So You Want to Be a Wizard

Young Wizard Series, Book 1

By: Diane Duane

Narrated by: Christina Moore

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A mysterious library book opens the door to a world of magic and danger in the first book in the beloved Young Wizards series.

Bullied by her classmates, Nita Callahan is miserable at school. So when she finds a mysterious book in the library that promises her the chance to become a wizard, she jumps at the opportunity to escape her unhappy reality. But taking the Wizard's Oath is no easy thing, and Nita soon finds herself paired with fellow wizard-in-training Kit Rodriguez on a dangerous mission. The only way to become a full wizard is to face the Lone Power, the being that created death and is the mortal enemy of all wizards. As Nita and Kit battle their way through a deadly alternate version of New York controlled by the Lone Power, they must rely on each other and their newfound wizarding skills to survive—and save the world from the Lone One's grasp.

"Stands between the works of Diana Wynne Jones … and Madeleine L'Engle. … An outstanding, original work."—The Horn Book

You can listen to Diane Duane's entire Young Wizard series.

©1983 Diane Duane (P)1998 Recorded Books

One Word: AWESOME!!

This was my first adult audio book experience. I found it more addicting than reading the book. I suppose this is props for the orator. Nice job. The story itself is aweosme. It is like a mix of Harry Potter and Narnia. I never could get into the book by reading it so I thought I would try listening to it. It worked.

Before Harry Potter

Before Harry Potter there was Nita and Kit. This story is wonderfully diverse and does an outstanding job of explaining just how magic and wizards might exist in our own reality. Well worth the listen, for both children and adults.

The most memorable book of my pre teen years!

If you could sum up So You Want to Be a Wizard in three words, what would they be?

Better than Potter

Who was your favorite character and why?

In this book I'd have to say Kit. He compliments Nita in so many ways. Both are outcast, both need friends and both bond over wizardry where they may have spent years in the same school system never knowing eachother more than passing glances.

Have you listened to any of Christina Moore’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to her narrate other books in this series. I love a good Brooklyn accent and she hits Carl on the head perfectly as I imagined as a child.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I hope they never ruin the sanctity of this book with a movie, unless Diane writes and she and her husband have strict control over how it's made.

The Harry Potter before the Harry Potter

I remember reading this book in middle school around the same time as Harry Potter in the early 2000s. While waiting for J.K. Rowling to release her 5th book, I went browsing around the bookstore, searching for something similar and stumbled upon this. While not my most favorite in the entire Young Wizards series, I was immediately hooked! I love how it doesn't really fall into the usual fantasy tropes of having our young heroes going to a magical school, rather, they take the oath, become wizards, and just practically learn things on the go. The adult wizards are very off-hand, and the kids are forced to understand that being wizards isn't all just glamour and games, but a real responsibility and a privileged to hold off Entropy, the eventual death and destruction of the universe. There is a mixture of fantasy with sci-fi, as well as religious concept, the latter being referred to forces such as the Power That Be and the Lone Power. I also love that this book already dealt with things such as death and sacrifice.

As an adult, revisiting these books via audio-book is a real treat and a great trip down memory lane. Christina Moore narrates the book beautifully and I'm glad she always come back to voice the rest of the books. I just wished this series had gotten more recognition. It is seriously underrated and deserved as much love as the Harry Potter or the Percy Jackson series.

i kinda like this one

i found it to be a enjoyable story.
its hard for me to find a good story i like and got lucky with this one.
try the simple and see if that will help you any.
everyone has there own likes and dislikes.
i always read the reviews and then try the simple to try and get a good ideal what its like.
hope this help you... enjoy.. :)

Better than Harry Potter

If you liked the Harry Potter Books. You will love these books.
Only trouble I found with them. Is so far the author has only wrote
the frist 7 books in the series. I went throw them like wild fire!!!

Love this series!

so empowered! the story is very involved I could see the it in my mind eye listening to her. I know it is a young persons book but I really enjoyed it! I hope you do too!

A great sci-fi story.

The narrator does an amazing job especially with the voice for The Eldest. A great book!

An Old Favourite Come to Life

My mother read Diane Duane's Young Wizard Series to me when I was a child and I love them every bit as much now as I did then. The series has a timelessness to it that make's it a pure joy for readers of any age. Having 'So You Want to Be a Wizard' read out loud to me again for the first time in years was wonderful fun. Christina Moore, the narrator, does a beautiful job of bring Nita, Kit, and Fred to life. I'm certain to buy the others in the series now and am really looking forward to listening to them.

Excellent narration of one of my all-time faves

I've always loved this story. I read it first when I was a teenager and it stuck with me. I have long loved Nita and her bravery, her lessons about how to face some of the same struggles I did when I was her age. I loved Kit and the Lotus and Fred and all of their adventures. I was a little nervous about the audio book because the author's voice was so strong and so unique that I was worried the narrator wouldn't do it justice. I had nothing about which to worry! Christina Moore did an amazing job bringing the characters to life, not ignoring Kit's accent and adding a slight one to Nita that really broadened my conception of the character. The pacing was spot on and I enjoyed the phrasing the narrator chose that made me reexamine certain parts of the book. Very, very well done!