Imagine always feeling a little different. Knowing there's something out there you're missing. Living a hard but not too bad life with your parents on a lonely farm. And then, one day, your exciting "uncle" sends you to a marvelous school. A school for magic! In a town where wonderful, magical things are always happening, despite a dark menace only hinted at in whispers.

Sound slightly familiar?

But wait, there's one problem. You're at a marvelous magic school but...you're the only person with NO MAGIC. In fact, everyone in your world has magic - except you.

Welcome to Ned's world. In a fast-paced, quirky, funny, and sometimes scary fantasy, Emma Laybourn flips the now-familiar young-hero-with-magic-powers plot on its head and produces an unlikely hero with suprisingly ordinary friends and everyday heroism from the least-expected places.

My only complaint is that the last couple chapters felt hurried and "oh gosh there's at least another book's worth of action but we're not planning on a sequel, so cram it all in." But I've lately become so exhausted by series (srsly folks, I can't possibly buy a sequel to EVERY SINGLE FANTASY) that I am perfectly ok with it. Plus, it's well-written, just a little hurried.

Verdict: Fans of Christopher Golden's Outcast series and Harry Potter will enjoy this fantasy.

ISBN: 0803732198; Published June 2007 by Dial (out of print); Borrowed from the library

In a world where everyone has magical abilities, eleven-year-old Ned has none, but when the world turns upside down his lack of powers turns out to be his best asset.