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Nikki
10. Mandy. By Julie Edwards. Mandy, I admit, was a childhood favorite of mine. There was just something so heartfelt, so vital, about this young orphan girl who was searching for something to make her feel complete and found it in having her own little secret garden and cottage. Her dreams, her determination, her stubbornness made Mandy work for me.
9. Ida May stars in Julia Bowe's My Last Best Friend, My New Best Friend, and My Best Frenemy. (I would so want to be her friend, her best friend, you know, if she were real and I was a kid again.)
8. Zoe Elias stars in Linda Urban's A Crooked Kind of Perfect. This book was so perfect--so absolutely wonderful that I read it twice in one week!
7. Moxy Maxwell. I love Moxy, I do. My favorite Moxy is *probably* still her first adventure--the one where she is NOT going to read Stuart Little. (The first book was Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little. The second book was Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes. The third is Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano.)
6. Laura. As in Laura Ingalls. I loved this series growing up. Especially The Long Winter and These Happy Golden Years. Little House in the Big Woods; Little House on the Prairie; On the Banks of Plum Creek; By the Shores of Silver Lake; The Long Winter; Little Town on the Prairie; These Happy Golden Years; The First Four Years.
5. Clementine. I love, love, love Clementine. She's starred in four books now! Clementine (2006), The Talented Clementine (2007), Clementine's Letter (2008) and Clementine, Friend of the Week (2010). She has so much character. She's funny and insightful. She has a way of getting into trouble, but you can't help LOVING her anyway!
4. Julia Gillian. I loved discovering Julia Gillian this past year. I could really relate to her. True, she doesn't like to read. But. In so many ways, I can understand her, know her. She's starred in three adventures: Julia Gillian (And the Art of Knowing) and Julia Gillian (And the Quest for Joy, and Julia Gillian (And the Dream of the Dog).
3. Lucy Pevensie. From many of the adventures in The Chronicles of Narnia -- primarily, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I love so many things about Lucy. Her wonder, her innocence, her kindness.
2. Anne Shirley. The little girl Matthew meets at the train station, the "unwanted" orphan whom almost everyone in Avonlea finds irresistible, is such a kindred spirit. I love, love, love Anne. We meet her first at a vulnerable age. Then all too quickly, perhaps, she begins to grow up, to mature. Yes, Anne is still Anne. And she's still a kindred spirit. But I can't help loving this earlier Anne the very best of all. Anne of Green Gables.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
