Young Adult Romance Shout Out! - Tamora Pierce

I can still remember when I first discovered Tamora Pierce. It was my first year of secondary school and like all little nerds and bookworms I had very few friends and made a bee-line for the library as soon as I could.

Compared to the library at my primary school I thought I had died and gone to bookie heaven – I mean there was even an ADULT(ish) section as the library had to cater to up to 18-19 year olds.

It was during my perusal of these brand new (to me) shelves of YA books that I found the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce and I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread! Everyone else was reading about the adventures of a boy wizard while I was desperate to know if Alanna was going to complete her knights training without being found out that she was a girl!

Tamora Pierces writing just swallowed me up and I couldn’t get enough.

Her books have everything and more.

Goodies, baddies, adventure, hidden identities, betrayal, romance, drama, angst…the list goes on.

Her heroines are so strong, they know their own minds and what they want and they don’t let others fulfil their goals for them.

There is also mature content in her books. But, one of the best things that has always stood out to me about that side of things is that her heroines take responsibility for their own bodies and will get themselves that universes version of birth control – this is usually some kind of charm. They know that they might not be ready to take that step with whoever they are with right at that moment but for when they are – either through their own initiative or through another woman’s guidance – they make sure they are prepared.

Although romance is a feature of these books it is not the be all and end all of the stories. Tamora Pierces heroines can prioritise. They know that there are things going on that are bigger than themselves – I’m not saying that they don’t have any emotional break downs or anything – and they don’t let their personal lives become their one and only focus.

I have not read all of Tamora Pierce’s work – I am trying my best though :) – but I cannot imagine her heroines diverting much from the headstrong blue print – other than in their personalities.

Her books are great adventures and I have been recommending the ones I HAVE read for years! If you have wanted a story where it is the girl dressed in chain-mail and brandishing the sword than these books are definitely up your street!