characters.txt

Ability diverse: These characters live with physical, mental, or emotional conditions that can often be challenging.
Anthropomorphic: From cats solving mysteries to crayons quitting their day jobs, the non-human characters in these books offer a unique perspective.
Authentic: These characters behave in ways that accord with their age, nationality, and backgrounds.
Awkward: Often unsure of themselves, these characters lack the social savvy to navigate relationships and other interpersonal situations smoothly.
Believable: These characters ring true for young readers, and behave in ways that are consistent with their age and backgrounds.
Brooding: Haunted by past traumas or mistakes, these morose characters contemplate (and often must confront) what is wrong in the world.
Character duos: From best friends to odd couples, these books feature dynamic duos who take on the world together!
Complex: Intriguing and complicated, these multi-dimensional characters have conflicting motivations and desires.
Courageous: These brave and often self-sacrificing characters have strong convictions and face challenges with determination, despite the odds against them.
Culturally diverse: These books may feature characters from racial and ethnic minorities living in the United States, Europe, Canada, or Australia, as well as characters from non-white cultural groups living in other parts of the world.
Exaggerated: These larger-than-life characters often delight readers by adding to the humor or uniqueness of a story.
Flawed: These characters do not always act in their own best interests, and their sometimes misguided decisions form a central theme in the story.
Introspective: These characters examine their own feelings, thoughts, and motives, and what they find often has major repercussions for the story.
Large cast of characters: Whether because of sprawling storylines, epic scopes, or intricate plots, these books contain lots of characters — how well readers get to know them depends on the author.
LGBTQIA diverse: Identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or questioning, these characters are not stereotypes and are important to the story (even if in a secondary role).
Likeable: These appealing characters engage readers and are likeable, despite flaws.
Mischievous: These child characters frequently get into trouble or cause minor disasters due to their curiosity or intentional disregard for the rules.
Quirky: Eccentric and idiosyncratic, these characters range from peculiar to bizarre, and generally add to the charm or humor of the stories in which they appear.
Relatable: Because their emotions and experiences are recognizable, readers are able to identify with these characters and their dilemmas.
Religiously diverse: These characters follow or have a background in a religion other than Christianity. While their active level of involvement in the religion may vary, the character’s religious beliefs are an important element in the story.
Sarcastic: These young characters sometimes employ sarcasm for humor, and sometimes in response to difficult or challenging situations.
Sassy: These books feature characters (usually women) with outsized personalities and a bottomless well of one-liners and comebacks.
Snarky: These characters employ sarcasm, irony, and biting wit in their approach to life (and often have fun with it!).
Spirited: These lively characters are full of energy and vigor.
Spunky: Feisty and scrappy, these characters have pluck and determination.
Strong female: Whether catching criminals or saving the world, these take-charge women and girls are at the top of their game.
Sympathetic: While sometimes dealing with difficult situations or making poor decisions, these characters are presented in such a way that readers empathize with them.
Twisted: Deviant and often unsettling, these characters push the boundaries of literature through behavior that ranges from disturbing to illegal.
Unlikeable: Deliberately painted in an unflattering light, these characters will not gain the sympathy of readers, so there is less emotional investment if and when bad things happen to them.
Well-developed: Sometimes appearing in more plot-driven stories, these characters rise above others in the strength of their development.