ordinary people, until they found the book called, So You Want To Be A Wizard. Now they have magical powers but there's a catch, they can only use their powers for good. But before they becomefull wizards, they must pass the ordeal. with a little help from a white hole, named fred, they enter a world where cars act like a pack of wolves and helicopters are protective mothers. this is a world like no other, made by the starsnuffer. they have to save Manhatten from him by first getting the book of night with moon. Can they do it or will they die trying? this book definitally deserves 5 stars. it is one of the best books i've ever read. this is not what most people would think of when they think of wizadry. that's what makes it so great. it is one of a kind. i would reccomend this book to anyone who likes suspense and fantasy, but i warn you, once you pick it up, you can never put it down.
Rating:
Summary: An alsome Book!
Review: I have read the first three books in the series and they are all great! The books are really interesting. It gives me anouther good book to read besides the harry potter books. if you love the harry potter books you will love these books too!
Rating:
Summary: A World Full of Magic, Adventure and Wizards!!!!!
Review: Thirteen year old Nita Callahan is perfectly ordinary, until she is chased by a pack of bullies. She runs into the local library and in the Children's Section. Nita lets her fingers browsers through old familiar books she had read before until she came across the 'So You Want to Be a....' series. Her suddenly caught the name 'So You Want To Be A Wizard'! She borrows it and reads it at home "This has to be a joke." Nita says. But on her way home Joanne and her group [the bullies] beat her up. Nita walks home, feeling sore and tired, but finishes the book. She finished the book and thinks she can do all these spells to stop Joanne from beating her up. She reads the oath aloud, but nothing happens. The next day she figures out she's a wizard, when she was walking to school she hears a tree talking to her. Nita, her new wizard friend Kit and Fred, a white hole, go 1st to Manhatten where the Lone Power has taken over, to help Fred stop all his emmisions, which are caused by hiccups. But then they are trapped there, where cars tear each other up and helicopters also kill. They are there to find 'The Book Of Night With Moon.' to save Manhatten and the world from the Lone Power or the starsnuffer. Exciting this book is, full of adventure and mystery. If you like Patricia C. Wrede, Susan Cooper or any sci-fantasy, fantasy, So You Want To Be A Wizard is the perfect book for you. This book is one where you can take your time reading it leisurely. Let yourself be absorbed in Duane's world of magic and fantasy. You will find [if you ever rate it] that it'll be five star. That's how well Diane Duane writes! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen King without the potty mouth
Review: Yep, it is pretty much the "Dark Tower" all over again. Impossible menacing objects and cliffhangers with solutions the come out of the air at the last moment to keep from painting the hero and heroine into an inescapable corner. 13 year old Nita is being zeroed in by the neighborhood girl gang. Their intention is to beat the snot out of her. In the process of evading her fate she ducks into the Library basement. Minding her own business and pawing the books one snags her. You guessed it; the title is "So You Want To Be a Wizard." Naturaly, young wizards can out wiz, out think, and out run the bad guys (maybe), in this first book of a series.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: this book is the start to the 3rd best series i have ever read. even though i have read some of the other ones, this one is a step above the rest. The way she describes the character's emotions is perfect! She always gives you something new to chew on every chapter. Mrs. Duane comes up with origional places and times, instead of the predictable ones that you would think to happen. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 7, because if he/she likes it, they will read the rest (and even partly in this one) there are some...inappropraite things for their age level.
Rating: 
Summary: So You Want to be a Wizard - Diane Duane
Review: Although the book had a good premise, the writing style was distasteful and Diane Duane seemed uneducated in the literary field. Duane's voice came through strongly, which I appreciated, but her voice was too childlike and did not sound authoritative or explanatory at all. Too much of the book was "filler" - like she was trying to make the book longer than necessary.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD START TO A GREAT SERIES
Review: This book introduces the two main characters that will stay with this series up to as far as I have read into the series, which is up to book five. The two main wizards are Nita and Kit. The story begins with Nita having a horrible bully problems (she has a big mouth that she can not control). Day Nita is chased into the local library. As she is browsing through the children's section, in order to duck out from the bullies chasing her, she notices a book that she has never seen in the library before. It was titled So You Want to be a Wizard. Nita took the book home and found an oath inside the first few pages of the book. It was the wizard's oath. Nita did not know this when she accepted the oath but when she read it she had sworn herself to the powers and to protect anything worth living. The next day when she awakened Nita took another look into the book, or manual. Nita found a section in the book that supposedly listed some of the "wizards" in the area that she lived in. As she briefly skimmed down the list of names she was abruptly stopped when she had discovered her name in black and white.
Nita was very confused but that was not the weirdest part. All of a sudden Nita could talk to trees. The trees told her about another boy wizard who was using their branches for spells without asking and how it was aggravating the trees. Nita was happy that she would find another wizard but also a little creped out because she was finding this boy wizard from the gossip of a few trees. The boy that was doing the damage was Kit. Kit and Nita become friends realizing how their powers work and how their powers were different. They decide to do a spell together that does not go as plan. They accidentally (if accidentally does exist in wizardry) braught something into earth that was not suppose to be there. This is the part of the book where it gets a little scientific and theoretical, but from what I can remember what they brought was either a white black whole or a special type of star. Now I know what you are thinking that if you bring something in with that much gravity you got problems but it was not exactly like that. After the spell was over they saw the being in a true form. All it was a small floating light that communicated with people through thought and the speech. The speech is a wizard type language that all complex enough living things and non-living things speak. That is Nita can talk to trees as well as other things. Anyway the reason Fed, as they call their new outer planet friend, does not have a gravity problem is that it has all that energy and gravity stored in other places. The duos eventually bite off almost more than they can chew. They enter an alternate New York City where the things are just evil. Especially the things that are not living. The Lone Power created this world. The Lone Power is the very thing that created death in the beginning of time. He is the wizards' worst enemy.
The book has an interesting ending that I do not want to ruin for you. In my opinion I would recommend this series of books to anyone but I do have to warn you the first series, which is the one I am writing about, is a little.... well...slow no that is not it...it is.... boring at times. Ya that is the right answer. Hope you like the book and/or series. P.S. Dian Duane, the author of this book, is a great author.
| 
