I was a little stumped about what to write about, so I turned to the ever-helpful Top Ten Tuesday feature over at The Broke and the Bookish for some inspiration. One of its older topics was picking book characters you would want in your own family.  Obviously, I’m not replacing any actual family members with these choices, but who wouldn’t like their own little fantasy world with a family of these wonderful characters?

1. Molly Weasley (Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling) – Who doesn’t want Molly as their mom? She’d knit you personalized sweaters and send you the best care packages when you’re away at school. Plus, she’s like a fierce mother lion, wanting to take in anyone who needs love and protect anyone who has earned her love.
2. Lester McKinley (Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor) – Lester fascinated me when I was growing up reading these books. As someone who has no older brothers or even male cousins, I didn’t understand having a very old-seeming boy in your house who brought over strange girlfriends and looked after you. I loved seeing his story in parallel with Alice’s throughout the books, and theirs is a lovely sibling relationship. I do like being an oldest child, but I think that if I were to change my birth order, I’d want a big brother like Lester!
3. Maddie (Millicent Min, Girl Genius, by Lisa Yee) – This was one of my favorite books in elementary school, and Millicent’s eccentric grandmother Maddie is an independent elderly woman who decides to go traveling on her own. I can only hope that I’m as capable and brave as Maddie when I’m older, and it would be awesome to have a grandma like her.
4. G.T. Stoop (Hope Was Here, by Joan Bauer) – This is another favorite childhood book that I recently reread, and I was struck by how calming G.T. really is. Picture Locke from Lost in the first season, and that’s how I see G.T. – a very philosophical, solid presence  who is an extremely decent person. He becomes a father figure to Hope and if I were to pick a strong fictional father, he’d be first on the list.
5. Spencer Martin (Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson) – While Lester is the big brother who you can sit down and have a deep talk about life with, Spencer is the brother you go to for a laugh.  If he was the middle child between you and Lester, the two of you would team up to play pranks on Lester.
6. Mia Thermopolis (The Princess Diaries series, by Meg Cabot) – I think that if Mia and I were sisters we would clash a lot, because we are pretty similar. But the best thing ever is to have someone that you can watch trashy TV with without feeling judged, and Mia is the perfect person for this position.
7. Kat and Denny Hall (If I Stay, by Gayle Forman) – Normally I would’ve been annoyed by such easygoing and seemingly flippant parents, but something about the way Mia’s parents were written just worked. It was so refreshing to see a kid in a YA book actually have a relationship with her parents, who happened to be awesome.

What about you? Are there any fictional characters that feel like family to you?