Page (Protector of the Small, Book 2) (original 2000; edition 2000)

A page at last, Kel continues her journey to become a knight, despite the lingering doubts about her ability as a girl to complete the training. With the help of friends, Kel faces down her challengers and learns to test her courage on new levels. A fun read, and I look forward to continuing the series. ( )

In "Page," readers follow Keladry of Mindelan in her second year of training for the knighthood. Allowed to continue after her year of probation, Keladry is by no means beyond all of her troubles. Her foes are simply becoming cleverer and more subtle in their attempts to remove her from training. In addition, her training master is actively forcing her to work on her fear of heights, and she's coming into adolescence, with all of the annoyances that entails.
Kel's adventures and trials are great fun to follow, and I yet again recommend this series to young readers. ( )

Keladry is the only girl among the pages being trained by Lord Wyldon of Cavall. In the previous book, she proved her worth by enduring the training challenges with the male pages and taking a stance against bullying and hazing among the pages and squires. Kel's desire to protect the weak is further examined when she adopts a maid who is often faced with sexual assault. In this sequal, Kel still faces the attempts by others to sabotage her success and still receives gifts from an unknown benefactor. The feminist themes of this novel are appropriate for the intended audience, including the events of Kel's puberty. The world Pierce has created is believable, an especially important mark of excellence in fantasy novels. This book is best suited to girls aged 11-14 who are fans of fantasy. ( )

I only have one major complaint about this book. It's too short to cover the 3 years of Kel's life that it did cover. It feels like we get really in depth about some things, then rushed through huge gaps of time, which I'm not very fond of.

Other than that, though, it's a great book. ( )

In this 2nd book of Protecter of the Small series, Kel is off probation. While being off probation Lord Wyldon still pushes her harder than another other boy. Her secret helper gives her a new sword, balm, dagger, and even some saddlebag and saddle. As she keeps progressing in tilting Lord Wyldon makes it harder and harder for her with new objects. Kel's small flock of sparrows double in size and intellegince. Then one day training she finds a new dog. When traveled to the south Kel and her hunting group stumbles across a bandit camp. How will she deal with it?

My own opinion is that's it a great book. I like how Kel helps the younger pages with Joren and his cronies. What I don't like about this though is that Lord Wyldon still pushes Kel harder than the boys. Lord Wyldon is quite mean in my opinion still pushing Kel to make her fear of heights go completely away. I love how Pierce leaves you hanging at the end of this book. Overall I believe this book is great. If you like reading from a gierl's point of veiw read it but remember you must like medieval times. Overall I rate this a 5/5. ( )

For those of you who read First test you understand what Kel had to go to in order to become a Page, only her story isn’t anywhere near finished yet. This novel covers her years as a Page and you even get a hint of Daine on the scene for those of you who loved The Immortal Quartet. She finds herself receiving more gift from her mysterious benefactor and learns to show a more emotional side to some individuals, which we get to finally see start to come out a bit more. She even finds some new friends including a woman she saves, though I won’t say more than that and a wonderful little animal to add her large range of wonderful pets. This book deals with bullying which is a topic not many can cover with as much blatant grace but Tamora Pierce manages to do so wonderfully.

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

A great book in the Protector of the Small series. I would highly recommend. ( )

IF you were disappointed in the "First Test", keep on reading. "Page" and Squire are so much better.

At the end of "First Test", Kel had struggled through her first probationary year, and managed to get permission to return from the taciturn and conservative knight trainer, Lord Wyldon. In "Page", Kel picks up an odd list of friends, including a beat up dog, some sparrows, and a maid who becomes the counter to her inherent strengths.

Like Alana, Keladry faces off with bullies amongst the other squires and pages, but unlike Alana she takes a harder stand against the hazing; which earns her enemies that are definitely more dangerous than any Alana faced.

A really good book. Lots of adventure. I recommend it.

