Rating: 
Summary: Is it deja vu, or was it just me?
Review: After finishing this book, it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter. I give this book three and a half stars, rounded up to four. The book was well written, but the whole "you can do it if you try" theme seems a little bit over done to me. But it was well rounded, and was enjoyable. An easy reading level, and I'd recommend it for a light read.
Rating: 
Summary: delightful trifle
Review: Although in university, this book remains one of my favourite titles to polish off on Sunday afternoons. Simply written, well-paced, balanced, and charming, it provides an imaginative and refreshing interpretation to some of my favourite themes in fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Charming wizardly tale
Review: Before Harry Potter was even a blip on the screen, fantasy master Jane Yolen penned a brief, sparkling story about a quiet young boy with untapped magical powers. The delicate writing, interesting magic and likable hero serve to elevate this far above the Harry Potter series.Henry is a shy, quiet boy who (like most kids) has various brief ambitions as to what he wants to be when he grows up. When he mentions wizardry to his mother, she sends him off to Wizards' Hall to learn magic. Things don't start off smoothly -- Henry is renamed Thornmallow (prickly on the outside and squishy inside), and he messes up even basic spells. Despite his failures, he tries hard. But all is not well at Wizards' Hall. One night Thornmallow and his pals overhear a cold voice talking about taking over the Hall. Thornmallow is the one-hundred-and-thirteenth student needed to defeat the evil wizard Nettle and his quilted Beast... except that they don't really know how to stop Nettle. To save his friends, Thornmallow will have to call on magic he never knew he had. Despite all the hype around the Harry Potter series, "Wizard's Hall" comes off as the superior story. "Wizard's Hall" has a kind of magical intimacy and subtle magic to the story, without any slam-bang effects. No sparkles, no fireworks. Instead, everything about the Hall seems to have a bit of magic in it -- as does the writing. Yolen's writing shimmers the moment she introduces us to the Hall. Her descriptions of things talking pictures, star-studded ceilings, soups with lizards swimming in them, and a small avalanche of snow and roses are astonishing, especially since she rarely goes into too much detail. Even the magic of this book is beautiful and subtle, based on singing and chanting. Reversely, there's the horrific Quilted Beast, which seems to be a perfect example of unnaturality. Thornmallow is a likable little guy, quiet and definitely suffering from a confidence problem. It's hard not to feel for him as he struggles with his magic, and suffers the consequences of battling with Nettle. His friends and mentors are a quirky bunch, and Nettle's aura of evil is pronounced without being over-the-top. Beautifully written and exquisitely plotted, "Wizard's Hall" far outstrips the Harry Potter series. It's sweet, deceptively simple and shimmers with Yolen's unique writing. A must-have for fantasy fans.
Rating:
Summary: As Good As Potter, If Not Better
Review: Even though the Harry Potter books are better known and generally better liked than this book, "Wizard's Hall" is far better on some levels, although it lacks in some other areas. Henry, the main character of "Wizard's Hall", is a thin boy with pale blond hair swirled and tangled all over his head. Henry, who lives on a farm, simply suggests the idea of becoming a wizard and finds himself being rushed towards Wizard's Hall, a school for wizards. In spite of the fact that he is no good at wizarding (he causes an avalanche in his classroom, yells out during a speech by the teacher, can't sing on the dominant, etc.), Henry has a very important role as the 113th student. When the dark Master and his terrible Beast arrive, only Henry can save the school and his homeland, not because of his skill, but because he TRIES. The very fact that Henry fouls up all his spells, chants, and curses is what makes this book great. Henry seems human because he messes up. Hasn't everyone been embarrassed at least once or twice in their life? Yolen could have described the teachers a little better, but overall this was a great book. My favorite character is definitely Henry, because of the way Yolen made him seem so real by describing his emotions. The book was pretty short, but I think it was better than Harry Potter because of that human quality that Harry lacks, since he always wins.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost good
Review: First off why the continuous comparisons to Harry Potter? I've read all the Potter books to my kids as well as a hundred other books. There is no need to compare them to each other if they stand out on their own. This book can be summed up as having potential. There are interesting characters and an interesting villain. The unfortunate fact is the book is too short and there is absolutely no growth. The boy goes to school one day he saves the day practically the next. If there was more character development and a more detailed story line I would fully recommend this book. I found this to be a rough draft of a possibly very good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book
Review: Generally this was a good book. i really enjoyed it and i couldn't put it down. its amazing to me how some people say that Harry Potter is better when it has a lot of the same ideas (like stars on the ceiling). the only problems were that it was too short, i read it in about 3 hours, and it kept saying the word "try". i know the whole piont of the book is that if you try, you'll succeed, but after saying it 10000000000000000000 times, it gets old. i would recomend this book to ages 7-12 but not much older Other Recomendations: Harry Potter series, The Dark is Rising series (one of my favorites), His Dark Materials (my all time favorites in the world) and other science fiction/fantisies.
Rating:
Summary: A few threads missing from the quilt
Review: I have read this book out loud to my students on a number of occasions. I have come to the conclusion that whatever deep meaning Yolen wanted us to come away with is lost during the final chapters when we are so concerned about the quilted beast being destroyed. The secondary characters (Gorse, Tansy, etc.) are shallow, and simply provide Thornmallow with peers. I wish he was simply an apprentice to one of the more interesting wizards, with whom he could learn wizardy, and go off on an adventure, thus moving the excitement outside the rather boring walls of Wizards Hall.
Rating:
Summary: The ORIGINAL wizard school book
Review: I read this story 7-8 years ago, and it left such an incredible impression on me that I'm sitting here at age 17 writing a review for it. Wizard's Hall was definitely the defining book of my childhood, the epitome of the fantastic and mysterious, and I'm on Amazon.com today to look into buying it, yes, 8 years later. The problem I see for new readers is this: Harry Potter is now out, and the parallel, especially with the Sorcerer's Stone, is much too great. One morning, Henry randomly decides to become a Wizard, which is apparently something anyone can simply become, goes off to Wizard school, and finds later he has a purpose with an interesting twist at the end (but then again, a twist similar to that of the Sorcerer's stone). Definitely a quick, enjoyable read for anyone who can be so objective as to not compare it with Harry Potter, and knows how to appreciate a good children's book (ie no extensive characterization and symbolism). This book gets 5 stars from me because it will ALWAYS be the first book. Harry Potter will always be the second.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Potter before he existed
Review: I read Wizard's Hall four years ago, and have been searching for it ever since. I loved the evil Nettle, the adorable Thornmallow, and the shrunken wizard in its cage (I can't remember its name at the moment). This book operated on my level, and I connected. Upon reading the Harry Potter books, I was reminded of the flavor of Wizard's Hall, but it still wasn't right. I would never spend four years searching for the Harry Potter books, but Yolen writes with a special sparkle that makes this book well worth it. Bravo to Yolen, she writes right!
Rating:
Summary: Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen Rocks!
Review: I think their is no better book about the secrets of witchcraft and wizardry than Jane Yolen's Wizard's Hall. I read it 2 days ago, and it was superb. The book is about Henry/Thornmallow who attends Wizard's Hall as student one thirteen. He may not be able to carry a spell, or a transformation, but at least he tries- which is more important than anything. I think Jane Yolen's Wizard Hall should have a sequel. And I'm starting to believe that Wizard's Hall is better than the Harry Potter books- and it is! Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen is my favorite book, and I hope for Christmas my mom will buy me a copy.
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