# Recommend kids books with strong female character, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892 "2003-01-06T06:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/61 "2003-01-07T10:16:09Z")
I also recommend the Green Knowe series by Lucy M. Boston. Although the main character, Tolly, is a boy, there are many admirable female characters. Tolly’s grandmother is a feisty old woman who is determined to preserve her ancestral home. Other strong female characters in the series are Ida, a tomboy who insists on participating in all of the boys’ adventures; Linnet, who stands up to her brothers; and Susan, who learns to climb trees even though she is blind, and who wants to serve on her father’s ship. ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/62 "2003-01-07T10:19:13Z")
I also recommend the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and C. S. Lewis’s Narnia series. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Berk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c37758/32.png) [@Royal\_Berk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Berk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/63 "2003-01-07T11:21:34Z")
Another vote here for the Terry Pratchett books. The “Johnny” series is unsurprisingly mainly about its male teenage hero, but the female teenage lead is a very strong person. Likewise, any of his “witches” books in the Discworld series shows credible & varied female characters in what is (at first glance) a very male “sword & sourcery” setting. Above all, they’re hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/64 "2003-01-07T13:53:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jr8 \* > \*\*More specifically, the whole _Northern Lights_ trilogy – a very strong and resourceful young female main character without taking anything away from the various male characters. But be warned: Pullman’s books may offend some religious sensibilities (not that it bothered me, but I know it bothers some people). \*\* I don’t know. If you’re looking for a strong female character, I’d probably stick with just the first book. I found Lyra’s character to go significantly downhill after it and be far less interesting than she was int he first book. In addition, I thought the third book was utterly tedious. Your mileage, of course, may vary. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/65 "2003-01-07T15:37:44Z")
I’d recommend “Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West” by Marguerite Henry. It’s about the life of Velma Johnston (a.k.a. Wild Horse Annie) and her fight to prevent feral horses from being rounded up and sold to slaughterhouses. Although the main character is an adult it’s a book children can enjoy (I read it when I was about 10.) (Sorry if this posts twice. The hamsters are acting a little weird this morning.) ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/66 "2003-01-07T16:09:54Z")
I shouldn’t just post a negative here. I also recommned ‘A Wrinkle in Time’. If you don’t mind comics, some titles with good, positive female characters are: Sarah Dyer’s **Action Girl** (sadly, seems to be on permanent hiatus). Paul Robinson’s **Leave it to Chance** (also on hiatus, though there’s at least one trade paperback out there) Alan Moore’s **Promethia** , **Tom Strong** , and **The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen** all feature good female characters, though the first and last might be a little mature for younger readers. Andi Watson’s **Skeleton Key** might take a bit to get into, but is worth the trip. Collected in several trade paperbacks. Mark Crilley’s **Akiko** also collected in trade paperbacks, it’s an absolute delight to read. Torres’ (forgot his first name) **Alison Dare - Little Miss Adventures** is a lot of fun. There’s a collection out there as well. Most of these are all-ages friendly except as noted. There are others out there, but these have good, strong women as central characters or supporting characters (for example, Tom Strong of course focuses on Tom Strong, but his wife and daughter are rather prominently featured, and both are good characters.) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/67 "2003-01-07T23:58:07Z")
I second the mention of _The Westing Game_. And Lego, Leave it to Chance is by _James_ Robinson, also known for Starman. Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/68 "2003-01-08T13:42:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > **And Lego, Leave it to Chance is by _James_ Robinson, also known for Starman.** You know, as I was writing that it didn’t feel right. I’ll try to save a little face and say I was conflating the writer and the artist (Paul Smith draws it) but I think I just botched my “Identify Writer” roll. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/69 "2003-01-08T13:49:17Z")
Sophie’s World by Joshien Gaardner. the “His Dark Materials” Trilogy by Philip Pullman. Absolutely classic. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/70 "2003-01-08T14:55:16Z")
Philip Pullman’s _Ruby in the Smoke_ trilogy (mystery stories with a _very_ unconventional heroine, set in Victorian London) would be a good pick as well. For younger kids, I’d recommend Sydney Taylor’s _All-of-a-Kind Family_ books, about five Jewish girls growing up in turn-of-the-century New York (I like to think of them as the equivalent of the Wilder books for those of us whose great-grandparents were urban immigrants rather than pioneers). ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/71 "2003-01-08T18:30:54Z")
I can reccomend “Dealing with Dragons”, by Patricia C. Wrede. In fact, the whole series is absolutly wonderful and has several strong female leads, but the first one in particular emphasizes this. ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/72 "2003-01-13T16:43:46Z")
If you don’t mind me recommending genres… General: The one-name author Avi - recommend the four mentioned above. _The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle_ - a seafaring adventure. Prehistoric setting: Joan Wolf - _Daughter of the Red Deer_. The theme is gender conflict, the story is fiction set in the time of France’s cave paintings. First book only. Sue Harrison - two trilogies, (?) and Storytellers, are fiction set 2- to 8,000 years ago among tribes that still exist, the Tlingit, Aleut and Athabascans. Recommend \*My Sister the Moon, Song of the River, \* and _Cry of the Wind_. Book Series: _The Babysitters Club_ - light reading. The young women have a responsible job and have made up an organization. Each book focuses on a different girl. Magazine: _New Moon_ - written and produced by girls in Duluth, Minnesota. ! Romance (medium serious): Aola Vandergriff - the “Daughters of—” series beginning with _Daughters of the Southwind_. ----------------This section I admit I’ve little information.---------------- Romance (serious): _Currents of Love_ not a harlickinn! I have never found since I discarded it in a “clean out” phase. The story by Judith Something is told by a northern man, Anthony and a southern woman, Delaney. Indian/white conflict: _Indian Annie, Kiowa Captive. Follow the River._ - I believe this has been made into a movie. _Indian Captive the Story of Mary Jemisen_ * * * Enjoy! Twungtister ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/73 "2003-01-13T16:59:33Z")
Someone reccomended already recommended _Dicey’s Song_ and _Homecoming_, but Cynthia Voight has another book called _Jackaroo_ that’s along the same lines. It takes place in the Middle Ages and follows an innkeeper’s daughter who wants to improve the quality of life in her village. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892.md?page=3)