Dragonsong

This book is also set in Pern, running about the same time as the Dragonrider series. This book focuses on the Harper part of Pern. Instead of sending kids to school everyday to learn to read, do math, etc., they get sent to the Hold Harper who teaches them the teaching songs which teach them about the history of Pern and their duties to the Weyr and their Lord Holder.
Menolly is the youngest daughter of many. Her father is the Lord Holder at Half-Circle Sea Hold and is a very strict man with no sense of humor and very little tolerance for change. Menolly is probably the most talented musician in Pern, but because she's a girl she is considered a disgrace. After getting beaten for playing part of a song that she had written herself and cutting her hand open and handicaping herself, she runs away from the safety of the Hold and lives in the wilderness for a couple of months. While she's out there she Impresses nine fire lizards, which are basically small lizards. Kind of like the difference between a tiger and a house cat. She is eventually found by a dragonrider and sent to the Weyr and finally gets to meet the Masterharper of Pern. He convinces her to go to the Harper Hall and we are left wondering what next? I love these books and I need to go find the second of the series, Dragonsinger.