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Wizard's Hall
by Jane Yolen
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Sandpiper (1999-04-12)
ISBN: 0152020853
EAN: 9780152020859
Binding/Media: Paperback - 144 pages
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
SKU: 50PERCENT-5
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Young Adult fantasy novel from an author whose adult audience is large, even for her YA books. Softcover from Magic Carpet/Harcourt Brace (1991), this is Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen. One small crease at bottom right front cover, with a little tanning to the pages from age. Clean and tight. Nice copy. « if ( document.getElementById ) { document.writeln('Show less'); }
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Poor Henry. It’s not enough that his mother has sent him away from home to learn magic. It’s not enough that everyone at his new school calls him Thornmallow because he’s “prickly on the outside, squishy within.” It’s not enough that the only talent he shows at Wizard’s Hall is an ability to make messes of even the simplest spells. Now, when Wizard’s Hall is threatened by a cruel sorcerer’s fearsome beast, it is up to Henry--er, Thornmallow--to figure out how to save not only his new friends but also the entire school for wizards.
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Amazon.com Review
Henry is a small fellow, thin as a reed, without much talent for magic. But he tries. He really, really tries. And, as it turns out, that's the most important thing. Upon entering Wizard's Hall, the school for young wizards in training, Henry is promptly given a new name: Thornmallow--prickly on the outside, squishy within. And although his curses tend to "splatter or dribble around the edges," and he's not quite mastered his changes or spells, and he simply cannot chant on the dominant, Thornmallow is bound and determined to do the best he can. As the 113th student to arrive at Wizard's Hall, he quickly learns that he has a mysterious extra burden of responsibility that no one will explain. The horrifying secret? The future of Wizard's Hall depends on him, regardless of his magical bumbling. Prolific, award-winning author Jane Yolen has a delightfully witty and dynamic way with words. This touching, funny, and exciting tale reminds maladroit magicians and mortals alike of the wisdom of an old adage: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Yolen's other magical adventures include Passager and The Dragon's Boy. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
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Customer Reviews
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Disappointing and Forgettable
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-02-26
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I first heard about Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen on this discussion thread on LibraryThing, which compared James Dashner's Journal of the Curious Letters with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The book was mentioned because of its similarity to Harry Potter and because of Yolen's thinly veiled comments of plagiarism aimed at J.K. Rowling.
Wizard's Hall was first published in 1991, six years before the first Harry Potter book was published in England. The book centers around young Henry who decides one day that he wants to be a wizard. So his mother does what any mother would (*rolls eyes*) and packs up his stuff and sends him off to Wizard's Hall to begin his training. When he gets there he is promptly renamed Thornmallow because he is prickly on the outside and squishy on the inside. Thornmallow isn't long at the school when it is attacked by an evil wizard who was evicted from the premises and is now seeing his revenge. Forcing Thornmallow to search deep within himself to find the courage to save the day.
It is hard to read this book without thinking about all the similarities between it and the Harry Potter series. However, while the Harry Potter books are a complex tale with multiple layers that appeals to all ages, Wizard's Hall is not. Wizard's Hall is a short (~130 pages) very simple story in which the basic theme of "always try your best no matter what" is repeated over and over.....and over. I swear the phrase "try your best" was stated in some form almost every other paragraph. As an adult reading the story I found this to be annoying. Although the target audience, children, might need that sort of brow beating in order to get the point.
Because this book is so short there is very little in the way of character development, believability or plot. Events happen very quickly and before you know it the book is over. It also doesn't leave the reader thirsting to know more as the Harry Potter books did....or even the more recent series The 13th Reality by James Dashner (mentioned above). To me, this book is more forgettable than anything else and I don't think that I'll be recommending it to others.
As orginally posted on my blog Ticket to Anywhere
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Interesting
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-07-09
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I can agree, there are some very questionable similarities to Wizard's Hall and Harry potter. However, to those who say that this book is a more succinct, thought-out book, I have to disagree. I have read and re-read the Harry Potter series in my spare time, and the intricate weaving that simple minded people classify as an "overly complicated plot," dominates the fantasy genre over Yolen's novel. The story in Wizard's hall is choppy at best. It cuts from one thing to another with the illusion that it is moving the story along well. However, so many questions are left un-answered by the end of the story that for me, it was impossible to really enjoy. Furthermore, the character development only goes as far as Thornmallow, who is the only character in the story who we feel we as the readers know and can identify with. Tansy, Will, and Gorse are simply there. They have no real purpose, no real dedication, not even real friendship in relation to Thornmallow. The biggest flaw in this book, is the story line itself. The 113 students, and 13 teachers--if anything is overly complicated, it's this! The HP series is fantasy at its best. Whether or not Ms. Rowling was inspired by this book or not, it does not matter. The bottom line is these stories are completely different, and HP comes out on top--even if it was written 8 years after this novel.
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A rip off of Harry Potter? Naw, pre Potter
Rating  (2)
Date: 2008-03-30
0 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
The plot seems to be pretty much the same as the first
Harry Potter: young boy enters magic school and saves the world from an evil wizard. Much of the vocabulary is the same.
Characterizations of the friends are even parallel.
It is an fairly well written book
and the details are different,
but it is recognizable as "derivative".
But who was first? this one it appears...
My original one didn't say it was a "reprint"
of a much older printing.
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Hmmmmmmmmm...
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-03-08
I read this book long before the HP books ... and seriously thought there was copyright infringement going on. Nevertheless, I happened to like this a lot, as a sweet, happy, little book. But there were some weird parts...Quilt monster, anyone?
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Read this when I was in 4th grade. Great book!
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-02-14
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read this book when I was in 4th grade in 1993 and 14 years later, I was searching for this book for my classroom because I remember how much I loved it. This book pre-dates Harry Potter by several years, and I've been trying to find this particular book because it enchanted me when I read it in my teacher's library. I would definitely suggest this book because it has everything the HP series has (if you like that), but is unique and well written. Certainly worth a try.
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