Top 10 Literary Ladies I Love

It's time to give some love to the ladies! The rules are the same, except that instead of wanting to marry these characters, and I want to be their best friends for life. Their BFFs if you will. So, without further ado, the female edition of book characters that I love with freakish devotion.

1. Cathy from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Just kidding. She crazy! But it's nice to start out with a joke, yes?

For reals, this time:
1. D.J. Schwenk from the Dairy Queen trilogy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. I love you D.J.! True story, people: While reading these books, I wanted to move to Wisconsin, de-age myself to high school, and become D.J.'s best friend. She rocks so hard, and her life is totally suck, so she really needs me! We have nothing in common (she loves football, lives/works on a dairy farm, is super tough, and doesn't talk much), but I love her anyway. I don't know what else to say about this awesome lady. D.J., I am hugging you with my mind, right now.

2. Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The older I get, the more I appreciate Jane. She has so much self-respect! And she's so strong. Sister Dibb (President Monson's daughter) talked about Jane in her talk from the recent Young Women's Conference, which I highly recommend. She honestly says what I feel about Jane more eloquently than I ever could, so I will wait here while you read it. http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/i-believe-in-being-honest-and-true?lang=eng

3. Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. In the interest of not spoiling anything, something happens to dear Sophie near the beginning of the book that would probably pretty much ruin anyone else's life. But instead of getting down about it, Sophie becomes awesome, hilarious, and totally brave. Plus, it's such fun to read about her relationship with Howl.

4. Vesper Holly from the Vesper Holly books by Lloyd Alexander. Vesper Holly, why are you so much cooler than I am? More than anyone else, Vesper Holly (I always use both of her names. It sounds better) made me wish that I could travel the world and have fantastic, dangerous adventures when I was in elementary school. I haven't read her in years, but I always think of her fondly, and wish that my life were a little more thrilling.

5. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Frizzy hair? Check. Annoying and bossy? Check. Super smart? Um, we'll give it a check for being smarter than Harry and Ron but not as devoted to smartness as Hermione. Let's be honest. I totally identify with Hermione. How awesome is it for a series to have a smart, not that pretty heroine? Way awesome. Plus, she gets famous Quidditch players, Cormac McLaggen, and a redhead to fall in love with her! High five, Hermione.

6. Enola Holmes from The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer. Like her much older brother Sherlock, Enola loves a good mystery. And she's pretty excellent at solving a good mystery, too. Plus, she's super brave, comes up with ingenious disguises, and is a lot nicer than her backwards brothers. Every time Enola gets the better of one of them, I do a little victory dance, because I know she's too mature to do one herself.

7. Dashti from Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. I love Shannon Hale's books, and I knew I had to pick one of her ladies for this list. But which one? Rapunzel? Miri? It was a close call, but in the end, Dashti was the winner. Probably because I really would have read her diary of seven years locked in a tower, and then seven more out. And it wouldn't have been a chore.

8. Creel from the Dragon Slippers trilogy by Jessica Day George. Creel is brave ( I like that in a girl), crafty (she embroiders like a champ), funny, and is friends with DRAGONS!!! And a cute prince, but that's neither here nor there (yeah right). Friends with DRAGONS, people. And she's totally awesome enough to be friends with DRAGONS. Which is obviously pretty darn awesome.

9. Anastasia Krupnik from the Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry. Every time I read a book about Anastasia, I'm amazed at how much I can laugh at her and also recognize my 4th grade self in her. She's like every woman! Love her forever.

10. Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. What I like most about Mary: she grows (kind of like the Secret Garden!). She starts off being selfish, whiny, and totally unlikable, but she becomes fun, strong, friendly, and sweet. Plus, she's friends with Dickon, which is pretty much as awesome as being friends with DRAGONS.

Honorable Mentions:
The Penderwick sisters from The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall. This makes me think that maybe I should have included Jeffrey in my boy list. Anywho, I love these girls. If I had to choose a favorite, it would probably be Skye, because I think she's so misunderstood, plus she makes me laugh. But then I'd look over and see poor, dramatic Jane, and Rosalind, who's grown up waaaaay too fast and is still immature anyway, and little Batty with Hound and the fairy wings, and I think my heart just couldn't take it. So I love them all, and we'll leave it at that.