Page - Tamora Pierce

Page
Tamora Pierce
Laurel Leaf Publishing
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780679889182

The amazon.com product description:

Kel fights to maintain the rigorous regimen of a page while confronting the prejudices that come with being a female in a man’s world and coping with a crush on her closest friend, Neal.
“Pierce makes Kel sweat for her success through perseverance, hard work,
and skill. Readers will appreciate this true example of grrrl power.”
—School Library Journal 

Page is the second book in the Protector of the Small Quartet, following on The First Test, which I reviewed the other day. I've read and reviewed the book before, and that review is here.

Kel made it through her probationary year as a page in the first book and in this book, we follow her through the rest of her term as a page, right up to her final exams. We follow her through her training in both the arts of combat and of ettiquete, but also in her interactions with the other pages and squires - some of whom don't thing that girls can be pages, squires or knights.

An exciting read for any girl who likes fantasy novels from age nine through early teens. This book, along with the other books in the series are all to be found in the teen section of the bookstore, but these four in particular seem to be written more for the nine to twelve year olds. As such, I found it to be a rather short read, being able to finish the book along with The First Test in the same evening after work.

I do like this series, more or less, but as the School Library Journal points out in the product description: "Readers will appreciate this true example of grrrl power." That's exactly what I find to be written in too obviously. For me at least, the whole "Girls can do anything" message is laid on too heavily on the story. Still, it's a good read and one I'm probably going to end up reading again in the future.