Protector of the Small Quartet Book 2: Page - Fantasy Adventure Novel for Teens | Perfect for Young Adult Readers & Fantasy Book Lovers

Tamora Pierce writes for young women, sometimes ham-handedly so (when one of her books goes into birth control or periods it can feel a bit "Children's Show Character Says," but I'll not deny it's good that the books go there), and sometimes to the point of hammering the issues in a little too hard. But the stories and characters are fantastic and memorable, and "Page" is a pretty interesting one.This book came out around the time of the Harry Potter craze and the resulting shifts in children's/young-adult literature conventions. The comparison between this and the previous book are pretty stark as a result: "Page" reads much more like a traditional novel, whereas "First Test" was still hovering in that middle-ground between episodic writing and chapter-by-chapter story progression. As a result, "Page"—and all of the books that follow—spreads its wings more in terms of what it does with its storytelling, how it approaches the-story-growing-with-the-reader and what that means for the subject matter."Protector of the Small" as a series, however, is far less bombastic in its fantasy-adventure elements than the earlier Tortall books. Oh, all of that stuff is *there,* but the focus is much more down-to-earth, with Keladry of Mindelan being a more down-to-earth protagonist to fit the tone. This makes it, I feel, as easy to appreciate as a grown reader as a young one: the themes and subject matter are quite mature even if the characters aren't always. Schoolyard villain Joren of Stone Mountain is nicely contrasted in his hateful bigotry from the inflexible yet sensible conservatism of the ultimately-honorable Wyldon of Cavall, and while the series has previously involved world-shaking events and quests to determine the fate of the world, this series keeps it real with the focus being on the concept of nobility and how different nobles treat those of "lesser" station, and the realities of political conflict in the setting. It's a very low-key counterpoint to the relatively bombastic "Song of the Lioness" in that way.