Forest Born, by Shannon Hale

Okay, this is what I like about Shannon Hale's strong heroines: they DO stuff, they balance negative things with positive ones, and although they have a tendency to save worlds and kingdoms, they are the kind of people you'd love to have for friends as well. (As opposed to the I-hate-relationships-so-stay-away-from-me-so-I-can-be-strong-and-absolutely-alone kind, or the I-casually-kill-people kind, or the let's-eradicate-men kind. (For the record, I also dislike books that seek to eradicate women.)

Forest Born is a girl power book, wherein four smart, powerful, brave girls leave the men at home watching the kids and go off to save the kingdom because they are the ones who can. There are small children as side characters who manage not to do the baby black hole thing. (Baby black hole=baby or small child used as accessory in novel but which sucks attention away from MC and yet, as an undeveloped lump of character, doesn't have enough personality to sustain interest, thus sagging the story. Usually occurs when the writer has very little experience around small children and doesn't know what they are really like.) Shannon Hale obviously knows what brothers and nephews and mothers and sisters and friends and kids you babysit are all about. Her voice comes through really strong throughout the whole book--cheerfulness, humor, determination, and finding balance. If I can't be Shannon Hale when I grow up, it wouldn't be half bad to be one of her characters. (Although I don't think I'd like fire speaking very much--I'd have to find another talent!)