Monday, December 7, 2009

Fave YA Couple?

My blog buddy Alexa over at Not Enough Bookshelves has a very interesting theme going this month. It's called Christmas Countdown.

Alexa is counting down her favourite couples from all of the YA books she's read this year. There are some very interesting people in YA! Alexa is also holding a contest in the same theme. Check out the rules here.

Anyway, Alexa's post got me thinking about some of my fave couples in the books I've read.

My all-time favourite YA couple has got to be Anne Shirley & Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. If you've been following me for a bit, that probably shouldn't surprise you :)

I LOVE Anne. She was everything I wanted to be as a young girl: outgoing, friendly, adventurous and so wonderfully creative. As a shy and serious kid, I knew the only thing we really had in common was a very vivid imagination. I generally kept mine to myself, but it was there -- still is :)

Anne and Gilbert make a great team - from the carrot-top comments and the pigtail pulling to the more serious stuff in later books, you never quite know what to expect from the pair. Just the way it should be :)

So, do any couples stand out for you? Are your faves from childhood or from something you've read more recently?

42 comments:

Alix said...

I love Anne and Gilbert. I adore when she whacks him over the head when her slate, I love how long she holds her grudge for and I love the bit when she shakes his hand at the end. They really are a brilliant couple. Definitely in my top 10 of all time!

Thanks for playing and thanks for the link :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Alexa - yes! I love the slate scene too :) They really are fun and live in the memory for a good long time!

Cali MacKay said...

I don't really read YA, so for an adult couple I like Clarie and Jamie Fraser from Outlander. Another fantastic favorite is Amelia Peabody and Emerson by Elizabeth Peters. Love them! Amelia's always so funny when she whacks or pokes someone with her parasol. lol.

Jemi Fraser said...

Calista - I haven't read Outlander yet - that "to be read" pile is about 10 feet high at the moment. I've really got to get to it :)

Merrie Destefano said...

Great answer--Anne and Gilbert. But when I first heard the question I thought you meant writers. So I had my answer all ready: Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. AND I completely missed the YA part of the question. Hmmmm. Next question?

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Merrie! And don't worry - we're not very strict around here :) Plus, it's still a great answer!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jean Oram said...

I don't know if I have a favourite literary couple. I'm going to have to think on that one!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jean - it took me a bit as well. Until I thought back to my fave childhood books - that's usually where I find the answers, no matter what the question :)

jmartinlibrary said...

Oh mercy. It's a tie for me. I love Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. I love that Darcy moves heaven and earth to make amends for offending Elizabeth. They are so well suited; she's plucky, he's broodilicious.

Also, even though their relationship could be described as "co-dependent" and "borderline psychotic," I love Cathy and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. They are so deliciously terrible for each other but so deserving of each other's company. May they eternally torment one another.

Plus, who doesn't jones a little stalker love?

Jemi Fraser said...

Jenny - LOL - I love how those stalkerish types stick with us! What teenage girl didn't fall in love while reading Wuthering Heights? I have a beautifully bound copy my parents gave me one Christmas.

Karen Denise said...

I know mine is the most recent pairing listed so far, but I love Ron and Hermione. Even when they were 10-year-olds bickering like an old married couple, I knew I loved them. I was a bit like Hermione, only not a know it all with school work, but with everything else. I would've loved to have had a guy like Ron take me down a notches.

And yeah, those obsessive type relationships can really get juicy!

Jemi Fraser said...

Karen - good choice! I love Ron & Hermione as well - they're so much fun :) It's nice to watch the relationship grow throughout the entire series :)

lisa and laura said...

I remember reading Anne of Green Gables when I was about 10 or 11 and my parents were furniture shopping and I carried the book around with me all day reading whenever I could get a couple of minutes. I have this vivid memory of sitting under a coffee table with the book and praying that my parents would take forever picking out their furniture!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Oh, Nancy and Ned from Nancy Drew. And Trixie and Jim from Trixie Belden. :)

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Helen Ginger said...

It's rather sad, but I can't think of a young adult book couple. When I was young, I read the books passed down from older sisters (which may have been passed down to them), like the Bobbsey Twins. Don't think there were any couples in those.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

Lisa & Laura - What a great memory :)

It's amazing how vivid some memories connected to reading are! I'm happy to see Anne was popular in other places than Canada - I was never sure if she was a national obsession or if others enjoyed her too!

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth - Nancy & Ned!! I loved them - I'm not sure if I read those books or just absorbed them :) At one point we had the entire set - Hardy Boys too. Awesome books!

Jemi Fraser said...

Helen - I don't think the Bobbsey twins had any romance - but they were fun reads! I used to bring them home in bunches from the library. Good memories :)

cleemckenzie said...

I carried Anne of Green Gables around with me so much one year that almost every photo in the family album has me with that book.

Anonymous said...

What a fun post. Faves from Childhood: Catherine Mary O'Fallon and her true love the awesome Canadian Mounty, Seargant Mike.

I love the novel, Mrs. Mike, and got my daughter hooked as well.

Contemporary YA lit: I heart Katniss from The Hunger Games and Gale. My DD would argue against me and state that Peeta is Katniss's true love, but...there you have it.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

This one is hard...I mean, I don't want to say Bella and Edward, but the only other ones that seem as tight are Catherine and Heathcliff and that connections was all kinds of messed up. So, Bella and Edward it is.

Elizabeth Bradley said...

I'm gonna throw in a vote for a couple of old farts. Ira and Maggie Moran, from the pen of the incredibly talented Anne Tyler, in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Breathing Lessons". If you haven't read this gem, you must.

Jemi Fraser said...

Sliding - that's AWESOME!! :) Gotta love our childhood faves - they really stick with us!

Jemi Fraser said...

Cat - I haven't read Mrs. Mike - I'm going to have to check that out!

I loved Hunger Games, but haven't read Catching Fire yet. I'm going to reserver judgment on which is the couple I prefer until then! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Carol - yup, Catherine & Heathcliff were definitely messed up. Fun... but messed up :)

I STILL haven't read Twilight yet. I really do have to do that one of these days!

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth - Breathing Lesson - okay - I've written it down, and put it on the list. I really wish I had more reading time :)

Rhiannon Hart said...

I love Jane and Rochester from Jane Eyre--their conversations are just so intelligent and witty. And also Numair and Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals quartet. So freaking sweet!

Great blog! I just found my way here from Carol's Prints, and it's lovely to "meet" you.

Jemi Fraser said...

Hi Rhiannon - nice to meet you too! Don't you just love this cyberspace!!

I never really enjoyed Jane Eyre. I wonder if I was too young when I read it?? Most people seem to just love it. I'll have to give it another shot one day.

The Immortals has been a really popular series as well - lots of fans for it out there!

Anne Riley said...

You know, I love Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter. She is just so frazzled and he is always so unconcerned about it. Love it!

Anonymous said...

You named my favourite! Anne (with an E) and
Gilbert.

JournoMich said...

Ok, not on topic, but I came across this today and thought of you: http://asteampunkreverie.blogspot.com/

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries

Jemi Fraser said...

Anne - Ron & Hermione are great - I love the way everything develops throughout the series!

Jemi Fraser said...

Carolyn - Anne with an E indeed! My daughter's middle name is Anne :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Michele - I love off topic!

I love that link - Calista is a great blog buddy :) So glad you found her too! Thank you :)

Roz Morris aka @Roz_Morris . Blog: Nail Your Novel said...

Great post! You've really stirred some memories with Anne and Gil. From childhood I adored Jill and both her ponies in Ruby Ferguson's 'Jill' books. I always though it was such a romantic, adventurous relationship she had with them.

More grown up, I have to give a mention to all the heroines of Barbara Trapido's novels, and the delicious, funny men they end up with. Perhaps that's an English taste...

Jemi Fraser said...

DWC - I'm glad I stirred up some great memories :) Hmmm ... I don't know Trapido's work, I'll have to check her stuff out!

Thanks for dropping by!

Anonymous said...

Oh my, there are so many great couples that I love reading about. I love all the one's mentioned above but some of my other favs are Elena & Clayton Danvers from Kelley Armstrongs Otherworld Series, Sarah Dearly & Thierry de Bennicoeur from Michelle Rowen's Immortality Bites series. But if forced to only pick one I'd have to say Miss Elizabeth Bennett & Mr Darcy :D

Jemi Fraser said...

Layna - I haven't read some of those yet. My pile is getting bigger by the minute :)

Natalie said...

I'm going to go with Katniss and Peeta (or Gale) from THE HUNGER GAMES. I can't wait to see what happens to them. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Natalie - I agree with both choices! I haven't read Catching Fire yet, but it will sure be fun to see where the story takes them :)

Unknown said...

Jo March and Laurie (Teddy)

I couldn't believe it when she broke his heart. (I only finished the book in the hopes that she would come to her senses.)

I was an unforgiving twelve-year-old.

Jemi Fraser said...

Elaine - I completely agree. I was not happy with the relationship between Laurie & Amy at all! I never really forgave Alcott for that one.