“Carry On” by Rainbow Rowell (2015)

“I walk to the bus station by myself.”

Magical schools appear so often in fiction, and they routinely make real schools look really boring. Who wouldn’t want to spend the morning charming frogs, then hop on a broomstick for some magical ball sport, then end the day by defeating a great evil that’s sleeping in your dormitory? Better than double maths and stale jam roly poly in the canteen any day. Welcome to Watford, the newest magical school on the scene.

Simon Snow is the chosen one. Now enteri...