LIST: 22 Strong Female Characters In Literature We All Wanted To Be

[Ryan Goble]

Fun list from BuzzFeed...

Read the full list HERE.

[Shirley Durr]

Nearly all the names on the list are also my early heroes of lit. I'm especially fond of Patricia Wrede's Dealing with Dragons series. From the first moment when Cimorene takes her fate in her own hands, I was hooked. And so are my students, especially  struggling readers -- male and female.

I'd also add Alanna: The Song of the Lioness, a series of 4 YA books by Tamora Pierce, another writer my struggling readers like.

It starts with Book 1: Alanna. Craving adventure but destined for a convent to learn more “female” pursuits, Alanna trades places with her twin brother, Thom, who wants to learn magic but is destined to train as a knight. The first book takes us through Alanna’s first year of knight training while she struggles with her disguise as a boy.

Book 2: In the Hand of the Goddess continues with Alanna’s year as a squire and her secret revealed. Then Book 3: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Book 4: The Lioness Rampant shows us Alanna as a badass knight errant – the first and only female knight in her kingdom -- who proves her prowess in battle and her intelligence in intrigue – and saves the land, of course. In the last half of the series, the stories are more for older teens.

If you like this series, Protector of the Small, another Pierce series, for younger teens and pre-teens, gives us Keladry. Alanna paved the way for girls to become knights but Kel is the first girl to apply for the job but things are not easy for her. Kel's 4 books take us through each year of training with her: First Test, Page, Squire, Lady Knight.

Pierce also wrote the Circle of Magic series.