Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Character Switches

 

The Broke and the Bookish, a brilliant book blog, 

hosts a weekly top ten list meme.

I like this meme because I like lists. I like this meme because it reminds me of the Top 5 lists from High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby as a book, starring John Cusak as a movie). And I like this meme because it causes me to think long and hard about book-related topics. So here goes:

Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Switch Places with for 24 Hours

Choosing these characters does depend a bit on which 24 hours you'd be living through, doesn't it? For instance, you might want to be Harry Potter or Hermoine Granger or Ron Weasley, but would you rather be them in the middle of book 1 or in the middle of book 7? (Personally, I'd like to be Harry Potter right in the middle of the first big feast of his life in the great hall during his first night at Hogwarts. Can you imagine all the different types of food?!?)

After some careful consideration, here are the top ten characters I would like to switch places with, and the somewhat specific 24 hours I would like to live:

1. Anne Shirley in Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

This one might seem a bit obvious to you, what with her being such a classic character and all, but wait for it: I would choose to switch places with Anne during book three of the Anne of Green Gables series, while she was going to school and living with her friends in that adorable little house with the live cat and the stone dogs Gog and Magog. She was right on the verge of change, and enjoying every moment. No specific 24 hours for this one, just any point throughout the year when she's so appreciative of living in a charming house with great friends, working hard at school, and then hugging to her the equal parts of fear and excitement over being in love with Gilbert Blythe.

2. Sara Crewe from A Little Princess by Frances Hodson Burnett

Apparently I'm sticking with the classics, as Sara was the second character that came to mind. The very specific 24 hours here would be when she wakes up in her attice bedroom in the horrible Miss Minchin's school and finds herself all cozy and warm and thinks that she's dreaming because there's food and slippers and a robe and a fire in the grate, and she calls Becky over so that she can share right away, and for a brief period of time Sara has some real happiness as opposed to her own created happiness. Obviously I like it when happy things happen.
 
3. Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I know I've chosen happy moments so far, but this one is a little different. I would choose to switch places with poor, unwanted Mary during the first 24 hours she's in that huge scary house of her uncle's on the Yorkshire moors. Do you know why? So I can explore it, of course! I'm not saying I wouldn't be equally sad and terrified, but I would also explore that place top-to-bottom, because what could anyone say to me then about poking my nose into every nook and cranny? I'm new and lost and they probably would forget all about me anyway, and so for at least 24 hours I could wander at will and discover all the house secrets right away.
 
4. Angeline Stephenson from Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

In Regency-era high society, one does not perform magic. Yet magic exists, Kat knows it does, because her mother was a witch. Unfortunately for Kat, her mother died soon after she was born, so the only memories she has are second-hand, overheard from her two older sisters. When her father remarried, Stepmama puts away all Kat's mother's things, and no one is allowed to speak of it. I would love to switch places with Kat's middle sister, Angeline, for any of the 24 hours during their high society house party so that I could aid Kat in foiling Stepmama's plans to marry off Kat's oldest sister to an evil (although rich) man whose biggest claim to fame is killing his first wife. Though Kat does a pretty remarkable job of saving her oldest sister all on her own, ruining dastardly deeds is so much more fun with two people.
 
5. The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall

This one is the easiest - ANY character during ANY 24 hour period in ANY of the three books in this series, please! They're all equally fun, and I can't wait to be part of that family. Okay, I probably wouldn't want to be Hound, the dog, though he is certainly loved, fed, and petted enough, and allowed to sleep on the bed, but any other human character in the family would do.
 
6. Lydia Demarek from The Brotherband Chronicles: The Invaders by John Flanagan

Lydai's role seems like the perfect mix - deadly accuracy with a slingshot, knowledge of the local landscape, spirit of adventure, and an independent attitude. I would want to switch with her for the 24 hours right after book 2 ends. I can't wait to hear more about her character in book 3!
 
7. Nathaniel Fludd from Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist: The Flight of the Phoenix by R.L. LaFevers

Action, adventure, a dodo bird, Bedouins, an unknown aunt, a gremlin, the mystery of missing parents, and a real, live phoenix?? Count me in!
 
8. Perry Stormaire from Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

The first contemporary young adult (teen) novel on the list, let's just say that if undercover assassin Gobi Zaksauskas had chosen ME as Perry for her driver on prom night, the night would have turned out differently.
 
9. Anyone in the crew other than Katarina Bishop from Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Um, a crew of teenagers, all with special thieving skills? Yes, please! I'll gladly replace anyone on the list, though I have a particular affinity for either Kat's character or her cousin, Gabrielle. Either way, I would love to be part of this crew. And which 24 hours depends on which character I would get to be; obviously when it comes to this heist, I want to be in on the action.
 
10. Who is one character YOU would like to switch places with for 24 hours?