[1] Nita Callahan, a thirteen-year-old girl living in New York City, discovers a book entitled So You Want to Be a Wizard.

She discovers that she can do actual magic and meets Kit Rodriguez, another young Wizard.

Nita, taking refuge in the library from bullies, checks out a book found in the children's section with the provocative title So You Want To Be a Wizard.

Fred miscalculates the gravity required to lift the pen from the bullies' possession and swallows it instead and now has a bad case of hiccups.

The three Wizards go to the dark alternative New York City via the world gate, in order to retrieve the Naming of Lights.

The Eldest, a dragon, lies on a vast hoard of varied stolen items ranging from the valuable to the trivial.

In Central Park, they begin to read from the bright Book by moonlight, to undo the changes that the Lone Power has been making during the pursuit.

As Kit and Nita recite the Lone Power's true name, written in the bright Book, Nita makes a slight modification to the text (the symbol ⎋), giving the Lone Power the option to become a positive rather than negative energy.

Upon finding the injured Esprit, Kit cuts out the piece of metal and the car zooms away.

Later, when Nita, Kit, and Fred are attempting to find the dark book, the Esprit returns and offers the three of them a ride.

There is no magical point in a human life when anyone is or becomes immune to the second-by-second choice to do right instead of wrong.

2 by Matt Berman as well as Rip-Roaring Reads for Reluctant Teen Readers by Gale W. Sherman and Bette D. Ammon.

So You Want to Be a Wizard has won the "ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" award.