1. East, by Eadith Pattou

Quote from the back of the book (It's kind of hard to write my own description of this book without giving too much away):

Since the day she was born, it was clear that she had a special fate. Her supersticious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of her birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home...but she can't surprsess Rose's true nature.

So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it-in exchange for health and prosperity for her family-she readily accepts.

Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-and finds her purpose-and realizes that her journey has only just begun.
2. Gifts, by Ursula K. le Guin

It's about the Uplanders, which are groups of poor farmers in the Uplands. BUT-each different farming group has a gift. These gifts include "The calling" (calling animals), "The rein" (making somebody do your bidding) "The broom" (wiping your mind and making you an idiot) and "The undoing" (basically, destroying things...) The main character, Orrec, thinks that he didn't inherrit his father's gift of the undoing, until he kills an adder without even really meaning to. After a few more instances like that, he thinks that his gift can't be controlled. So, he wears a blindfold all the time in order to cancel out his gift. His mother, who is from the Lowlands, doesn't think it is really necessary.
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