Every eleven years, Earth’s senior wizards hold the Invitational - an intensive three-week event where the planet’s newest, sharpest young wizards show off their best and hottest spells. Wizardly partners Kit Rodriguez and Nita Callahan, and Nita’s sister, former wizard-prodigy Dairine Callahan, are drafted in to mentor two brilliant and difficult cases: for Nita and Kit, Asian-American Penn Shao-Feng, a would-be sun-technician with a dangerous new take on managing solar weather: and for Dairine, shy young Mehrnaz Farrahi, an Iranian wizard-girl trying to specialize in defusing earthquakes while struggling with a toxic extended wizardly family that demands she overperform to their expectations... or fail.

Together they’re plunged into a whirlwind of cutthroat competition and ruthless judging: it’s “The Apprentice” with magic. Penn’s egotistical and misogynistic attitude toward Nita complicates matters as Nita and Kit work to negotiate their burgeoning boyfriend/girlfriend issues. Meanwhile, Dairine struggles to stabilize her hero-worshipping, insecure protégée against the interference of powerful wizard-relatives using her to further their own tangled agendas. When it finally comes time for the finals stage on the dark side of the Moon, both the new wizards and their mentors are both flung into a final conflict that could change the solar system for the better... or damage Earth beyond even wizardly repair.

Juanita Louise Callahan Also known as "Nita", she is one of the main protagonists in the series. Nita is one of the mentors for Penn in the Invitational.

Christopher Rodriguez Also known as "Kit", he is another of the main protagonists. Kit is the other mentor for Penn in the Invitational.

Dairine Callahan Younger sister of Nita, and another main protagonist, she is the mentor of Mehrnaz.

Penn Shao-Feng Nita and Kit's candidate for the Invitational. He tends to be arrogant and overconfident in his skills. He patronizes Nita, openly doubting her intelligence and her capability as a wizard.

Mehrnaz Farrahi Dairine's candidate for the Invitational. Thanks in large part to her emotionally abusive family, she is shy and lacks confidence in her abilities.

• Games Wizards Play on YoungWizards.com
• Young Wizards series at Harcourt