First Test (Protector of the Small, Book 1) (original 1999; edition 1999)

Keladry of Mindelan wants to become a knight. However, she is the first girl to try openly, and many people don't think she should. In her first year, she has to deal with discrimination, bullying, weighted weapons, and an unruly horse, as well as otherworldly enemies. Fans of spunky heroines, fantasy, and noble adventure will love this series. Ages 10-16. Recommended purchase. ( )

A fun read recounting the story of Kel, a young girl who wants to become a knight, but she meets with resistance and prejudice as she takes up her training at the royal palace in the kingdom of Tortall. However, Kel is determined and manages to forge friendships and conquer her own fears. In addition, a few recognizable characters reappear from Tamora Pierce's previous fantasy series and First Test proves to be a promising beginning to a new series. ( )

In "First Test," author Tamora Pierce introduces her fans to the only girl to try for her knighthood since Alanna the Lioness earned her shield disguised as a man and King Jonathan threw open the knighthood to women. Unfortunately, the king has to keep his conservative nobles happy, and therefore consents to put our protagonist through a year of probation as a page, something the boys never have had to do.
Keladry of Mindelan is delightfully different from our old friend Alanna. Kel is blessed with different physical strengths as well as the ability to keep her emotions at bay, so while Kel still has to deal with bullies and hazing, the fact that she is practically Alanna's opposite as well as openly female makes for a very different reading experience than that of the Song of the Lioness quartet. This new series is a joy to read and I highly recommend it to young girls. ( )

I was in high school when I first discovered Tamora Pierce, and immediately fell in love. I tried to get my younger sisters interested, but they wouldn't bite (until later...).

Now, 15 years later, I still like Tamora Pierce. I think the beginning of Kel's story is slow. I much prefer some of the later books in the series. But I still enjoy this one. I like Kel's dogged determination. I like her best friend, Neal, an outcast of sorts, just like her.

It's a great read for any middle school girl, just like any other books by Pierce would be. ( )

Following in the steps of Alana 'the Lioness' is Keladry (Kel) of Mindelan, a 10-year-old is dead-set on becoming a knight like her hero. Unlike Alana though, Kel doesn't have magic to help her. Instead she has greater bulk and height, as well as training from an island where the marshal arts are taugh -- think Tai Chi, Judo, Kendo.
The setting is the court of King Jonathan of Tortall. The landscape has changed from that of the Lioness Quartet because of the Immortal Wars wherein magical creatures have been let loose on the world.
The other thing that is different is that much of the forward progress that Alana made has vanished. The new knight trainer, Lord Wyldon, strongly believes women and girls have no place as knights. He's so stubborn that he insists he will quit unless the King a) makes Kel's first year probationary, and b) makes Alana swear that she will not communicate with the girl during that time. And as you can well imagine, such an attitude rubs off on the boys, who are just as mean to Kel as they were to Alana in her own time as a page.

This book is great. However it gets boring near the end because they do the samething over and over again. But I like it myself because King Johnathon is giving Kel a chance. I like this because girls can be just as strong as men. What I don't like in this book though is that Alana and Daine aren't in the book as much. Overall it's a great 5/5. ( )

Have ever been told the story of Jean of Arc? Well if you like that you'll love First Test by Tamora Pierce. Keladry of Mindelan, a ten year old is the first "GIRL" to attend trainning for knights in the mystical and medival world of Tortall. You'll feel like your in the book, beside Kel as you read through the pages of Tamora Pierce's First Test.

Keladry of Mindelan also known as Kel is the first girl to ever attend knight trainning after trainning in the royal palace of the Yamani's for six years. after arriving in in her new school in the land of Tortall, she soon finds the difficulties of being a girl in a man's world. she meets the trainning master lord Wyldon who is determined to fail her along with Joren and many others wanting the same, however there are just as many who want to help like the prince Roald and her caring sponsor Neal. Kel is placed on probation by lord Wyldon and given more to endure by her fellow pages and her teachers then any of the male pages through her first year in knight trainning. Sabotage, bullying, and sexism is part of Kel's daily schedule as she struggles to get through her first year. Tamora Pierce's First Test is like a story about Jean of Arc's childhood and represents many struggles that women have in the modern world. It's one the must read books of the year. ( )

I love Tamora Pierce. Love, love, love Tamora Pierce. I'm so sad that I missed her when I was reading YA books as a YA. I want to foist her on every girl I know. And yet, every time I go to read another of her books, I'm resistant at the beginning. I always expect it to be dreadful and it's always completely the opposite.

