I'm a librarian who loves anime, manga, and reading a wide variety of genres.
I keep thinking about this book, particularly the beginning of it. It isn't my favorite of the Twelve Kingdoms books, and I prefer the second half to the first. Even so, I keep thinking about Yoko, the teenage girl who suddenly finds herself named the ruler of a whole kingdom in a world where nothing works the way she's used to things working.
During the beginning of her rule, she's paralyzed by doubt. How can she make decisions if she has no idea what she's doing? Afraid of making a mistake, she lets others make her decisions for her, but that turns out to be a mistake too. Before things get too bad, she decides to disappear for a bit and secretly live with a teacher who will at least help her learn how this new world she's living in works, so that she can start making informed decisions. She knows she'll be criticized for this in the short run, but in the long run (and in this world that could be hundreds of years) it'll help her kingdom prosper.
::sigh:: I don't particularly want to reread it at the moment, but, like I said, I keep thinking about it.