The False Prince / Jennifer Nielsen / 342 pages

Nielsen creates a mythical world in which the king, queen & heir apparent are all murdered.  The only hope for Carthya is if the regents accept a boy as the long-lost prince and allow him to rule the country.  The power-hungry regents are anything but honest, border countries are ready to invade at the first sign of civil war, and one of the regents has a plan to pass off an orphan as the long-lost prince and rule as the puppet master.  Here we have the story with all its glorious twists and turns of the two week training period to turn Sage, Tobias or Roden into Prince Jaron.  Plans are for the two boys not chosen to meet dire consequences.  The story has a very satisfactory ending, but you will get no spoiler here.  You must read it for yourself.  Recommended fantasy for grades 5-7.  Oh, by the way, this is the first book in a trilogy so you have more to look forward to.  Hope Nielsen is a fast writer.