It's because I think I hate fantasy. Except I obviously don't hate fantasy. I just finished The Protector of the Small quartet, another series set in the kingdom of Tortall, like the Alanna books and the Trickster books, which kingdom is just crawling with mages and people with the Gift and the Sight and thus and such. And I loved it. However, Kel, the heroine, is not magically assisted in any way. She just gets up before dawn and trains with weighted weapons and does everything possible to make herself a total bad-ass in order to defend small creatures and children and servants and the like.

Tamora Pierce's books always make me proud to be a woman. It's like Clare Booth Luce said:

"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.' "

These girls represent! All her heroines succeed far beyond expectation in a man's world, without surrendering their female-ness at all. They take lovers or not, as they wish, they alone decide when to marry and when to have children, they become completely fearsome warriors and commanders but with "womanly" mercy ... Dare I say it? They are great role models! Would that every twelve-year-old I hand these to is similarly inspired.

I only have one complaint about this book. I miss Daine and Alanna! Of course that goes away once you get attached to Kelandry who is one tough girl. Someone any girl can look up to when they need to learn that sometimes the best thing you can do is be strong and stick to what you believe. This is a great first novel for the third quartet placed in Tortall. It is enjoyable and a smooth read. Now that I have been spoiled by Beka Cooper I don’t feel as much of an attachment to Kelandry but as you read on to the next three books in the series you start to love her more and more. She is so strong that I always find that I look up to her. Tamora Pierce definitely knows how to write a strong female lead!

Sincerely,
Emma Michaels
http://EmmaMichaels.Blogspot.com ( )

Set in the Tortall universe, Keladry, like Alanna, seeks to be a lady knight, and at first the kinship with those first Pierce books featuring Alanna seems quite apparent. But openly female, Keladry faces a different set of challenges, and she's very much a different personality. I fast fell in love with Keladry and the stoic exterior beneath which there is a real chivalry. I particularly liked the arc of Wyldon of Cavall's character in this book. ( )

More good kid-friendly lit from Tamora Pierce.

Following in the steps of Alana 'the Lioness' is Keladry (Kel) of Mindelan, a 10-year-old is dead-set on becoming a knight like her hero. Unlike Alana though, Kel doesn't have magic to help her. Instead she has greater bulk and height, as well as training from an island where the marshal arts are taugh -- think Tai Chi, Judo, Kendo.

The setting is the court of King Jonathan of Tortall. The landscape has changed from that of the Lioness Quartet because of the Immortal Wars wherein magical creatures have been let loose on the world.

The other thing that is different is that much of the forward progress that Alana made has vanished. The new knight trainer, Lord Wyldon, strongly believes women and girls have no place as knights. He's so stubborn that he insists he will quit unless the King a) makes Kel's first year probationary, and b) makes Alana swear that she will not communicate with the girl during that time. And as you can well imagine, such an attitude rubs off on the boys, who are just as mean to Kel as they were to Alana in her own time as a page.

Talking Points
It's a pleasure to watch Kel prove herself. She does have her strengths and stoic training which helps her, but so do the boys have their strengths and weaknesses. And, as always, Tamora Pierce's writing is more than competent and entertaining.

It hasn't been but a few weeks since I read the first book in the Alana series. And while the court and the processes of the page's training were similar, I didn't find the books so similar that I wasn't rivoted by First Test. Kel and Alana are different people, as are the boys they find themselves amongst.

I don't know honestly what boys think of this series, but Tamora Pierce gives girls strong role models that don't give up, and who are intelligent and compassionate. I highly recommend Pierce to adventure loving girls which this caveat: This FIRST book is not as good as the following books.

Finally, this series is in the 'Juvenile' section of our library, but I found the personal dilemmas that pop up in the subsequent books to be very much like the ones found in Pierce's YA-books. Which is to say that the author includes conversations about puberty, boys and desire.

Pam T~
mom and reviewer at Booksforkids-reviews.com ( )

Pierce is one of my all-time favorite YA authors, I have to restrain myself from reading the Tortall books more than once a year - and sometimes I fail...

Anyway, this is the first book with Keladry of Mindalen. Although a law passed ten years ago that girls were permitted to try for knighthood if they so choose, no one had yet come forth to do so. Now Kel wants to try for her shield, but she'll have even more trials than Alanna (The Song of the Lioness quartet) because everyone knows she is The Girl.

This describes Kel's first year as a page, and how she struggles to be accepted by the boys and her teachers. I love these books because all of the characters are well developed. Kel and her male friends are a rich tapestry of personalities, and we have the occasional cameo by someone in the earlier books. There is also the introduction of another culture that exists in this world, the Yamini (akin to an Oriental culture), who Kel's family spent the last several years with negotiating a peace treaty - so essentially she is straddling two different cultures and struggling to fit into either of these worlds.

