Wizard's Hall

"Wizard's Hall" is a 1991 fantasy novel by Jane Yolen which is often favorably compared with the Harry Potter series.

The mother of shy Henry sends him to "Wizard's Hall" where he can train to become a wizard. At the Hall he is renamed "Thornmallow", suggesting that he is prickly on the outside yet soft inside.

He soon becomes quite conspicuous as he covers a classroom in snow, yells during an orientation speech and has other embarrassing moments.

He soon learns that he is one of 113 students who are being prepared to confront the evil wizard Nettle and his huge Beast. Thornmallow feels he may not be equal to the challenge.

Yolen has criticized the Harry Potter series. This is based on the suspicious similarities of the series with Wizard's Hall, published years before the first Harry Potter book.

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