HIT: Books w/Female Heroes (long)

[Christine Talbert <talbert@EROLS.COM>]

Hi Friends,

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to my request.  Here is a HIT
of the responses received.  Please forgive any repetitions, I just
couldn't weed through them all.  Also, if your response did not make it
on this HIT, I apologize.  I inadvertently deleted some messages before
I put together the HIT.

Brave Irene (Steig)
Mirette on the High Wire (McCully(
Sheila Rae the Brave (Henkes)
LonPoPo (Young)
Ruby (E ?--can see it on the shelves in the elem school but it has been
a
year-it is a take off on LIttle Red)
come to mind right off the bat
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Illyrian Adventure - Lloyd Alexander
Jackaroo - Cynthia Voigt
Anastasia series - Lois Lowry
Cam Jansen - D. Adler
Ramona Quimby - Beverly Cleary
Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren
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It seems like all the books today have a girl as the heroine...I'm
having trouble finding ones for the boys!
You MUST go out and get _Let's Hear it for the Girls_ by Erica
Bauermeister and Holly Smith.  It covers 375 great books for readers
2-14.  The indexes in it are super... by title...by author....by date
(long ago, pre-1500, 1500-1800...)...by genre (anthology, autobio,
fantasy, hist fic, myth, nonfic, poetry, bio...), by region & country
outside the US...by subject (adoption, adventure, African-Am
protagonist, Asia-Amer protag, Athletes, Art, aviation, etc etc)

All this in paperback for $10! ISBN# 0-14-025732-2. I understand that
there are others too like this one:-)

Also, have you tried Poppy by Avi? Or Ronia the Robbers Daughter by
Astrid Lindgren?
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If you're looking for older readers, try some Avi (Charlotte Doyle) or
Robin
McKinley (Blue Sword, Beauty).  Younger, may not have that kind of hero,
but
Beverly Cleary has several books staring Ramona Quimby and her sister
Beezus
for chapter books...picture books is another story...There's Amelia
Bedelia,
the Golly Sisters in the Easy Reader section   I'll think about picture
books and get back to you if you like.  Please post a hit with your
list.  I
did a paper for my MLS way back in the once upon a time time on the
female
hero in young adult literature, so I would be interested in your
findings.
Mary Okarma
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How about some of Robin McKinley's books?
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Have you seen this site?
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/lists.html
Look under Subject Bibliographies and you will find a list of Brace,
Active & Resourceful Females in Picture Books.
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How about the Meg Machintosh series by Lucinda Landon, Cam Jansen by
David
Adler, Harriet the Spy by Fitzgerald, Little House books by Wilder,
Farthest
Away Mountain, Fairy Rebel by Reid Banks, BFG by Dahl for chapter books.

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Off hand for picture books; Petunia by Devoisin, Miss Nelson series by
Harry
Allard, and you may want to check out the Patricia Polacco books.
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How about Lyra in Golden Compass by Pullman
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For picture books: Amazing Grace and Boundless Grace by Mary Hoffman.
Also another that comes to mind is Swamp Angel by Ann Isaacs.
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I came up with a list of about 20 books for a teacher asking the same
thing but I am home sick and don't remember well.  What about the Ramona

books, Rosy Cole, Amber Brown to start with--for older kids the new
Betsy
Byars Herculeah Jones mysteries.  There is a fantastic new picture book
about history from a female perspective ... something Strong Women I
think.  Miss Rumphius is my personal favorite in the picture book realm.

There are so many more I can't remember. Good luck.
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The Paperbag Princess
All of the Cam Jansen books
Keep the Lights Burning Abbie
A Wrinkle in Time
Pippi Longstocking
Caddie Woodlawn
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Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter and Connie Roop
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How about the Cam Jansen series or Amelia Bedelia...I don't know if
these "brave" young girls would be considered heroes?!?
On a more serious note, the only one I can think of is Karen
Ackerman's, "The Night Crossing."
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Murphy's Law works in reverse....I was looking at a sight today and
found what might be of interest to you.  I'm glad I still have your
address available....Try it....
http://bookbuzz.com/wnba80books.htm
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How about Lon Po Po: A red Riding Hood Story from China, or The King's
Equal (Paterson), or theFunny Little Woman, or McCully's Mirette on the
high Wire, or Swamp Angel by Isaacs?
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How about The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi or
Toliver's Secret (I'm not sure of the author of this).  There's also
another one by Gauch called This Time, Tempe Wicke.  I know this one is
set
in NJ and I think Toliver's Secret is also.
**************************************************************
Try Tatterhood.  There is a picture book (recent) of that
story and there is a book of tales about heroines by the same title.
**************************************************************
There is a picture book about Bessie COleman, the first woman aviator by

Reeve Lindberg.  There is also the picture book story of Ruby Bridges.
There is also Eleanor by Barbara Cooney.  There are some easy
biographies
by Children's Press.  If you are looking for fictional characters
-Library Lil is lots of fun.
_Girls to the Rescue_ by Bruce Lansky is a wonderful collection of short

stories.
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I don't know how heroic the hero needs to be, but some that come to mind

