Customer Reviews
As good as it gets! 
2006-11-26
'Page'is definetley five out of five stars but of course so are the rest of Pierce's books. This story is about all the years Kelandry spends as a page. Yes, she got past the first test, making it out of the probation Sir Wyldon and the king gave to her for being a girl. (Which is totally not fare!)
When there is trouble in a nearby city with spidrens Kel and her friends are ready to help with Sir Wyldon and even the head of the kings guard Sir Raoul, whom Kel is excited and honored to be with. She shows her true skills with her bird flawk and shows strength and courage when her friends are in tight spots. It is an excellent book!
Everyone out there who's read any of Tamora Pierce's books or even if you haven't read any of her amazing stories should definetley read 'Page'! But it would be best to go in order and read the book 'First test' before you read this.
-Hannah M.
Kel's journey continues 2006-11-14
Kel has done what many thought would be impossible. She has survived her first year as a page, despite the fact that she was on probation, and looked down upon for being a girl. In her remaining years as a page, this prejudice will still exist, but not to the same extent. Kel now has plenty of friends supporting her, and is a strong enough on her own to prove even the harshest critics wrong. Unfortunately, she finds herself up against many new challenges that she's not sure how to face down. As she enters adolescence, Kel finds herself transforming with a woman, not only physically but emotionally. Kel finds herself becoming attracted to one of her closet friends, and her developing body does not go unnoticed by one of her older friends (although Kel is completely blind to his feelings). Can Kel deal with both the physical and emotional trails of her final years of being a page?
Reading Page reminds me once again about what a likeable character Kel is. She is a strong girl, wise beyond her years as a result of a childhood spent in the Yamani Islands, and is willing to work past her own weaknesses. Page is an interesting book because it pits Kel up against challenges that are different from those found in weapon's practice and the school room. At the end of First Test, Lord Wyldon warned Kel that as she started to become a woman, she might find that being a knight is not something that she'd want to be. Kel realizes the reality of his claims in this book, yet never once backs down from her dream to be a knight. Another interesting aspect is Kel's personal changes are mirrored by the changes in Tortall. Tortall is a much different world in Kel's days than Alanna's and Kel witnesses many of these changes first hand. Page ends on an exciting note, not in a physical fight but where Kel has to face another one of her emotional demons. There is still much left unresolved, which will make any read excited about picking up the next book, Squire, as soon as they can.
Girl Power 2006-07-06
This is the first book in a set of four that is the third set of four in a series. The series starts with Alanna the First Adventure. In each set of four we meet a strong young girl fighting to discover how to be a woman on her own terms. In this set we meet Kel. With the support of her family and friends she works to balance her wish to be a knight (1 of only 2 girls ever) and her desire to still be a girl who wears dresses and enjoys being a girl.
Ana Clara 2006-03-30
This is a very vey good book, about a young girl who is the firt gil in tortall oficially to start training to become a Knight, and about all the difficulties she has to face, for example proving herself against all the other boys training to become knights. It a very good book, you will absolutly love it.
Best Author Ever! 2005-12-24
Tamora Pierce is the best author ever. A few days ago I lost this book, and it felt like I had lost a very good friend. Lickily I found it, though. I'd recomend any of her books.
Tamora Pierce has created another masterpiece! 2007-04-01
Keladry of Mindalen has passed her test and is now a full page, dreaming of becoming a knight. Kel is keeping up with life but it's getting hard. She still has to handle to fact that many, many people are still mad about her becoming a page. While she deals with this she is trying to maintain her training. And ALSO trying to deal with her feelings for her best friend, Nealan of Queenscove. In other words life is hectic for Keladry of Mindalen.
In this book there is a part where Keladry shows her skills and leads her friends out of a sticky situation where they're trapped by a group of bandits while the pages are on a little 'field trip'.
"Ladies have no place bearing arms..." I've said it once and I'll say it again...that's WRONG!
I hope you'll read this book, 'Page'. I'm sure you'll love it.
great 2007-02-16
I loved this book, the entire series is amazing. I cannot wait until I read the next one.
Tamora Pierce 2007-02-12
Tamora Pierce is an excellent writer. All of her books really put you into the stories and make you feel as though you know the characters personally. This book is no different.
A little too concise. 
2007-02-08
I gave the first of this series 5 stars, and reluctantly subtract one for the execution of her second. The premise is sound - she planned to deal with Kel as a child, a Page, a Squire, and finally as Lady Knight, but the pace and high drama of this book left many things feeling a bit rushed.
Firstly, expect the content to be notably more mature than in First Test. Kel deals with hitting puberty, hitting boys, being hit by boys, and a brutal regimen of forcing down her phobias. This, in addition to intense training, having (and dealing) with crushes on her fellow Pages, and proving over and over and over that she can and will "run with the big boys."
