Page (Protector of the Small, book 2), by Tamora Pierce; young adult; 257 pages (about 6 1/2 hours on audio)
This book covers the remaining three years of Kel's education as a page, culminating in her exams to become a squire (subsequent books are titled Squire and Lady Knight, so there's no mystery as to whether or not she passes). As I said before, the conflicts in this series don't seem to be quite as earth-shaking as in the Alanna and Daine quartets--here, Kel's main challenge is proving herself as a warrior, and protecting her servants from harassment. I did notice that this book tackles some more mature issues, like social classes and sexism, that the other books have glossed over. Also, the conflicts seem to be more shades of grey rather than black and white; by the end of this book I still don't know who the bad guy is, because there are simply too many possibilities. I find I'm enjoying these books more as a result, though that may simply be that I'm closer to the intended audience's age than the previous entries.
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