David and His Shade
For as long as he's been alive, young David has been haunted by a darkness he calls Cold Man. When David has an opportunity to attend a feeder camp for a prestigious magic high school, he hopes to get help to remove it. Instead he endangers everyone around him: new friends, faculty, and even the school grounds itself. Harry Potter meets The Magicians in this alt-reality modern fantasy.
Fourteen year old David only attends summer school because it beat working at the drycleaner for another summer, and his new friend Constance seemed over the moon to attend. The school is rife with larger-than-life professors, guest speakers, and has a curriculum with primary focus on mind-body relationships, a healthy dose of philosophy, and understanding archaic symbols. Despite the hard rule of no magic over the summer, it always seems to get in the way. Oh, and those Lost Boys want worldtree wood for their war against pirates, and are willing to kill to get it.
Harry Potter meets The Magicians and wrapped tight in philosophy and concept.