are the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, the Little House Books by Laura
Ingalls Wilder, the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery, the
American Girl books.
**************************************************************
Swamp Angel by Isaacs is one of my favorite tall tale books.
**************************************************************
Junie B. Jones series
Heidi
The Diary of Anne Frank
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women
Stepping on the Cracks
Keep Smilin' Through
Tales from the Homeplace
The Cuckoo's Child
The Moorchild
and you might check:
http://www.wcsu.k12.vt.us/~wardsboro/list13.htm#WomenAdv
**************************************************************
My favorite:
     Leo Lioni's TILLIE AND THE WALL.
Maybe:
     SHEILA THE BRAVE (now in Spanish, too)
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Picture Books:  Library Lil by Suzanne Williams/ illus. by Steven
Kellogg, Sally Ann Thunder Ann ...Crockett  by Steven Kellogg,
Rumplestiltskin's Daughter by Diane Stanley, Saving Sweetness by Diane
Stanley--all delightful.  Also try Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen
Krull.And--in the March NJEA Review, there is a separate column on
Women/Girls of Note which I wrote in addition to my Booktalk column.
**************************************************************
Susanna of the Alamo: A true story by John Jakes
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Roop
Half a Kingdom by Ann McGovern
Mirette on the High-Wire by McCully
My Great-Aunt Arizona by Houston
Rosie and the Rustlers by Gerrard
Hattie and the Wild Waves by Cooney
Miss Rumphius by Cooney
Princess Smartypants by Cole
Madeline's Rescue by Bemelmans
**************************************************************
Miss Rumphios (Cooney)
Possum Magic (Fox)
Sheila Rae the Brave (Henkes)
Amazing Grace (Hoffman)
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt (Hopkinson)
Mirette on the High Wire (McCully)
Sarah Plain and Tall (MacLachlan)
Paper Bag Princess (Munsch)
The Keeping Quilt (Polacco)
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad
  and Dinner at Aunt Connie's (Ringgold)
Imogene's Antlers (Small)
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In the Scottish folk tale, Tam Lin (Susan Cooper), the Princess has to
save the enchanted knight, Tam Lin.  One warning, there is a picture
toward
the end where he climbs out of a well in the buff (backside shown at a
distance).  I use this book with the first graders and that picture
usually
draws a few whispers and points but nothing out of hand.
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Amazing Grace, and its sequel, Boundless Grace, by Hoffman is a must.
Nice Little Girls by Elizabeth Levy is another, but maybe it's op.
Left-
handed Shortstop by Giff is a chapter book, as well as The Pearl in the
Egg
(medieval novel) by VanWoerum (sp?).  Mollie Whuppie and the Giant is a
Jack &
the Beanstalk story with a girl as the main character (can be found in
Haviland's Favorite Fairy Tales Told in England).  Jay Williams' The
Practical
Princess, R. Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess are folk tale variants. How
about
Atalanta, from Greek mythology?
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Lois Lowry's main character in the Anastasia series isn't a "hero" in a
big sense, but is a very real character who is strong.  Her book "Number

the Stars" has a true female hero.  Patricia MacLachlan's books "Cassie
Binegar", "The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt" and "Sarah, Plain and
Tall" are others that feature strong female characters that are "heroes
in everyday life"  Is the teacher looking a biographies, by any chance?
There's lots of examples of real women who were heroes.
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Swamp Angel by Paul Zelinsky comes to mind.
Princess Penelope and the Purple Peanut by Margaret Atwood sticks in my
mind.  I enjoyed reading it to several classes last spring.  The
vocabulary
is not elementary but the kids enjoyed hearing it.
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Wilma Unlimited - Biography
Brave Irene - Picture Book
Fannie's Dream -  a realistic Cinderell picture book
Junie B. Jones series by Parks
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 Chapter books - True Adventures of Charlotte Doyle by
Avi, Talking Earth and Julie of the Wolves by Jean George, Hero and
the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley.  Picture books -
Amazing Grace, Sybil Ludington, Mirette on the High Wire.
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How about the paperbag princess by robert munch,and otherwise shelia the

great by judy blume.
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I guess it depends on what kind of hero you're looking for.  The
Patchwork  Quilt by Valerie Flourney comes to mind.  Rachel and Obadiah
by Brinton Turkle.  Six Silver Spoons by Janette Sebring Lowery, The
Boston Coffee Party by Doreen Rappart, The Josephina Story Quilt by
Eleanor Coerr.  It also depends how high you want to go.  A couple of
our easier fiction books are My Mom Can't Read by Muriel Stanek and
Trouble for Lucy by Carla Stevens.  As you can see, I lean toward
Americana stories, these are the ones that came to mind quickly.  let
me think on it a while, and see what else I can come up with.
Frannie T.
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How about the Beverly Cleary books, especially Ramona.

Because I'm from Iowa, the first one I thought of is the Kate Shelley
book by
Robert San Souci.  It's a beautiful picture book about Kate Shelley's
attempt
to prevent the Midnight Express (train) from traveling over a collapsed
bridge.
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An EXCELLENt female hero book is "The Fourth Little Pig."
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Amazing Grace (by I don't remember who)
Catherine Called Birdy
Letters from Rifka
Night Crossing
There are several more - there are some GREAT bibliographies on
different
web sites (search under book lists or books for girls) and a super
reference book called "Great Books for Girls" is probably available at
your
local Library
.**************************************************************
Thousand Paoer Cranes- Amelia Earhart and Grandma  Moses-Biography.
**************************************************************
1. Hoffman.  Amazing Grace.  Picture book.  Realistic.  African American

girl overcomes prejudice against women and blacks.
2. Isaacs.  Swamp Angel.  Picture book.  Tall tale.  Appalachian female
Paul Bunyan.
3. Avi.  The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Historical Fiction.
RL 5.5.
4. Bailey.  How Come the Best Clues are Always in the Garbage?
Detective
Fiction--Stevie (Stephanie) Diamond series.  RL 4.8.
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Eilonwy (sp?) in the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander
Many strong female characters in the Enchanted Forest series by Patricia

Wrede
The little girl in Airmail To the Moon by Tom Birdseye.
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Again, thanks for all of your help!
Christine Talbert
Lower School Librarian
Moorestown Friends School
Moorestown, NJ
talbert@erols.com
ctalbert@mfriends.org

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