Friends have been telling me to read Tamora Pierce for years, but I didn’t want to read something where the idea of a female warrior as a main character, was shoved down my throat. But I was wrong! Pierce is a great writer who seems to make her heroines sweat and bleed to succeed. This is the first book in the Protector of the Small series, and is about a ten year old girl called Kel. Her dream is to become a lady knight, and she has to use her wits and her courageous spirit to overcome obstacles and prove that she has what it takes to make it. Kel is very believable and very relatable. She’s an ambitious girl, and I’m excited to read what happens next! Definitely a good read for all ages. ( )

This was a refreshing story seeing a heroine in a medieval fantasy setting. I don't read much fantasy, but it usually seems to be a male dominated field for heroes. The setting is a fantasy medieval kingdom and the theme is overcoming societal restrictions. In this story, ten-year-old Keladry of Mindalen, daughter of nobles, serves as a page but must prove herself to the males around her if she is ever to fulfill her dream of becoming a knight. This book would be excellent for the middle school LMC especially for young girls looking to read about a non-traditional heroine. This book is part of a series of books which the TL may also look at to include in the collection. ( )

It was pleasant to read this book once more. I like Keladry's sense of chivalry; one of my favorite parts of the book has always been her rounds of "bully patrol". Also, her sparrow friends were a nice touch. I don't think there was anything I disliked about the book. One thing I look foreward to in the second book is if she gets over her fear of heights. ( )

This was the first in a new quartet set in Tortall, this one a couple of years after The Immortals quartet ends. The story is about Kel (Keladry) who is the first girl to take the King up on his new law which states that girls can train as pages to become knights. The new training master, however, does not believe in this law and doesn't want her to be allowed to train, but with the help of the King and the Lioness, he agrees to train her on probation: she has one year to prove to him that she is as good as all the other pages.
Kel is a great new character who is strong and determined to prove she can keep up with the work. She's also extremely honorable and can't stand to see others being bullied or hurt, whether it be a fellow page or a beaten dog.
Great book for all girls 10 and up. ( )

Book 1 in the "Protector of the Small" quartet - my favorite quartet in the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce. ( )

This was the first of Tamora Pierce's books I ever read, and I was instantly hooked. Keladry is a great pre-teen heroine who grows over the next four books into a great teen heroine: a great role model for girls everywhere. She's smart and fun and works hard. She's a great friend and does the honorable thing, no matter how difficult. Pierce writes about characters you can't help but love in stories you can't wait to read. I love her stuff! ( )

Another great series by Pierce and not to be missed. I hope we get a follow up series on this one as the ending is quite as tied up as i would like! ( )

One of my favorites! ( )

I appreciate Tamora Pierce's efforts to write strong, independent, inspiring heroines, really I do. It's just that they're starting to get a little Mary Sue-ish, or rather, their Mary Sue-ish-ness is starting to bother. Because... of COURSE Alanna has one of the most powerful magical Gifts in the country, and of COURSE she's the best swordsman of her age, and of COURSE Daine is the most powerful Wildmage there ever was and of COURSE she's also the best archer. Kel's a little better, no magical gift, nothing particularly extraordinary about her, but of COURSE she's trained by age ten in hand-to-hand combat and quarterstaff fighting. This book tells her story as the first girl to enter knight training since Alanna, and the first to do it openly as a female. The book moves along quickly enough as Kel learns to find and assert her place and deal with the bullies, but the central conflict is pretty weak - no one thinks, even for a second, that she's not going to be allowed to continue with her training. Personally, I was more interested in Alanna's story (having to hide that she's a girl) than Kel's (having to deal with bullying because she's a girl), but I'll press on with the series anyways. ( )

Kel wants to become a lady knight like her hero, Sir Alanna. The first of the Protector of the Small series sees her settling into the training regime and dealing with the jealousies and prejudices of the other pages and the training master.

The best of the tamora pierce series, followed by the circle of magic series.
Great for any girl! ( )

Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl in ten years to decide to train as a knight of Tortall. She trains to dispel the still-held notions that girls are weaker and not up to the obstacles posed by knighthood. Kel is a strong protagonist, but very different from Alanna. Her stoic warrior philosophy gleaned from her years as an ambassador's daughter in the Yamani islands colors her experience.

I enjoyed this series, but I never related as much to Kel as I did to Alanna. The stoicism and levelheaded calm that characterizes Kel simply do not speak to me like the hot temper and sheer stubbornness that guided Alanna.

All in all I still love Pierce's writings, although I feel that Kel's friends got short shrift in this initial tale. This isn't the Song of the Lioness, but it is well worth reading.

Another fantastic girl power story from the master of strong young female protagonists. ( )