14 Valentines, Day 12
Today's topic at 14valentines is education.
I'm sort of taking a roundabout approach to this topic. Books were one of my primary sources of education as a kid (I was a voracious reader), so today I'm talking about five of my favorite female book characters.
Anne Shirley
from Anne of Green Gables (and sequels) by L.M. Montgomery
Plagued by the dreadful curse of red hair, lusting after puffed sleeves, and always seeking out kindred spirits, Anne danced and daydreamed her way into my heart. She had that wonderful ability to find magic in ordinary or even difficult situations, and her outspokenness and independence were inspiring to me when I was growing up. No wonder Gilbert fell so hard for her! (Anne/Gilbert was my first OTP. ♥)
Amy March
from Little Women (and sequels) by Louisa May Alcott
It's hard to love one March sister without loving all four of them -- it was their sisterhood that made Little Women such a warm and satisfying book. And I did love all of them, each in their own way. That said, Amy was always my favorite -- classy and sophisticated (well, once she grew out of her bratty stage!) and dedicated to becoming the best artist she could be. I know it's sort of sacrilegious to some folks, but I was always glad she and Laurie ended up together. (And here's another early OTP. *g*)
Meg Murry
from A Wrinkle in Time (and sequels) by Madeleine L'Engle
Er, obviously that's not a picture of Meg -- it's the cover of the first copy of A Wrinkle in Time I read way back in second grade or so. God, I loved these books. Meg was such a sympathetic heroine to me when I was growing up; she was deeply intelligent, but she also felt like a bit of a misfit, unsure of her appearance and of her place in the world. I was always less taken with the sci-fi aspects of the books than with Meg's growing acceptance of herself and her evolving relationships with her family and with Calvin (OTP number 3!).
Beverly Johnson
from Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
No one has ever heard of this book, and unfortunately I think it's out of print at this point, but I must have read it at least a dozen times. The main character is a 17-year-old girl named Beverly who's dealing with guilt and depression over some recent traumatic events. What I loved about Beverly was her sharp intelligence, her dark sense of humor, and the way she gritted her teeth and kept going even when she felt like hell. (And since we're on the topic of OTP's, the friendship-turned-romance in this one never, ever fails to turn me into a pile of goo.)
Becky
from What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
Becky (I don't recall her having a last name) is the strange, free-spirited girl who drifts into a small town in Iowa and brings a bored, emotionally stifled Gilbert Grape back to the land of the living. This one is maybe cheating a bit because Gilbert is a far more fully realized character than Becky is, and I largely love her for the effect she has on him, but she's pretty awesome in her own right -- gentle, wise, and genuinely curious about the world.
Gah, I really want to reread all of these books now!
I'm sort of taking a roundabout approach to this topic. Books were one of my primary sources of education as a kid (I was a voracious reader), so today I'm talking about five of my favorite female book characters.
Anne Shirley
from Anne of Green Gables (and sequels) by L.M. Montgomery
Plagued by the dreadful curse of red hair, lusting after puffed sleeves, and always seeking out kindred spirits, Anne danced and daydreamed her way into my heart. She had that wonderful ability to find magic in ordinary or even difficult situations, and her outspokenness and independence were inspiring to me when I was growing up. No wonder Gilbert fell so hard for her! (Anne/Gilbert was my first OTP. ♥)
Amy March
from Little Women (and sequels) by Louisa May Alcott
It's hard to love one March sister without loving all four of them -- it was their sisterhood that made Little Women such a warm and satisfying book. And I did love all of them, each in their own way. That said, Amy was always my favorite -- classy and sophisticated (well, once she grew out of her bratty stage!) and dedicated to becoming the best artist she could be. I know it's sort of sacrilegious to some folks, but I was always glad she and Laurie ended up together. (And here's another early OTP. *g*)
Meg Murry
from A Wrinkle in Time (and sequels) by Madeleine L'Engle
Er, obviously that's not a picture of Meg -- it's the cover of the first copy of A Wrinkle in Time I read way back in second grade or so. God, I loved these books. Meg was such a sympathetic heroine to me when I was growing up; she was deeply intelligent, but she also felt like a bit of a misfit, unsure of her appearance and of her place in the world. I was always less taken with the sci-fi aspects of the books than with Meg's growing acceptance of herself and her evolving relationships with her family and with Calvin (OTP number 3!).
Beverly Johnson
from Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
No one has ever heard of this book, and unfortunately I think it's out of print at this point, but I must have read it at least a dozen times. The main character is a 17-year-old girl named Beverly who's dealing with guilt and depression over some recent traumatic events. What I loved about Beverly was her sharp intelligence, her dark sense of humor, and the way she gritted her teeth and kept going even when she felt like hell. (And since we're on the topic of OTP's, the friendship-turned-romance in this one never, ever fails to turn me into a pile of goo.)
Becky
from What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
Becky (I don't recall her having a last name) is the strange, free-spirited girl who drifts into a small town in Iowa and brings a bored, emotionally stifled Gilbert Grape back to the land of the living. This one is maybe cheating a bit because Gilbert is a far more fully realized character than Becky is, and I largely love her for the effect she has on him, but she's pretty awesome in her own right -- gentle, wise, and genuinely curious about the world.
Gah, I really want to reread all of these books now!