When I was a kid, my mother sewed homemade Halloween costumes for my sister and me just about every year. They were great; some of the favorites I remember include a princess costume that included flounces on the skirt, several pioneer girl costumes, and April O’Neil from (the original!) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course, for mom to have time to make these, we had to select and commit to our costumes the summer before. I’m more of a glue-gun-the-week-before kind of costume maker, but I still enjoy making costumes. My own costume making coups thus far include a cowgirl, Waldo from the Where’s Waldo books, and this year, a ghost (admittedly not the most difficult).
If you are reading this post without already having a costume prepared, however, you need something super fast. It’s amazing what you can throw together at the last minute with one or two key pieces, so here are some literary costume ideas that shouldn’t take too much preparation:
1. If you have a leather jacket (or faux-leather jacket), you could be…
- Maddie Brodatt from Code Name Verity (2013 Printz Award Honor Book)
- Prince Aleksander or Deryn Sharp from the Leviathan trilogy (2010 Best Book for Young Adults; a pair of goggles would be a good addition to either of these options)
- Katniss or Gale from The Hunger Games (2009 Best Book for Young Adults, among others) in their hunting gear
- Mal or Zoe from the Firefly series (Ok, ok, not really literary! But still fun…)
2. If you have a parka or heavy coat, you could be…
- Eva, Jasper, or Lukas from Relic by Heather Terrell
- Sam or one of the other Wolves of Mercy Falls, from Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (2010 Best Book for Young Adults, 2010 Teens’ Top Ten, if you can pick up some wolf ears or a mask at a costume store, you could be in the midst of transformation)