Few things are more magical than waking up on the morning of your birthday, right? If nothing else, you're pretty much guaranteed some cake. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, if you're Will Stanton and it's your eleventh birthday, you could discover that you have magical powers… and that the fate of the world rests upon your shoulders because of said powers. Yikes. So much for the cake binge; Will has to get out there and get to saving the day.

Susan Cooper's 1973 classic, The Dark is Rising, is brimming with adventure and fantasy. It features everything from telepathy to an ominous figure called the Black Rider to fires started by people's brains. If that sounds like a unique and compelling mix, you're not alone in thinking so—the book was a runner-up for the Newbery Honor, which means a lot of librarians agree with you. And later books in the series won the award (instead of just being runners-up), so if you like this one, get excited for the rest.

Now find yourself some cake, pour a cold glass of milk, and get reading.

Forget magic. Forget birthdays. Forget turning eleven and suddenly being called an Old One. Underneath all of the details in The Dark is Rising is the simple story of an eleven-year-old trying to figure out who the heck he is and what the heck he wants.

And here's the thing: While Will technically has some pretty spectacular powers, part of growing up is realizing just how powerful you are even if your power is ordinary. We all have the power to choose right from wrong, to decide to learn from our mistakes or ignore the lessons they teach us, to prioritize our families or ditch them when the going gets tough. Will grapples with this very same power—his is just dolled up in the trimmings and trappings of magic. In other words, like us, Will has the power of choice.

With great power comes great responsibility (we may or may not mention that a few times in this learning guide…), and the power of choice doesn't go away. So whether you're eleven or one hundred and eleven, Will's struggle remains relevant. Does he always nail things? Nope. But when he screws up, we can learn from his mistakes and apply these lessons to our own puny mortal powers. And when Will's on point, well, we can take notes then, too.