It is almost the end of August which means back to school for many kids and adults. So I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my favorite books set in a school. I decided to stick with mostly magical schools, but there is one urban fantasy that takes place in an ordinary school. I had to include that one as it is one of my all time favorite books. I also had to think about whether or not to include middle grade in this list, but ultimately decided not to. I might do a separate post for those books as there are quite a few goods one for that age level. These are all considered YA but I certainly think that they can be enjoyed at any age.
Carry On more or less puts the magical school trope on notice. It takes all of the chosen ones and evil nemesis and throws the magical book at them as well. I just love this book! Watford is an interesting school with some cool classes, but watch out for Simon having to save the day at least twice a week.
Crave is another book that makes fun of magical schools and vampire tropes. It makes a lot of fun of the Twilight series, but is really is its own story. And it is such a lot of fun, I just adore many of the characters and a school decorated with dragons and witches and other magical creatures would be fun to attend.
I am not sure that I would want to attend the Scholomance, the school in Deadly Education, but as far as magical schools go, it is the most interesting one. This school is actually out to kill most of the students, or at least that is how it feels. I also like the fact that there are no adults here, just the school keeping everyone in line.
Evil Librarian is one of my favorite books set in a school. It is not a magical school, just your run of the mill high school, but some serious demon related magic happens here. All of the action takes place in the school, and the library of course. This book is hilarious and is making me smile just thinking about it.
The Magicians is borderline YA, but it is also a brilliant book. The school is actually a college for magicians and it sounds like a really cool place. I also liked the Narnia like story with in the story. This one is also a tv show, which I did watch for a season or two, but haven’t finished it yet. I really liked the magical system in this one as well.
The Nature of Witches is set at a school, but we don’t see as much of the school as I would have liked. Still the setting was interesting and the magical system was also very cool. I loved the season aspect of everyone’s powers and how their magic affected climate and weather.
The Novice is such a good book and another interesting school, although maybe not in the traditional sense. The student here are learning to work with their demons and become battlemages. This is another favorite of mine as it has great characters and a very interesting magical system.
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy is a collection of short stories set in the Shadowhunter world. This is one of my favorite collections as there are some really good stories in this one. I just loved watching Simon trying to keep up with the other students and not make a fool of himself in the weapons trainings.
Well that was fun to do and I hope you had fun reading about magical schools.
Do you have a favorite book or series set at a magical school? Let me know in the comments as I am always looking for good ones.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 