CRP's Blog

In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (last week), we asked: Who is your favorite female literary character? Perhaps not surprisingly, we had some repeats. Share your favorites with us in the comments or on Twitter. @ChiReviewPress #CRPreads

I loved Nancy Drew as a kid. She was so clever and fearless. Her friend Ned Nickerson never solved a single one of those mysteries! It was Nancy every time. And, not to be overlooked, she rocked a great 1950s wardrobe.  –Caitlin Eck, publicity manager

I have to choose an Atwood character here, and I choose Iris, the reclusive, mysterious narrator of The Blind Assassin, which also happens to be one of my favorite books. Don’t read too much about its plot; just open it up and let the first line suck you in: “Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” –Geoff George, publicist

How could I possibly choose just one? Scout Finch, Beatrice (from Much Ado), all of Austen’s heroines (except Fanny Price—sorry, but she’s boring), Hermione Granger, Alice McKinley, Jane Eyre, Verity and Kittyhawk (from Code Name Verity), Arya Stark, and so many others I can’t remember at the moment… –Ellen Hornor, project editor

I have no idea why this is both incredibly difficult (who’s my favorite? I don’t know!) and easy (once I started thinking of literary ladies, I had a long list of ones I think are great). So I decided to list a couple that have been on my favorites list the longest. Growing up, I absolutely loved Anne Shirley (a romantic, headstrong, smart reader and dreamer), Anastasia Krupnik (kind of awkward, hated gym class, wore glasses—all things I could relate to), and, while I am not shy nor quiet, Mary Anne from The Baby-Sitters Club equally loathed sitting out in the sun. Toss in Matilda Wormwood, Hermione Granger (although I was well into my teens when the Harry Potter books came out), and Elizabeth Bennett (requisite Pride & Prejudice reference, take a drink) and you have my top five-plus-one. –Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

At the top is Alanna from Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series. Alanna traded places with her twin brother and lied about her gender in order to become the first female knight. What a badass. –Emily Lewis, editorial and marketing assistant

Harriet the Spy! Also, a shout out to the road-tripping aunt and niece in Just Us Women, a picture book favorite. –Meaghan Miller, senior publicist and social media coordinator

May I please present three, each of who was important to me at a disparate age? 1. Ramona Quimby, with her idealized older sister, her skinned knees, her impossible-to-control urge to pull those “boing-boing” curls. 2. Anastasia Krupnik and her very important lists. 3. Lessa, the fierce and tempestuous dragonriding queen from Pern. –Michelle Williams, managing editor

-complied by Emily Lewis

What we’ve been watching this week: the most patriotic nest cam in the United States #DCEagleCam