Top 10 Female Protagonists in Australian YA

The very lovely and very talented Sandy Fussell threw down a challenge on Facebook for me this evening. I needed to devise a list containing ten female protagonists in OzYA (Australian YA). Prompted by the post at CMIS' Fiction Focus Website, she suspected I would be able to come up with a page worth. I tried.

Reading their list I knew immediately that I shared some of their choices (* indicate ones that are shared). I hadn't read some of their sources and I was also shocked by some of their snubs. And then I read their criteria again, top ten female protagonists in recent years. Recent meaning the past two years and the job gets significantly harder (and explains why Melina Marchetta failed to make the list).

Here are my choices:

Bo - Vulture’s Gate (Kirsty Murray)*
Bo is one of the few remaining females left populating a dystopian Australia. She's such a complex and compelling character that it is difficult to finish Vulture's Gate and not have a strong impression remain. She gives her trust easily but she's tough as nails. She's dynamic, intriguing and something new in the OZYA landscape. Review

Riley - Everything Beautiful (Simmone Howell)*
To say I am still dark that this book failed to receive any CBCA recognition would be an understatement. Challenging female protagonists don't seem to be in the judging wheelhouse, luckily Riley is in mine. Prickly, angry, sexually assertive Riley carries her power and heart around like a linebacker. She feisty and vulnerable and the kind of character that reflects what teens are instead of what we'd like them to be. Review

Gemma - Stolen (Lucy Christopher)
How about we grab a girl toss her into the outback with an Australian captor and see how that spins? There so much inner turmoil churning inside of Gemma as she begins to empathise with Ty and yet attempt to flee. She's a character grows as she is shackled and that is an unbelievably unsettling and intriguing growth to observe. Review

Sophie - A Brief History of Montmaray (Michelle Cooper)*
Sophie, Sophie, Sophie is a curious case as she's just Sophie. She's not special or dynamic, she's ordinary. An ordinary girl stuck on an island in the middle of world war two with a crush on an ass and a mystery swirling around her. She's also a reader, something I can get behind :) Review.

Hilda - Hollywood Ending (Kathy Charles)
She's a death hag dealing with her own grief and making friends with a crotchety old dude....nuff said. Review

Darcy - Finding Darcy (Sue Lawson)
The combination of Darcy dealing with her "interesting" family, dealing with the school bully and researching her grandfather's death made for a fascinating read but without this authentic and shaded protagonist none of it would work. Review.

Graceful - Bloodflower (Christine Hinwood)
She's such a dour, depressing sack of nothingness at the beginning and like a butterfly she emerges as an amazingly strong, decisive woman. She's infuriatingly stubborn and it is fantastic. Review

Ava in Pink (Lili Wilkinson)*
Breaking free of the confines of expectation, this lovely lady seeks to embrace pink and her own sexual identity amidst the confusion of teen-dom. Ava's proactive in a way that I love seeing in YA, specially that originating from Australia (and the Rocky Horror mentions didn't hurt either). Review.

Carly in Raw Blue (Kirsty Eagar)
Carly is undoubtedly one of the most damaged and emotionally stunted characters I have had the pleasure (and pain) of meeting. Her life is all about the rigid confines of her cafe adn the freedom of the waves. Carly is a character that makes you ache. Review

Amy - Posse (Kate Welshman)

The second character definite in her sexual identity as a lesbian, Amy knows who she is and that's that. Despite the storm that is her home life (populated by man hating shrews) and the school camp where the the truth is a fluid. Strong, yet vulnerable, Amy remains a fighter throughout. Review

What would you add to the list?

Husband has Green sense of humour

I always love a good YA related joke and my friend Shabbygeek certainly delivered. Today she tweeted the photo (below) she had received from her husband with the caption 'cheating on you?'. It cracked me up - John Green should be dropped into 'you had to be there' jokes ALL THE TIME.

Here's Shabby's explanation -

So Hubs (or known as Pretty Boy to Adele, pictured right) is on a trip out of town this week, and he's been texting me a few pictures each day to show me all the Places I'd Rather Be Than At Work. He's sent me pictures and video of the beach, an aquarium, a restaurant, and even a pic of himself wearing a goofy hat in a store. While I've smiled at each and every one of them, this one made me nearly choke on my dinner:

(PICTURED: EVERY SO SLIGHTLY TANNED HUBS READING JOHN GREEN/SOFTCORE PORN FOR CAPILLYA)

Hubs won't step foot in a library or bookstore (unless he's shopping for me/I'm dragging him in), so the very fact that he did this by own free will and picked out a book he knew I loved, made my heart smile really big. Totally made my day.

Much better than my John dream anyday.

