Ursula K. Le Guin - Tombs of Atuan

An isolated young priestess reclaims her past and her future in this YA fantasy, the second installment in the classic Earthsea series. As a child, Tenar was taken away from her parents and taken to a shrine deep in the desert. There, she was renamed Arha, the Eaten One, and raised to be High Priestess of the Nameless Ones--the ancient spirits that rule the eternally dark Tombs of Atuan. The uniqueness of her position makes Arha's life fairly lonely and monotonous, and despite her lofty title, she does not have a great deal of power over others. But her circumstances undergo a dramatic and welcome change when she encounters a thief intent on stealing the Tombs' most valuable treasure. The thief is actually a wizard named Ged, the protagonist of the previous book, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA. A 1972 Newbery Honor Book.