I'm taking a break from moving pictures and random lists to bring you my answer to a challenge thrown at me by the lovely and talented Ellis Walker to list my 10 favorite literary characters. Let me tell you folks, making this list was harder than being in a chocolate shop and not consuming every piece in the display cases. So without further adieu, here is my hard thought over list!
1) Anne Frank of The Anne Frank Diary: This girl was so wonderful. She wrote her emotions and expressed her thoughts better than most girls her age. Reading her book was like reading some one's soul. A beautiful, sensitive, warm, and wonderful soul that would have lived to shed light and wisdom on a world that needed it. Every girl could relate to her--despite the fact she lived in a converted attic in Nazi Germany. I remember crying both from happiness that I had found some one to relate to, and because that person was taken away from the earth before she could fully live.
2) Charlotte Lucas of Pride and Prejudice: Lizzie Bennet is wonderful and witty and my kind of sassy girl. But Charlotte isn't given as much credit nor always looked at. But I loved her because she was both witty and sensible, and kept Lizzie grounded when she got a little too carried away. Some might think she was boring for her choice to marry a man she didn't love and choosing instead a man she could control. But the truth is, that was how it was at the time for many women. And I loved that she not only had the courage to make that decision, but to do so with grace and humor. I would loveto have tea with her and spend the day discussing the foibles of people. We need friends like her! Who call it like they see it, and have your best interest at heart!
3) Sarah Crewe of A Little Princess: This girl. This girl was my hero. I related to her so much because like her, I was often surrounded by young children (even as a child) because I loved telling stories. Loved it. I loved reading books for hours and then retelling tales to younger children. And while I was never born and raised in India nor was I ever in a boarding house and turned into a servant, I kept her mantra in my own mind whenever I was made fun of during my childhood. “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young. They’re still princesses.”
4) Bilbo Baggins of The Hobbit: Yes, he lived in a hole (but a very nice hole) in the ground. But though he was small of stature and had a habit of being stuck in his ways, he took the leap into the unknown. He fought spiders despite his fears, faced goblins, and riddles, and the mad elven king. He left a life of comfort and safety despite his better judgment and the scorn of his peers. You know...kind of like a writer. Bilbo is one of my favorites because he shows that despite faults and fears and heck, even stature, you can also be more than you think you are.
5) Alanna Trebond of the Alanna Series: This was the book and the writer that opened my eyes as a 12 year old and made me realize: I wanted to write stories like this. I wanted to touch people. Alanna holds a place near and dear to my heart because she's a completely imperfect character. She's short tempered (and short), impulsive, and resists even the good things in her life. She gets older in the books, learns and change--and yet still she's imperfect and retains some of her foibles from her childhood. She shows girls that you don't have to be perfect and that no one is perfect. She's a wonderful role model in that regard.
6) Sam Gribley of My Side of the Mountain: Since I had a dad who felt that knowing how to survive in the wild was a necessary tool, I spent many a weekend (and sometimes weeks) in the wild lands my dad owned in the mountains. I lived in moccasins and learned to track and other survival methods. So reading this book only inflamed my need to want to live on my own in the woods. I related to Sam a lot as a kid, and I always wished I had a falcon like him! I would have loved to learn from him (if was real!) and be his friend!
Stay tuned for the last four....and my list of the people I will in turn challenge! Because who doesn't love a literary challenge eh?!
3) Sarah Crewe of A Little Princess: This girl. This girl was my hero. I related to her so much because like her, I was often surrounded by young children (even as a child) because I loved telling stories. Loved it. I loved reading books for hours and then retelling tales to younger children. And while I was never born and raised in India nor was I ever in a boarding house and turned into a servant, I kept her mantra in my own mind whenever I was made fun of during my childhood. “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young. They’re still princesses.”5) Alanna Trebond of the Alanna Series: This was the book and the writer that opened my eyes as a 12 year old and made me realize: I wanted to write stories like this. I wanted to touch people. Alanna holds a place near and dear to my heart because she's a completely imperfect character. She's short tempered (and short), impulsive, and resists even the good things in her life. She gets older in the books, learns and change--and yet still she's imperfect and retains some of her foibles from her childhood. She shows girls that you don't have to be perfect and that no one is perfect. She's a wonderful role model in that regard.
6) Sam Gribley of My Side of the Mountain: Since I had a dad who felt that knowing how to survive in the wild was a necessary tool, I spent many a weekend (and sometimes weeks) in the wild lands my dad owned in the mountains. I lived in moccasins and learned to track and other survival methods. So reading this book only inflamed my need to want to live on my own in the woods. I related to Sam a lot as a kid, and I always wished I had a falcon like him! I would have loved to learn from him (if was real!) and be his friend! Stay tuned for the last four....and my list of the people I will in turn challenge! Because who doesn't love a literary challenge eh?!
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