Top Ten Tuesday: Book Characters Who've Shaped My Life

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly countdown meme, hosted by the Broke and the Bookish! 

Diving a little into the deep end of the swimming pool this morning, for a post partially inspired by a revelation made by one of my English department compatriots, who suddenly discovered  that his sense of moral compass was determined more by Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild than it was by his religious upbringing. Seriously, that happened in class yesterday afternoon.

Regardless of your church affiliation - or lack thereof - I know there's a book there on your bedside table of years past, with someone inside who spoke to you, and changed the way you viewed the world. Be they the best friends you'd do anything to emulate, or the fearsome foes you'd face down whenever the time called for it, there are voices hidden within the bindings of some of your favorite reads, that you've listened to, maybe even since you were a kid, whose philosophies of life were adopted as your own. Here are mine!

1. Hermione Granger, from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series

Being smart isn't just cool... its amazing. You can work wonders, if you read for fun.  

2. Elizabeth Bennett, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Being sassy works just as well, as long as you learn from your mistakes. 

3. Emma Woodhouse, from Jane Austen's Emma

Being driven and compassionate is also important. 

4.Tom Sawyer, from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Adventure never killed anyone. (I mean, it almost did, but it didn't. And that's what's important.)

5. Beka, Alianne, and Keladry, from various series within Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe

Girls can seriously kick ass. Seriously. Also, fantasy is super cool. 

6. Milo, from Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth

Remember that thing Tom said about adventure? Never be bored, or boring, either. 

7. Gemma Doyle, from Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty

You have an unlimited, unlocked potential. You just need to take the chance for yourself. 

8. Paul (aka Muad'Dib), from Frank Herbert's Dune

One person can lead a revolution. (And knowing how to fight is really important in space.) 

9. Mary, from  Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden

You can be the one to make things magic. And spend some time outside every once in a while, it's good for you. 

10. Annie Dillard, in her biography An American Childhood

The most amazing thing you can always learn to be, is yourself, and the most important stories you can ever tell, are your own. 

What are your Top Ten?