Top Ten Tuesday: Then and Now

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is childhood characters you'd like to revisit as an adult. I decided to do things a little bit differently and list five characters I loved growing up and four that I've loved as an adult.

Now

 9: Amy Ghallager

Amy is a kindred spirit. She loves reading books of any kind. She has a degree in English and teaches creative writing at a local college, though what she really wants is to be an author. Yet she's been rejected by numerous publishers, and doesn't help that her roommate can crank out pieces like *that* and sell them to magazines. It's almost depressing reading about a struggling author, but when I got past that feeling, I just felt like I wanted to be Amy's best friend.

8: Skeeter Phelean

I really loved Skeeter in The Help. Really, I loved all of the narrators, but I related the most to Skeeter. She was awkward, she didn't fit in with the girls she went to high school with, and she loved to read and write. We're basically the same person. I really admire this character for all the work she put into changing the views of her town to create a more equal environment.

7: Elizabeth Bennet

Lizzy is witty and stubborn. She's unwilling to settle in her life, and that makes a more "real" character. It definitely makes her more respectable in my eyes.

6: Valancy Stirling

In the beginning of The Blue Castle, Valancy is quite a pitiful character. She's bossed by both her mother and live-in cousin, and her days are spent quietly sewing quilts. Yet after some life changing news about her health, she decides to start living life on her own terms and doing things that really mean something to her. For this, Valancy is an admirable character that I consider a favorite.

Then

5: Millie Keith

When I was 15, I loved the Life of Faith series. I didn't read all of the parts of the series, but I read most of Millie's books. I don't know that I would love it as much now, but I'd be up for reading the books again someday.

4: Katniss Everdeen

I was 17 when I read The Hunger Games for the first time (and I was very thankful to be 17, if you know what I mean). Katniss is a strong character who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and that makes her admirable.

3: Emily Starr

I don't know how much of a "child" I was when I read these books. I read them when I was either 17 or 18. I loved the television series, though I do know that they stray quite far from the books. Either way, I loved both the book and the films because Emily is such spunky and relatable character. I'd like to revisit these books now a few years later.

2: Jo March

I love all of the March sisters, but Jo is my favorite (with Beth being a close second). She's spunky, a tomboy, loves books, wants to be an author, and detests the idea of growing up.

1: Anne Shirley

Truthfully, Anne is probably my all-time favorite fictional character, both back when I was a young teenager, and now that I'm an adult. But I thought since I was 15 or 16 when I first read Anne of Green Gables, I'd list it under the "then" category.