Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce.

In which ten-year old Alanna sneaks of to court of Tortall, disguised as a boy named Alan. She becomes a page there and befriends other pages, the prince, and the King of Thieves. During her training she fights mean bullies, battles the sweating sickness, suspects Duke Rodger the prince's cousin and court magican, and proves herself to be as good as the boys. But when she starts her period unexpectedly she goes to George, the King of Thieves, for help. He is more than surprised to find that she is a girl, but takes her to his mother who tells Alanna about womanhood. From then on Alanna and George are best friends. She is invited to join her friends on a trip to the desert to meet some of the locals, where they hear the story of the Black City, and abandoned city with has evil magic that pulls youths to it and eats them up. Alanna wakes in the night and with the Prince they ride to the city. They meet the magical elders and fight an amazing magic battle, that ends with secrets being discovered.

I LOVE this book. I love the whole Alanna series! I think Alanna has become one of my favorite heroines ever. In the beginning Alanna secretly switches places with her twin brother Thom to be a knight while Thom goes to become a sorcerer. Alanna's relationship with all her friends is so much fun to read about it makes you laugh, smile, frown, and you feel every emtion that they are feeling. I Loved all of her friends, Coram, her loving manservant who has been with her since the beginning, Prince Jonathan, George, and Sir Myles, a elderly kinght and teacher who becomes Alanna's new loving father. Tamora Pierce is an amazing writer and I love reading all her books and her heroines are a blast to read about.

This book is in The Song of the Lioness series.

Reccommended for people who like: spunky girls, magic, battles, and amazing friendship.

The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy

In which twelve year old Joan is doubting she will like living in California, when she meets the Queen of the Foxes and her whole life changes. Fox (her real name is Sarah) and Joan become fast friends and soon are spending all their afternoons together climbing trees and becoming the wild girls. When school starts, they enter a contest to write a short story and they win. They meet a writer who likes their story and asks them to join her writing class for the summer and they agree. Joan and Sarah meet many new interesting people and learn to live more freely and ask wonderful questions. The class helps Joan and Sarah deal with the hard problems they are having with their parents and brings them closer together.


It's written in first-person from Joan's view. This story was one of the best books that I have ever read. It was so realistic that I felt very much for the characters and as I got deeper into the story I felt that it was really real and I want to jump in and join them. I LOVED Sarah and Joan's relationship. They were the best-true-friends that everyone always wishes to have. Verla Volante is fabulous! I would very much love to join her class. I loved all the questions she asks and how everyone answers them, it feels like you are almost in it yourself. It was very sad to read about Sarah and Joan's parental problems, but it was interesting to read about what it might be like to have a family that was so torn. It made me feel very blessed to have my wonderful close family and it makes me feel awful for the families in real life that have these problems. I will be suggesting this book to all my friends.
Recommended for people who like: foxes, lipstick war paint, and amazing friendship.