Can't wait for the upcoming Harry?

Book review of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard for Earthsea

Ged is a boy with a wish to be powerful, special. He is tutored by the village witch and is eventually sent to the Isle of the Wise to learn magecraft. But his pride pushes him too far and Ged is shadowed by a evil menace he summoned from the land of the dead. Le Guin is one of the greats in Fantasy and this story is a mythic journey of a hero to conquer death. Children reading this will find an interesting adventure story while adults will enjoy the spare plot, the intricate world and the universal themes of pride, courage, sacrifice and heroic quest. This is the first in the Earthsea series.

other ideas--
Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising
Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials

Note Dark is in both series' names, these books are cataloged in the juvenile section but they offer food for serious thought to any reader.