The Summer Lovin’ Read-A-Thon is hosted by Reviewing Wonderland and takes place this week July 1-7. It’s not too late to sign up if you want to be involved!

Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee

Today’s post is about my favorite female fictional character. And I’ve chosen:

Hermione Granger!

Why?

There are a LOT of female characters I could have chosen. But really, Hermione is one of the few I wish really existed in this world! Why? Oh, let me tell you why.

1. Hermione is smart.

Arguably, Hermione is one of the smartest wizards in the entire series. Including some of the adults. She reads everything she can get her hands on, and if it weren’t for her, half these books wouldn’t have had the happy ending that they did. Harry certainly wouldn’t have succeeded so many times without her. Ron tells Harry in book seven that they “wouldn’t last two days” without her. And he is absolutely correct.

Raise your hand if you want to be Hermione

In book one, she got them to the three-headed dog, figured out the spell to open the door, and got them out of the Devil’s Snare. Harry would have never gotten the stone without her. And then she sacrificed herself so Harry could go to the end.

In book two, she figured out how to make Polyjuice potion, which was considered advanced magic. She was what 12?

In book three, she takes so many classes, she has to GO BACK IN TIME to make them all. If that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is. And it’s because of her quick thinking her and Harry were able to help Sirius and Buckbeak.

In book four, she figures out how Rita Skeeter is making everyone’s lives hell on earth, and tricks her into stopping. If it weren’t for her, Rita would have probably bunked with Harry his last few years to get the scoop.

In book five, Hermione understood that Dolores Umbridge and the ministry were not on the side of truth. She was able to pick up on this, learn everything she could to protect herself and her friends, and was able to convince Harry to start Dumbledore’s Army. If it weren’t for Hermione those kids would never have been so prepared for the next couple of hard years.

In book six, she helps Harry research what he needs to continue the fight against Voldermort. And she continues to kick butt at her classes, even though they are under enormous pressure.

In book seven, Hermione kicks ass. She packs that purse with everything they need, so they will be able to leave at a momen’s notice. Because of her intelligence and quick-thinking the three wizards are far more prepared than they would have been. Hermione helps organize and drive the plan to go to the Ministry, and sticks with Harry even when the boy she loves leaves them. She is a constant source of strength and rational thinking (like not going to Harry’s hometown even though he wants to right away).

2. Hermione is brave.

The amount of guts this girl has is incredible. She puts herself in the face of danger over and over again, especially for the greater good. See above!

3. Hermione doesn’t care what you think.

She has her stands, causes, and she sticks by them. I mean S.P.E.W. – come on that was just something that wasn’t going to happen in the wizarding word. But Hermione didn’t care, because she KNEW the treatment of house elves was wrong. And when people made fun of her for having big teeth and bushy hair, she just brushed off their snickers and held her head up high. She stuck by Harry when the entire school hated him, and she didn’t back down when people called her a mudblood. You have to admit, the girl had class.

Hermione doesn’t care what you think.

4. Hermione is a muggle.

The fact that she was from the muggle-world not only gave readers a character that was in essence just like them, but it also gave Harry a friend who wasn’t a wizard. They had to learn a lot of things together, which probably helped Harry not feel like such an outcast. And even with being a muggle, she became one of the best wizards at Hogwarts — thus proving if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it.

5. Hermione is selfless

Hermione made her parents FORGET her to keep them safe. She sacrificed the two people who loved her most in the world just to protect them. That takes guts.

6. Hermione, for the most part, doesn’t let romance get in the way of anything

Hermione dates Viktor and doesn’t geek out at his fame and rub it in Ron’s face (mostly). Even though she hates that Ron is dating Lavendar, she (mostly) keeps her held high. And even when they finally do realize they want to be together, Hermione and Ron don’t let a little thing called love get in the way of there important task of defeating Voldermort.

She could have been a girly, girl who fawned over boys. And yet, she didn’t. And I truly thank J.K. Rowling for that!

So really, I mean, who WOULDN”T want to be Hermione Granger?

So, who is your favorite female character?

Page 99 Test

Today’s challenge post is the Page 99 Test. Here are the rules according to Reviewing Wonderland:

If you have never done this before, the object of the game is to pick a book you have not yet read, turn to page 99 and read that page. Then you give a synopsis of that page and tell us if, based only on that page, would you want to read this book?

Please remember to give a synopsis ONLY, no spoilers and no plagiarism.

So get to it! Read that page and let us know what you think? Did it contain any really good teasers? Want to finish the book to find out what was going on?

The first book I saw next to me just happened to be The Farm by Emily McKay. I bought this book at the suggestion of my sister, but have yet to read it.

The Farm
By Emily McKay

Synopsis:

Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race…

My Page 99 Synopsis

Basically I am gathering that Lily is the narrator of the story. She runs into Carter (whom I’m gathering will be a love interest) and he catches them out after curfew. He offers to help them to safety, but Lily sees it at as getting further from the hole to freedom. She is trying to gauge whether or not to trust him and in a world where trust isn’t something that comes easily.

My Take

I think this was an excellent page to read for this contest. It really showed what was going on so far and what was coming in the future of the story. There were some terms/group names I didn’t really get yet, but overall I think I will be reading this book. I normally don’t read books about vampires, but this seems more like a post-apocalyptic book, where the vampires are more like the monsters and less the focus (a la The Walking Dead and Enclave). Plus, I am really excited to see about the angle with Mel, the twin with autism. Can’t wait to see what happens!