I first encountered these books in middle school and was completely entranced. The frame story, of wandering through a library through the “professions” section and encountering “So You Want to be a Wizard”, was too wonderful. I searched for such a book myself, to no avail.

I recently re-read this book, and like many young-adult books, it’s not quite as compelling as I remember. But as an inspirational story to open young minds to new ideas, with tones of self-reliance, responsibility, and the power of having a really good best friend, I can still whole-heartedly recommend it (and the whole series). The magic system is creative yet plausible, with a “scientific” feel (gosh, I want a temporospatial claudication!).