Alchemyst: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Dylan Scott YSF SCO
While their parents are on a summer dig, Sophie and Josh, fifteen-year-old twins, have jobs in San Francisco. Sophie works at a coffee shop, while Josh has a job across the street in a bookstore. One day, some strange-looking men enter the book store and, in a matter of moments, the store is in flames. Very shortly after, Sophie, Josh and the store owner, Nick Fleming (aka Nicholas Flamel), are on the run. Unfortunately, Nicholas's arch rival, alchemist, John Dee, has not only found Nicholas, but also the ancient book of Abraham the Mage containing the formula for everlasting life. Thank goodness John Dee doesn't yet know about Sophie's new powers.

Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud YSF STR
By age five, Nathaniel has become a magician's apprentice. By age 12, he's totally bored and investigating magic on his own. When Nathaniel summons the djinn, Bartimaeus, to steal the Amulet of Samarkand, all havoc breaks loose. This is the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy.

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton YFIC SKE
Twelve-year-old Blake Winters and his sister have come with his mother, a professor, on a trip to Oxford, England. Life is pretty ordinary until Blake runs his hand along some books in the Bodleian Library. When one jumps out at him, he's surprised to find it blank except for a poem and the title, Endymion Spring. Flashbacks, from the current day to the 1400s, tell the story of the book that continually writes itself and is the key to world knowledge.

Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray YFIC BRA
What would you do if you had a fight with your mother and then had a vision and witnessed her death. Once started, 16-year-old Gemma's visions continue and so does her grief. When she learns to control her visions and enter the "realms" of magical power, Gemma realizes that an evil creature has been unleashed. Also read Rebel Angels.

Plague of Sorcerers by Mary Frances Zambreno YFIC ZAM
Once Jermyn finally finds his familiar, a skunk named Dalia, he's set to begin his apprenticeship. Thank goodness he's apprenticed to the powerful wizard, Eschar. A mysterious plague is killing all the wizards in the land and Jermyn needs to help save them. The sequel is Journeyman Wizard.

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney YFIC DEL
Apprenticed to a spook? You bet. Thomas finds himself apprenticed to the local spook, who keeps all the witches and boggarts in line. Unfortunately, Tom also finds himself in big trouble when a terrifying witch escapes during the time the Spook is away. Curse of the Bane continues Tom's adventures.

Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan YSF FLA
Will is set on going to Battleschool and isn't happy to find out that he's apprenticed instead to a taciturn ranger named Halt. Once Halt teaches him to move by stealth and to be aware of his surroundings, however, Will realizes that his job is important too. First book in the Ranger's Apprentice series.

Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable YSF CON
Calwyn's magical skill is to control all things "cold," one of the powers of chantment on Tremaris, a world with three moons. When Calwyn hears there's a sorcerer that wants to become a Singer of All Songs, a master of all chantments on Tremaris, she is determined to stop him. Other titles in the Chanters of Tremaris trilogy are Waterless Sea and Tenth Power.