Talking Points:::
Page is a good adventure book which addresses some more serious issues. I really like Pierce's, and consequently Kel's, harder stance against hazing and bullying in this book. Pierce addresses these issues more realistically, and demonstrates to the reader that small crimes can lead to larger ones.

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

Page covers Kel's second, third, and forth years as a page. She passed her first year's probationary period and has gained acceptance from many people, but she still must fight prejudice from some quarters, including several teachers, a gaggle of fellow students, and conservative nobles who oppose any change in the status quo.

This book has its ups and downs. The dialogue occasionally knocks me out of suspension of disbelief by being sounding too modern and there are long stretches of time that are glossed over or simply absent because the book covers three years and occasionally this is jarring. However, overall I enjoy the book. ( )

I'm very proud of myself! Three books in 3 days and two of them in less than 24 hours each. I had remembered very little of Page and don't recall anything from Squire. My favorite part of Page would ahve been to be the gifts from her "mysterious benefactor" and watching Keladry come into womanhood. I look foreward to seeing who chooses Keladry as their Squire in the sequal. ( )

In the second book of the quartet, Kel has proved that she can keep up with the boys. In this book, Kel is growing up and learning all new things about 'womanhood', both physically and emotionally-starting to fill out her clothes differently and seeing friends in new ways. Her enemy bullies are still trying to get rid of her, and they'll stop at nothing to make sure she doesn't pass her end of year exams. ( )

I loved this book. It's the second in the series by Tamora Pierce. I've been reading all her series that revolve around the world of Tortall (sp?) and I just love her main female characters. In this book, Kel is finally turning into a young lady, despite all of her training. She is starting to get treated a bit differently by the other pages and I can feel some starting feelings of romance. I just love these series that Tamora Pierce writes. ( )

I really like this book it is very suspenseful!!! I really like the author's type of writing!

Awesome! Probably one of the favourites of the Tamora Pierce lot. ( )

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading Tamora Pierce until I picked up the Protector of the Small series and decided to finish reading it. It's been, oh, six or seven years since I completed the Wild Magic and Circle of Magic series. I remember that I devoured those books (book candy!), but when I got to this series, I read the first title of the quartet and then put it down and haven't touched it since.

What was I thinking? This series is wonderful. Perhaps what put me off was the lack of a magical main character. Kel, the heroine of these novels, is a young girl who wants to become a knight in the kingdom of Tortall. But she doesn't have any secret magical gift to aid her; her journey is accomplished through grit and determination, overcoming the huge obstacles with sheer will power and courage. I can see that at one time, when I was younger, I would have been disappointed by the magic-less story, but now I find Kel to be perhaps even more compelling than those earlier heroines.

In this second book of the quartet, Kel has already survived her initial testing year, and is proceeding through the remaining three years of being a page (precursor to being a squire, which is precursor to being a knight). As long as she completes the big exams at the end of year four, all is well. Of course, there are many who still don't want her to succeed. The previous book covered one year, this one covers three, in about the same number of pages. However, Pierce does a nice job of not rushing the tempo too much. She hits the high notes, the exciting events that occur in the lives of the students, and summarizes the rest. My only issue was that we did not get to read any real details about the big exams. I understand that the climax of the story had already taken place, so it would have lacked dramatic tension, and yet ... we spent so much time building up to them, it was a shame to just have them referred to and not really written out.

The world of Tortall continues to be unique and engaging, but what makes this book really shine are the characters. I admit it, I'm a sucker for girl power stories. Kel is brave, determined, and stubborn. She's as tall as the boys (taller than some), broad shouldered, and strong. Kudos to Tamora Pierce for not feeling like she had to make Kel beautiful, as well. Her looks are just average, but her personality is fantastic. She does have her feminine side, as well: she is more nurturing than her male classmates, and she starts to have a very girl-like crush on one of them.

