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When I was in the second grade, there was a story in my English book about a boy who went to a school for wizardry. I was in the second grade in 1993-1994, so it could be around there, but most likely the story is from a decade or so before. I'm not too sure.

The only details I can remember from the book were:

  • the school was on a high mountain (maybe?)
  • The protagonist had a dorm room where each time he would gain more magical education from the school, the symbol on the door would get more and more detailed

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

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    The only reason I don't have more details is because my English books at school only had abridged versions of stories. So the part I read was maybe only the first 2 chapters of the book.
    – OghmaOsiris
    Jul 11, 2011 at 2:22
  • You don't happen to remember which English book it was, do you? ;)
    – rintaun
    Jul 11, 2011 at 5:12
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    Wait, there were wizard novels before Harry Potter? ;-)
    – Jeff
    Jul 11, 2011 at 11:29
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    Never again will people be able to propose such questions without specifically stating that it isn't Harry Potter. Go Rowling!
    – Neil
    Jul 11, 2011 at 12:37
  • @rintaun ALl I know is that all my English books when I was in elementary school all were titled "English: [insert grade] Edition"... Which is probably out of date and I would never be able to find it again, lol
    – OghmaOsiris
    Jul 11, 2011 at 16:03

3 Answers 3

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+50

This could very well be Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen, published in 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a well-known publisher of textbooks. I haven't been able to find any evidence that it actually appeared in a language arts textbook, but the possibility does exist. The first 26 pages are available for preview on Google Books.

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Ursula leGuin's EarthSea saga contains a boy who goes to wizard school. Not sure if that'd fit your timeframe though (don't know when it was released).

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    That's A Wizard of Earthsea, published in 1968. The school is on an island, and the detail about the dorm room doesn't feel right (in that setting, magic isn't typically done for such non-serious purposes, and magical education isn't something you can measure), so I don't think that's the book.
    – user56
    Jul 14, 2011 at 9:19
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Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones. Charmed life? I'm looking for a similar story, I think this may be it.

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  • We appreciate your input. Although there's already an accepted answer, having additional answers that also match the question helps later querents doing searches. That said, can you elaborate on why one of the Chrestomanci books might match?
    – FuzzyBoots
    Nov 6, 2015 at 11:04

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