Despite cramming several years worth of experience (literally) into this book, Pierce does an admirable job of containing and streamlining it. The years are well defined, and the individual 'quests' are tightly written and clear. This book also handles the development of Kel's unique abilities in command. Her growing sympathy for commoners and the weak is showcased in a series of growing climaxes. The ending sequence is especially well-done, and younger readers will be very impressed with Kel's maturity and self-sacrifice.
Again, I find that Pierce writes extremely appropraitely for the age-level (estimating by Kel's own age, the pre-teen market) and I find that her focus on morality and strength of conviction in difficult circumstances is fitting for younger readers. I wholeheartedly suggest these books for parents wishing to instil those ideals in their children, in addition to reading them because they are simply VERY nicely crafted books.
**Lastly, as I warned for First Test = Parents who are very careful of the sexual, homosexual, or magical encounters their children have - PLEASE read these books before handing them over to your kids. I personally see nothing wrong with her handling of delicate issues, but you might. And to set your child on a series of entertaining books, and then later ban them for dealing with unfortunate subjects - this makes rebellious and NEEDLESSLY unhappy children. Please, if you are sensitive to sexual references (including a brief mention of homosexuality and extremely frank dealings with rape) and/or the use and presence of magic, please make sure YOU read this first.
Keladry of Mindelan for President! 2007-01-09
PAGE is the second installment in Tamora Pierce's PROTECTOR OF THE SMALL quartet and it improves on the already fantastic opening novel FIRST TEST. This particular series is again set in the enchanted kingdom of Tortall and features Keladry of Mindelan, now eleven years old and still as determined as ever to become a knight. In FIRST TEST, Kel successfully undergoes a probationary year which had been unfairly imposed upon her by the conservative training master Lord Wyldon, who doesn't believe that women are cut out to be knights. However, Kel truimphs over every test put in her path and Lord Wyldon has no choice but to add her officially to the ranks of pagehood.
PAGE chronicles Kel's three eventful years as a page. Here, she faces a diverse and ever escalating gamut of challenges, from battle lessons to physical tests of endurance and strength, from suffering growing pains (she develops a crush on a friend) to enduring the persisting scorn of several of the male fraternity, and, on one peril-fraught occasion, fighting for her very life as she and her fellow pages must face off against desperate bandits. And then, finally, there's the all-important and extremely difficult fourth-year exam, which will determine whether she'll advance to squirehood, the next rung up to knighthood. But an unexpected, catastrophic event will transpire which will endanger her chances of even attending the test and will pit her against her greatest weakness. Once again, Kel is well served by her fruitful time spent on the Yamani Islands as she habitually makes good use of the adopted martial training and the poise she had learned from her Yamani instructors. Also, now in her second year, Kel has garnered enough friendships amongst her peers that she doesn't feel quite so isolated. Her horse Peachblossom and her helpful flock of sparrows again prove to be invaluable. Meanwhile, her mysterious, unidentified benefactor pleasantly continues to present her with inestimably practical gifts.
As ever, Kel continues to champion the underdog and the helpless. Here, she takes into her care the homeless and homely but ingratiating mutt Jump (never mind that she's not allowed to have pets) and hires into her service the timid maid Lalasa, who had suffered ill-treatment in her past. Kel aims to foster a confidence in Lalasa by instilling in her a belief in her own worth and by teaching her various martial arts moves for self-protection. Kel also continues her informal evening hall patrol as she keeps a watchful eye out for her nemesis, Joren, and his disagreeable clique of hangers-on, who revel in the abuse of the hazing ritual, too often unlawfully beating up on smaller, newer, and younger pages.
Kel persists in being one of the better young heroines out there. I really liked her in FIRST TEST and, here, she's even more appealing. Unlike Alanna, Tamora Pierce's first heroine, Kel isn't imbued with a magical power and doesn't attempt to hide her gender. Kel is a GIRL and very proud to be one, and she doesn't take short cuts. Pierce nicely depicts sequences of Kel stubbornly working hard to better herself as she stoically suffers every bead of sweat, bruise, and ache brought on by her training. Thus, the reader actually ends up cheering all the more for the approbations she does receive.
By the way, I don't mean to knock Alanna. I also enjoyed the quartet of books about her. Her achievements are what made Kel's endeavor here possible. But, yeah, when you get right down to it, Alanna has a supernatural ability while Kel remains a regular human girl. To get even more nerdy, it's kind of like comparing Superman to Batman. Anyway, if you've already read FIRST TEST, I won't have to talk hard and fast to convince you to read PAGE, or the subsequent novels. I'm in the middle of reading SQUIRE right now, myself. And that one, so far, is even marginally better than FIRST TEST and PAGE.