Review - Everything Beautiful / Simmone Howell

Riley Rose, atheist and bad girl, has been tricked into attending Spirit Ranch, a Christian camp. There she meets Dylan Kier, alumni camper and recent paraplegic, who arrives with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to perfect all of his bad habits. United in their personal suffering and in their irritation at their fellow campers, they turn the camp inside out as they question the meaning of belief systems, test their faith in each other, and ultimately settle a debate of the heart.

Review - Two words scared me - Christian Camp. Two reasons why - 1) caricutures and cliches were almost inevitable and 2) I don't like being preached to.

Thankfully, this didn't occur as I was spared a 7th Heaven : The Novel experience. However I did find myself strangley resistant to the novel for the first few chapters, having started it previously and stopping a few pages in. I think the character of Riley's prickliness + the Christian Camp factor scared me off. Having finished, I found myself having read a humorous novel detailing what can happen in seven days if you give people a chance.

There are plenty of jokes at the expense of religion so if you are sensitive about those kinds of things (and some swearing) I think you might steer clear of this title. Not that any of it is mean spirited, it's just taking advantage of the plethora of stereotypes out in the world. If you look beneath the surface though, those cliched individuals do have dimensions that clarify slowly and carefully. I personally loved Sarita - the phrase muddling, formal speaking, Indian Presbyterian. She is an absolute delight and every word that Howell writes for her is perfection.

Riley is the traditional bad girl protagonist - she swears, she smokes, she tumbles and she hides the fact that she loves reading. We've all met this character before, her mother has died and she's journeyed on a path of self-destruction to mask her inner pain. However, in this case, Riley is a big girl. Yes, she's fat, chooses to wear copious amount of black and has violet, asymmetrical hair. She screams headcase. Yet it's her interactions with the various members of the camp and the recently paralysed, fellow sceptic Dylan that opens her eyes and brings some much needed emotional processing. There is no miraculous turn around here, the end is somewhat ambiguous and I liked the novel all the more for it. (I also want a Church girl Fresh button).

Howell perfectly described a landscape I was very familiar with (country teaching placement) and made it sound both isolating and beautiful. The dialogue is crackling with cynacism and healthy doses of humour and I can see teens really enjoying this book. As involved as I was in the events of this novel, I found myself continually wondering if I would have prefered reading this journey from Dylan's perspective. Honestly, I think I might have. That being said, I would definitely pick up a copy and delight in the adventure of a fat girl and a cripple (their words, not mine.)

Published: October 28 2008
Format: Paperback , 304 pages
Publisher: PacMacmillan Australia

Source: purchased
Origin: Australia

Snark & Bark

In my reading slump that recently finished, I watched copious amounts of television. This isn't anything particularly new for me, I am a dedicated television aficionado. If you're a long time reader of this blog you would have read my big Friday Night Lights push (with the help of many authors), my complaints about Glee and my love for all things Parenthood.

I decided that I wanted to share my thoughts on television but I didn't want it to take away from Persnickety Snark, or be presented here. I wanted it to be its own beast. So I started a blog and invited a whole host of other bloggers to contribute a column on a show they are passionate about. It's SNARK AND BARK.

I was overjoyed when bloggers were keen to come aboard. From twitter it is pretty obvious that we all are partial to the celluloid and so people were willing to contribute a reaction post once a week on a show they love. At this point in time we have a great community of contributors (check them out here) you would recognise. Together we are covering shows from So You Think You Can Dance, True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, Royal Pains, Mad Men, Masterchef Australia and many other programs. There is new content daily.

We are still welcoming contributors. So if there's a show you love fiercely and you're willing to contribute +200 words weekly on said show, please contact me. Even if your show is on hiatus, contribute some rewatch posts until it comes back on the air. Regardless, it is an exciting little project that is celebrating community and our interest in storytelling mediums outside of books.

Television rocks my socks!

Review - Stolen / Lucy Christopher

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost. Goodreads.

Review - If you've ever been to Australia you know that the further inland you travel the more red the dirt, the more barren the landscape, the more quiet the surrounds and the more extreme the temperature. Reading this book is like taking your shoes off in the middle of these surrounds and letting the hot sand fill the space between your toes, soothing and burning at the same time. It was an entirely sensory experience that I don't believe I have ever experienced in reading before. It was home, but it was alien.

Stolen is such a visceral experience. While there are plot points, character evolutions and dialogue that all work wonderfully well, it is the surrounds that truly paint the picture. Christopher has crafted a wonderfully intense and vivid world that reflects Gemma's internal conflict as well as her external need to escape.

Christoper has woven a tale that leaves the reader conflicted at the end. Conflicted when there really should be no grey areas. Conflicted when there is clearly a wrong and a right but she's masterfully crafted an antagonist that is entirely formed and sympathetic. This isn't a character or book that you can pigeon hole, it swims in the muddied waters of Ty's motivations and we are carried along with it.

Stolen isn't a book I choose to dissect. Stolen is a book that you experience and hopefully one that you will experience soon.

Published: May 2009
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Aust.
Source: publisher
Origin: UK