As a little girl, reading strong, independent heroines was one of my favorite things to do. It was wonderful to have a heroine to look up to and to emulate as I figured myself out. I wanted to be so many different heroines when I’d grow up - and they’d all bleed into playing with my brother as I played increasingly strong characters in our games. Now that I’m a bit older, it’s interesting to look through some of the book I’ve read and pick out the women I’d want to be - and the qualities that make them such good heroines.
- Rae Spellman from The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz - Rae knows what she wants and she constantly dedicates herself wholeheartedly to it - whether that’s blackmailing her sister, waging war with her uncle, or joining the family business.
- Violet Baudelaire from “The Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket - Violet is both tender and tough, caring and courageous. She balances all this, is an excellent older sister, invents fantastic things, and somehow continues to hope for the best in the midst of everything the Baudelaires go through. As a little girl, Violet was my idol.
- Alanna from “The Song of the Lioness” by Tamora Pierce - Alanna wants desperately to be a warrior - so she disguises herself as her brother for several years to train, fooling everyone but her best friends. Alanna shows us that girls can be tough and independent and still have good relationships with men.
- Luxa from “The Underland Chronicles” by Suzanne Collins - Luxa lives through trauma, war, and lots of immaturity as she works to become the leader that her people need. She begins as a silly (and somewhat cruel) little girl and transforms into a thoughtful and caring leader. Luxa shows us that we can all change and become the people we need to be.
- Lift from Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson - Lift is an adorable character who doesn’t let tough situations get her down and she’s always happy to show off her quirks and abilities.
- Risa Ward from Unwind by Neal Shusterman - Risa is one of the most caring character I’ve ever read. She’s kind to everyone she meets and does everything she can to help everyone she cares about. But that doesn’t make her a pushover - she plays it smart and keeps working to get what she wants.
- Steris Harms from Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson - Steris is featured in earlier Mistborn books, but she was a difficult character until Bands of Mourning. At first, we see Steris as a stern and irritable (and very dull) woman. But as we get to know her better, we grow to see that she’s funny, very thoughtful and well-meaning (though not always effective), detail-oriented, and that she can plan like nobody’s business. Steris reminds us that there’s far more under the surface for most people and that the folks who are dullest on the surface often have fascinating (and wonderfully quirky) backgrounds and personalities.
What heroines would you want to grow up to be? What heroines from this list do you look up to?
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