I will always be a fan of the Harry Potter series and will forever fondly remember how obsessed I was to read all of the books and watch all of the movies. Now that the Sorcerer’s Stone is almost twenty years old, J.K. Rowling’s characters still ignite my mind.
One of my favorite characters is Hermione Granger. We all know Hermione as the smart and studious muggle-born witch from the Harry Potter series, but after reading the series, I think that there is much more to Hermione all together. To sum it up, Hermione is driven to be the best and the smartest student at Hogwarts. She has a brilliant mind, is very gifted at spells, and may have a photographic memory. She is a loyal friend with strong convictions and somewhat of a rule follower. She doesn’t like bullies and she stands up to those that are cruel and indecent. Hermione’s parents are both dentists, so she know all about teeth. She wants to feel pretty sometimes and she longs for the love and attention of someone special.
So… what if Hermione walked into my library right now? Let’s say she was done with school and on a break and wanted some books to read for fun. What books would I recommend for Hermione? Well, here goes…
What the Spell by Brittany Geragotelis – A book about witches, spells and changing your looks, yes Hermione will love this one!
When Brooklyn Sparks turn sixteen her life completely changes. She finds out she is a witch and when her parents unbind her powers she can’t help making improvements on her life. She changes her looks by giving herself a major makeover and she starts hanging with the elite crowd.
Of course there’s a price to pay for being the center of attention and Brooklyn is not sure that she wants this kind of life after all. After all she has achieved, she has so much to lose and the fall from popularity may be a difficult one to face.
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor – This story is about Brimstone a Chimaera who sends his adopted daughter Karou to collect teeth from all around the world. I’m guessing Hermione would love to hear all about Karou’s travels.
Karou is a seventeen year old girl living in Prague with a big secret. She may look like a normal art student with friends and annoying ex boyfriend, but she secretly works for the mysterious Brimstone or “wishmonger” as he trades wishes for teeth. When Karou is attacked by an angel her whole world collapses and all that she has ever known is set off in flames. In an astonishing revelation, Karou’s suddenly return and she realizes that she was never really who she thought she was and her entire life was a disguise. A tiny wishbone is all the proof she needs to finally understand the truth of who she really is.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – There’s no doubt that Hermione would flip for Simon and Baz! I wonder which one she would fall for?
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Well, the entire world love Simon Snow, but for Cath it’s more than that. Simon Snow has been her friend when she was down and he has been her inspiration to start writing fan fiction, which she is really good at. Her sister Wren is a fan fic writer too, and they both enjoy writing stories about Simon and his nemesis Baz. Cath and Wren are going off to college and Cath worries about her dad a lot. Wren has chosen not to room with Cath and that has caused a lot of hard feelings. Cath feels very alone and lost in this new environment.
Will she immerse herself into the lives of her fiction friends or make new friends at school that could change her life forever?
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige – You can’t go wrong with a kick butt girl from Kansas caught in the middle of a war in Oz. Hermione would absolutely love Amy’s courage and aptitude for witchery, and of course her good taste in cute guys!
Amy Gunn has been bullied all her life. The bullies nicknamed her “Salvation Amy” because she was poor. Suddenly, Amy is transported through a terrible tornado to the land of Oz. As she is finding her way around she realizes that Oz is not the place she remembers from her childhood. The place looks like it was hit with apocalyptic bang and much worse than that, Dorothy has become an awful evil person. Her minions the Tin man, Scarecrow and Lion are also evil and hurt and kill just for fun. Amy meets up with the wicked witch gang and learns a thing or two about magic.
Will Amy be able to defeat the deranged Dorothy? Amy is determined to try and that’s all that matters.
How to be Popular by Meg Cabot – Well, Hermione does not really care about popularity, but if she found a book like Steph Landry did, I bet she would read it and follow the directions, that just totally sounds like her. Stephanie Landry feels like she is the most unpopular girl ever. The mean girl in school has been making fun of her for years and even coined the phrase “don’t pull a Steph Landry” for when someone messes up or makes a mistake. Steph is tired of taking the abuse, so when she finds an old book called “How to be Popular” she decides to follow the books’ rules and make some changes in her life.
As Steph begins to change, the kids at school begin to notice. Steph has some great ideas to do a fundraiser for the school and soon everyone is looking at Steph in a different way. The one thing that she forgot was that she was already great the way she was and she didn’t need to change to make anyone like her. Reading the book did give her more confidence and that was what she really needed!
— Kimberli Buckley, currently reading Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella