We’re all well aware that the Titanic sank back in April 1912 – even if for many of us it’s through the tragic romance between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio – but what we might not know is that the following day, on April 16, an American woman called Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Due to the overwhelming attention the Titanic received, poor Harriet’s remarkable achievement went almost unnoticed in the media.
Today, however, in celebration of this wonderful woman’s courageous feat, we look at a selection of brave girls in classic stories over the years and pinpoint what they did that was so valiant.
Anne of Anne of Green Gables
This plucky redhead, in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, is known for her boundless imagination and determination not to be bested.
When daring becomes a fashionable craze in the town of Avonlea and queen bee Josie Pye dares Anne to climb the ridgepole of Mr Barry’s roof, she declares to her best friend, “I must do it. My honor is at stake, I shall walk that ridgepole, Diana, or perish in the attempt.” Once up there she is dizzily conscious of how uncomfortably high up she is, and how, for once, her imagination can do nothing to help her. After a few steps she loses her balance, stumbles, staggers… and plunges to the ground.
Luckily, she falls on the side of the porch and is saved from perishing, although she does break her ankle. The upside to the injury, though, is that Anne finally achieves her “romantic” goal of fainting, just like the heroines in the books she so loves.
Roberta of The Railway Children
Roberta (or Bobbie, as she is otherwise known) is the eldest of the three siblings in The Railway Children by E Nesbit so it’s perhaps unsurprising she shows the most courage.
When the children notice a landslide blocking the railway track, they know instantly they must do something. In a move shocking for the beginning of the 20th century, Roberta and her sister whip off their red flannel petticoats and fashion some flags to alert the train driver. “If we can’t stop the train,” Roberta panics, “there’ll be a real live accident, with people killed. Oh, horrible!” When she notices the flags they’ve positioned cannot stand by themselves, Roberta steps onto the line and waves the flags frantically herself, despite the desperate pleas of her brother and sister. The front of the engine looks black and enormous, its voice is loud and harsh but still Roberta stands her ground.
Mercifully, the engine does finally come to a stop, right in front of her. Her heroics have saved the lives of many people, but Roberta, in a state of shock and just like Anne Shirley, cannot help but fall unconscious.
Alice of Alice in Wonderland
Another saver of lives is the heroine in Lewis Carroll’s novel, Alice in Wonderland, seen particularly when Alice encounters the Queen of Hearts for the first time.
The Queen is a fearsome character whom everyone desperately tries to please for fear of being beheaded, but Alice won’t put up with it. When the queen asks her who the gardeners are who have been painting the roses red, Alice – who in fact surprises herself with her courage – says, “How should I know? It’s no business of mine.” The Queen promptly turns crimson with fury, glares at her like a wild beast and screams her famous words, “Off with her head!” While most of us would cower in fear or attempt to escape, Alice refuses to back down and retorts, “Nonsense!” This shocks the Queen into silence, which perhaps could be what saves Alice. Alice then further goes against the Queen’s wishes by hiding the three gardeners in a flower pot and thereby saving them from execution.
Gerda of The Snow Queen
Gerda? Gerda who? Well, you may or may not know that Gerda, the female heroine in The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, was the inspiration for Anna in the disney film, Frozen, which was based on Andersen’s story.
In the original fairy tale Gerda seeks to rescue her best friend, Kai, the boy next door, who has been kidnapped by the wicked Snow Queen after a splinter from an evil mirror gets into his eye. Gerda demonstrates great bravery as she overcomes a variety of obstacles during her rescue mission: she is taken in by a sorceress who wants to keep her for herself and so erases her memory of Kai (luckily Gerda’s tears raise a rose bush from the ground which reminds her of her friend) then she is captured by robbers (but manages to escape, helped by the friendly robber girl) and finally journeys north by reindeer to the Snow Queen’s palace. There she finds Kai, and when she takes him in her arms and her tears of love fall on him, his heart is melted and the evil splinter burnt, freeing him from the wicked Queen.
Jane of Jane Eyre
If most of us were to hear strange noises outside our bedroom door at night, we would probably bury ourselves under the duvet and pray desperately for everything to be OK.
However, when Jane, the heroine of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, hears fingers brushing the wall outside her room at Thornfield Hall (the home of her employer and love-interest, Mr Rochester) accompanied by a demonic laugh, she is intent on investigating. On walking down the corridor she discovers that Rochester’s room is on fire. When she cannot wake him up, she bravely fights the fire herself, dowsing the raging flames with water and saving him from a fiery end.
Have you got a favourite brave girl? Tell us! Share it on Twitter@GdnChildrensBks with the hashtag #bravegirls or via email childrens.books@theguardian.com. Do you have your own list of your top brave fictional characters? Join the Children’s Books site and let us know!
Your brave girls
@GdnChildrensBks George and Anne in the Famous Five.
— Michelle Wells (@mwells121) April 17, 2015
Elizabeth, on email
Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the bravest girls because when her siblings don’t want to look for and save Mr Tumnus, she chooses too and doesn’t give up on him. She doesn’t flee in times of war, does everything she can to help and discovers Aslan. She never gives up on her brother when everyone else does and faces adversity. She isn’t called valiant for nothing!
Another #bravegirl is Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. She always comes up with answers to the problems Harry faces and lets him go even when it terrifies her. She continues to hunt for horcruxes when Ron leaves even though she is in love with him. She never gave up hope and faced Bellatrix head on. She even wiped her parents memories for their sake!
@GdnChildrensBks Sara Crewe of A Little Princess should be a contender... Albeit a different kind of braveness. #bravegirls
— pinkteapot (@pinkteapot3) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks Cynthia Voigt's girls, especially Dicey Tillerman.
— Aoife Walsh (@AoifeMPWalsh) April 17, 2015
Love Gerda so much. Snow Queen is my absolute favourite fairytale, and she's such an awesome girl! @GdnChildrensBks
— Emma Jones (@emmavrjones) April 17, 2015
Has to be Roberta (in her incarnation as Jenny Agutter at least). #bravegirls #chapsofacertainage https://t.co/NzcDH4fy1G
— TheConstantGardener (@gardener_the) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks I've always had a soft spot for an orphan, so Judy from Daddy-Long-Legs/ Maria from Little White Horse #bravegirls
— Amy Wilkerson (@amyomaly) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks #bravegirls Laura Ingalls, climbing out of bed to watch the wolves howing around the house on the prairie. Terrifying.
— Jessamy Taylor (@jessamy_taylor) April 17, 2015
@jessamy_taylor @GdnChildrensBks Laura Ingalls was my choice too :-)
— Fran Nantongwe (@FranNantongwe) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks Mattie in True Grit! "People do not give it credence that a 14yr old girl could leave home...to avenge her father's blood"
— Tom Stevens (@LshsMrStevens) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks Now I can't stop: Atalanta and Pansy, smashing windows in Downing Street, in Miss Rivers and Miss Bridges #bravegirls
— Jessamy Taylor (@jessamy_taylor) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks Kizzy (and Prudence) in Rumer Godden's The Diddakoi - both brave in different ways #bravegirls
— Emma Barnes (@EmmaBarnesWrite) April 17, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks oh and obviously the incomparable Joey Bettany/Maynard of the Chalet School! #bravegirls
— Kate Holmden (@Petronella) April 17, 2015
Lyra (#HisDarkMaterials) for everything really but especially tricking Iofur Rakinson #bravegirls @GdnChildrensBks
— ❀ Rose North (@perfectworry) April 18, 2015
@GdnChildrensBks Margery Fenworthy from St Clare's - gosh, that was a thrilling action scene. And she really gets picked on beforehand.
— Aoife Walsh (@AoifeMPWalsh) April 17, 2015