Neal, the lanky and sarcastic page that is older than all the others, is a nice counterpoint to Keladry. He was her sponsor the first year, and he is as unlikely a candidate for knighthood as Kel is a match. The addition of feisty Owen, and his adoration of Kel, brings another fun character to the mix. Lalasa, Kel's meek maid, brings us another girl who must learn to protect herself. We even get to see Joren again, the character we love to hate.

Now that I've started the series, I'm eager to finish the rest of the quartet. The next book covers all her years of being a squire, and then we finally get to see Kel accomplish her hard work of becoming a knight in the final novel. I'm almost as excited as Kel is to see the realization of her dream. ( )

This is a wonderful story with appeal to girls between 11 and 14 or so. The story is the second of the Protector of the Small series and traces Keladry of Mindalan's second through fourth year as a page in the Royal palace. I had not read the first book of the series, First Test, but I didn't feel that that mattered.

As the only female page, Kel is subject to a great deal of harassment from some of the older pages, something that began during her first year and in the previous book. She works harder than anyone else to meet the standards set to become a squire, never complaining about the harassment. As she reaches adolescense, Kel also begins to notice changes in her body and to develop feelings for one of her fellow pages, Neal.

Early on she comes to have a servant girl who has previously been the victim of abuse and continues to be, with Kel coming to the rescue on a number of occasions. She insists that Lalassa learn to defend herself. Magical animals, a mangy dog and a flock of sparrows befriend Kel. They often come to her assistance, but she herself must rely on skill and practice.

There is no lack of action and suspense in the story. In the course of her second year training, she and a group of other pages are set upon by bandits in addition to the regular harassment of older pages. Kel always rises to every occasion, proving herself a natural leader. And as her final examination draws near, tension builds as events conspire to prevent her from taking the exams. ( )

My 16-year-old daughter asked me to read this book and I'm glad I did. Tamora really knows how to capture teenage girls personal attributes and make a believable character. ( )

This is not a good cover but it was the only one i could find >. ( )

More of the same - Kel has passed her probationary year as a page, and has three years of pageship to endure before taking the test to become a squire. The book was rushed in parts, and slow in others. Otherwise, the large part of the bullying from her first year has stopped, so it doesn't seem that Kel's really fighting against anything different than the rest of the pages most of the time. I can see how this would be a good book for older kids/youngish teens, but for anyone older, it's a little boring - the only real excitement comes in the final few chapters, and even then there's a sense that it's just a set-up for a future book... a lot of ends are left loose. ( )

Kel has proven that she can keep up with the boys in her training to become a knight. This second year she experiences her first combat and works on overcoming her fears.

In this second book of the Protector of the Small series, Kel has been formally made a page. Her classmates and her teachers gradually learn to treat her as an equal. Kel also gains a maid whom she teaches self-defense even as she's training hard to excel at her own studies and discovers her talent for commanding and tactics.

Kel grows more likeable in this book as circumstances force her to socialize and interact more with others. She loses some of her inscrutable Yamani calm, and we learn her vulnerabilities and how she adapts to becoming a woman surrounded by young men.

A good solid read with more charm than the first in the series. ( )

This book was great for me when I was twelve. Now, at seventeen and after many, many readings, it has become boring. There isn't a lot of conflict. Much of the pleasure I derived from the story was its novelty, its uniqueness. Such pleasures have necessarily decreased with consumate rereadings. Once you know the story, it's nothing new and nothing to get excited about.

'Page' is a fine book, but nothing extraordinary. ( )

In this installment of the Protector of the Small quartet, Kel has survived her probationary year as the first female page in Tortall (other than Alanna, who was disguised as a boy). She has, in some measure, won the respect of Lord Wyldon and her fellow pages, but she still has enemies among the pages who are more conservative (and more bullying) in their outlook. Meanwhile, Kel has to deal with (horrors!) the onset of puberty and all the embarassments involved.

At times this installment felt rushed, as Pierce tries to fit three years of pageship into one novel. But it's a good one nontheless. ( )