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BAR
The Lost Years of Merlin Series (age 10+)
by T. A. Barron
magic ... identity ... folklore ... adventure ... fantasy
A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales. Only after a series of fantastic adventures does he find his true name.
title: The Lost Years of Merlin
title: The Seven Songs of Merlin
title: The Fires of Merlin
title: The Mirror of Merlin
title: The Wings of Merlin
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STR
The Bartimaeus Trilogy (age 10+)
by Jonathan Stroud
humor ... adventure ... action ... fantasy ... magic
Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge in his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt.
title: The Amulet of Samarkand
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JON
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (age 10+)
by Diana Wynne Jones
magic ... fantasy
In the multiple parallel universes of the Twelve Related Worlds, only an enchanter with nine lives is powerful enough to control the rampant misuse of magic, and to hold the title Chrestomanci. . . . Cat and Christopher Chant make the most unusual friends. Christopher befriends a boy with terrible karma in a mansion where everything keeps changing. Cat meets a girl whose family of rogue witches is hiding shocking secrets. Will the Chrestomanci be able to sort out the tangle of mysteries and magic?
title: The Lives of Christopher Chant
title: Charmed Life
title: The Magicians of Caprona
title: Witch Week
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CON
The Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy (age 10+)
by Kate Constable
magic ... fantasy
Introducing a world in which music makes magic. Calwyn has lived all her life behind the high ice-wall that guards the sisters of Antaris from the world of Tremaris. The sisters practice ice chantment ... one of the Nine Powers of chantment, a form of magic worked through music. But when Calwyn finds an Outlander man fallen, wounded, through the wall, she is drawn to him...and drawn into a wondrous, dangerous adventure that takes her outside the wall and to the limits of her own powers, as she, the Outlander Darrow, and others unite to defeat the sorcerer Samis, who seeks to claim all Nine Powers and become the Singer of All Songs.
title: The Waterless Sea
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LEV
The Two Princesses of Bamarre (age 10+)
by Gail Carson Levine
princesses ... adventure ... fantasy ... magic ... illness/loss
When a plague strikes Bamarre, Princess Addie must save her sister. Brave and adventureous, Princess Meryl dreams of fighting dragons and protecting the kingdom of Bamarre. Shy and fearful, Princess Addie is content to stay within the safety of the castle walls. The one thing that the sisters share is their unwavering love for each other. The tables are turned, however, when the Gray Death leaves Meryl fatally ill. To save her sister, meek Princess Addie must find the courage to set out on a dangerous quest filled with dragons, unknown magic, and death itself. Time is running out, and the sisters' lives ... and the future of the kingdom of Bamarre ... hang in the balance.
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GLI
Pure Dead Series (age 10+)
by Debi Gliori
fantasy ... humor ... spooky ... magic
Things are not right at the Strega-Borgia castle. Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped. Signora Baci Strega-Borgia is struggling with her spells at the Advanced Witchcraft Institute. Titus and Pandora don't like their suspiciously cheerful and fearless new nanny. Baby Damp has been accidentally shrunk, e-mailed, and lost on the World Wide Web. And to top it off, there's a gangster in a bunny suit lurking about. . . . This seriously over-the-top, gothic romp is sure to have readers clamoring for the next Strega-Borgia adventure.
title: Pure Dead Magic
title: Pure Dead Brilliant
title: Pure Dead Wicked
title: Pure Dead Trouble
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PAO
The Inheritance Series (age 10+)
by Christopher Paolini
adventure ... action ... magic ... fantasy
Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy ... until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save ... or destroy ... the Empire.
title: Eragon
title: Eldest
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CHA
Summerland (age 10+)
by Michael Chabon
fantasy ... magic ... sports
For over a century, the people of Clam Island, Washington, have enjoyed barbecues and baseball games and Summerland, on the Western tip of the island, where it never rains. The small beings...known as ferishers...who ensure this perfect weather, however, are threatened by an ancient enemy, and need a hero...a baseball star, in fact...to vanquish their foe.
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SPE
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (age 10+)
by Elizabeth George Speare
magic ... bigotry ... historical
Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!
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FUN
Inkheart Series (age 10+)
by Cornelia Funke
authorship ... magic ... fantasy ... adventure ... action
Publisher comments: One cruel night, Meggie's father reads aloud from a book called Inkheart, and an evil ruler escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books. Meggie must learn to harness the magic that has conjured this nightmare. For only she can change the course of the story that has changed her life forever.
title: Inkheart
title: Inkspell
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BYN
Molly Moon Series (age 10+)
by Georgia Byng
identity ... mystery ... magic ... adventure ... friendship ... family
Molly Moon is no ordinary orphan. When she finds a mysterious old book on hypnotism, she discovers she can make people do whatever she wants. But a sinister stranger is watching her every move, and he'll do anything to steal her hypnotic secret...
title: Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism
title: Molly Moon Stops the World
title: Molly Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure
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AVI
Midnight Magic (age 10+)
by Avi
spooky ... knights/castles/dragons ... fantasy ... magic
On a stormy night in the Kingdom of Pergamontio, an insistent knocking brings Fabrizio, the servant boy, to the door. Outside stands a soldier summoning Fabrizio's master, Mangus the Magician, to the king's castle. Because Mangus has been under house arrest for confessing to be a magician, he cannot imagine why the king is calling for him. But magic is exactly what the king needs. He wants Mangus to free his daughter from the torment of a terrifying ghost. Mangus' life will depend on his success.

Escondido Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:29 2012
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