In reference to yesterday's post...
This is my list of YA girl crushes.
1. Cassandra Mortmain from Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle
Cassandra is a wonderful mix of Bronte and Austen, of Elinor and Marianne, of all the spunky, attractive, intelligent Shakespearean heroines, and more than a pinch of her own marvelous qualities. Cassandra is an observer, the sane one in a family of dramatists. Her narrative is beautiful, with the best first line in literature. And she gets things wrong: she falls in love with the wrong person, she treats Stephen abominably sometimes, and she doesn't always know how to deal with situations.
I love her relationship with Rose, stemming from my love of sisters in novels. There are too many wonderful moments in this book for me to pick my favourite, but one of them has got to be her first meeting with the Cotton men - where her arms are dyed green and she's hidden by clothes while in the bath. And the ending for Cassandra is magnificent.
2. Sophie Hatter from Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle
What I love about Sophie is that she starts off so shy and retiring, and when turned into an old woman she gives up on it. She's nosy, impulsive, bossy and forthright. I pretty much adore her. She's in the two sequels as well, and is equally as awesome in each. I love how unromantic she is, and coupled with Howl, this makes the pair of them one of my favourite romantic couples.
And her magic is magnificent.
3. Ilse Burnley from L. M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon and sequels
I am an Anne girl through and through but Ilse is my favourite secondary character. She's Emily's best friend and couldn't be more different to Anne's bosom friend, Diana. Ilse is beautiful, an orator and actress, and has the worst temper in the world. She wears outrageous clothes beautifully. She also has the best insults in the world.
4. Sisi from William Nicholson's Wind on Fire trilogy
No longer my favourite fantasy series of all time, but I still adore Sisi. She began my infatuation with characters who have scars, by disfigured beauty. Sisi begins as a beautiful but spoilt princess on route to marry a man she has never met. She learns to want more from life, journeying with the Manth people to the promised land and falls in love with Bowman.
My favourite part of her is her absolute security that she and Bowman are going to marry and live happily ever after, despite all Bowman's insistence that he must die. She is focused and simple and her development as a character, I find more interesting than Kestrel and Bowman.
5. Deeba from China Mieville's Un Lun Dun
Deeba is the archetypal sidekick thrust into the position of heroine in the novel and not terribly impressed with the whole process. She is fearless and has a fantastic sense of humour and is not going to be bound by the stupid rules of the fantasy quest.
I have less of a crush on Deeba and more of an overwhelming desire to hang out together and train to become extreme librarians.
Honourable Mentions:
- Laura Chant from Margaret Mahy's The Changeover
- Justine Kalinsky and Tara Finke from Melina Marchetta's Saving Francesca
- Mae from Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon
- Ginny from Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes
- Isabelle from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy
- Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley
- Tom from Mrs George de Horne Vaizey's Tom and Some Other Girls
- Millie from Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series
*
ALSO I am ill, my grades are still not back and I have not done nearly enough work for the next half of the year due to this.
1. Cassandra Mortmain from Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle
Cassandra is a wonderful mix of Bronte and Austen, of Elinor and Marianne, of all the spunky, attractive, intelligent Shakespearean heroines, and more than a pinch of her own marvelous qualities. Cassandra is an observer, the sane one in a family of dramatists. Her narrative is beautiful, with the best first line in literature. And she gets things wrong: she falls in love with the wrong person, she treats Stephen abominably sometimes, and she doesn't always know how to deal with situations.
I love her relationship with Rose, stemming from my love of sisters in novels. There are too many wonderful moments in this book for me to pick my favourite, but one of them has got to be her first meeting with the Cotton men - where her arms are dyed green and she's hidden by clothes while in the bath. And the ending for Cassandra is magnificent.
2. Sophie Hatter from Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle
What I love about Sophie is that she starts off so shy and retiring, and when turned into an old woman she gives up on it. She's nosy, impulsive, bossy and forthright. I pretty much adore her. She's in the two sequels as well, and is equally as awesome in each. I love how unromantic she is, and coupled with Howl, this makes the pair of them one of my favourite romantic couples.
And her magic is magnificent.
3. Ilse Burnley from L. M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon and sequels
I am an Anne girl through and through but Ilse is my favourite secondary character. She's Emily's best friend and couldn't be more different to Anne's bosom friend, Diana. Ilse is beautiful, an orator and actress, and has the worst temper in the world. She wears outrageous clothes beautifully. She also has the best insults in the world.
4. Sisi from William Nicholson's Wind on Fire trilogy
No longer my favourite fantasy series of all time, but I still adore Sisi. She began my infatuation with characters who have scars, by disfigured beauty. Sisi begins as a beautiful but spoilt princess on route to marry a man she has never met. She learns to want more from life, journeying with the Manth people to the promised land and falls in love with Bowman.
My favourite part of her is her absolute security that she and Bowman are going to marry and live happily ever after, despite all Bowman's insistence that he must die. She is focused and simple and her development as a character, I find more interesting than Kestrel and Bowman.
5. Deeba from China Mieville's Un Lun Dun
Deeba is the archetypal sidekick thrust into the position of heroine in the novel and not terribly impressed with the whole process. She is fearless and has a fantastic sense of humour and is not going to be bound by the stupid rules of the fantasy quest.
I have less of a crush on Deeba and more of an overwhelming desire to hang out together and train to become extreme librarians.
Honourable Mentions:
- Laura Chant from Margaret Mahy's The Changeover
- Justine Kalinsky and Tara Finke from Melina Marchetta's Saving Francesca
- Mae from Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon
- Ginny from Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes
- Isabelle from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy
- Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley
- Tom from Mrs George de Horne Vaizey's Tom and Some Other Girls
- Millie from Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series
*
ALSO I am ill, my grades are still not back and I have not done nearly enough work for the next half of the year due to this.