I’ve always been drawn to characters who stand apart from “normal” people—the swordsman who studied every aspect of sword fighting for twenty years, the book nerd who saves the day with her knowledge, the enthusiastic inventor who spends more time with his inventions than people, and the FBI agent obsessed with the alien and unexplained.
Many of us can relate to the character who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of society, and with Petra Wade, the protagonist of The Brass Giant, I knew I wanted her to be different, to stand out, perhaps even suffer social estrangement because of her passions. She’s an outcast for loving machines instead of embroidery, obsessed with learning everything she can about clockwork and mechanical engineering so that she might one day be able to join the Guild of Engineers.
In reality, most of us have something we geek out about, whether it’s dressing up as our favorite fictional characters at every possible opportunity, being able to quote the entirety of The Princess Bride, learning Dothraki, or painting hordes of miniatures in our garage. We like stuff. And sometimes, we have unusual skills as a result. So it only makes sense that book characters would too.
Here are five young characters who take their geekery to the next level, solving their problems on their own and sometimes saving the world in the process (some vague spoilers below).
Violet Baudelaire, Inventor
Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events
With an enemy like Count Olaf and his goons to outsmart, Violet has to think fast and smart to escape his maniacal clutches. Tying her hair back with a ribbon to think, she invents the most MacGyveresque contraptions to get her and her siblings out of trouble—a grappling hook made out of metal rods, a photo frame wire, and some torn clothing; an escape device made entirely out of rubber bands; and a staple-making device using only a small crab, a potato, metal rods, creamed spinach, and a fork. Clearly, physics work differently in her world, but you still have to give her credit for ingenuity.
Jaxter Grimjinx, Herbalist
Brian Farrey’s Vengekeep Prophecies trilogy
Born into a family of renowned thieves, Jaxter is supposed to carry on the family legacy, but there’s only one problem—he’s a rotten thief. He can’t pick a lock to save his life and his clumsiness thwarts the stealthiest of operations, but he still finds ways to aid his criminal family in their endeavors. Devoting his life to the study of magic-resistant plants, he can get himself—and his family and friends—out of almost any magical situation. And as it turns out, he may be the only one who can save them when certain destruction looms over his hometown of Vengekeep.
Linh Cinder, Mechanic
Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series
Mechanic by necessity, Linh Cinder operates a repair booth in the New Beijing Market, repairing androids and whatever other electrical and mechanical objects that might need fixing—including her own cyborg parts. Her skill with a screwdriver and her knowledge of computers and machines help her escape scientists and sovereigns alike in her quest to discover the truth about who she really is and why she ended up a cyborg in the first place.
Leo Valdez, Inventor and Mechanic
Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series
Demigod Leo Valdez (perhaps my favorite character in the sequel series to Percy Jackson & The Olympians) is a son of Hephaestus, the Greek god of forges, blacksmiths, craftsmen, metals, and fire, which means that he has an innate talent for crafting machines and a dangerous pyrotechnic ability. He can understand and even sense machinery and has the ability to operate and repair anything mechanical. The prankster of the group of demigods, he mostly uses his skills to comedic effect, but when the need arises, he utilizes a magical tool belt to create and repair whatever machines or devices might help the heroes on their journey, repairs the broken Bronze Dragon of Camp Half-Blood, who becomes his companion throughout the series, and even builds an airship and cracks the Archimedes Sphere. Pretty brilliant for a sarcastic joker.
Hermione Granger, Book-nerd and Accomplished Witch
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
Never underestimate the power of a girl with a book. Without Hermione, both Harry and Ron would have been dead a dozen times over the course of the seven-book series, and she was usually the first to discover—or remember—some crucial piece of information to solve whatever problem Harry was too thick to figure out. She memorized all her first-year spellbooks before the beginning of the school year, and she was, in fact, so bookish that she was granted a time-traveling device at thirteen so that she could attend more classes. And after Hogwarts, she eventually went on to become the leading activist for house-elf rights at the Ministry of Magic. Intelligent, inspiring, and fiercely loyal, Hermione was a formidable young lady who showed everyone that books and reading had true value.
Originally published May 2015.
Brooke Johnson is a stay-at-home mom and tea-loving writer. She is the author of The Brass Giant, the first novel in the Chroniker City steampunk series for young adults from Harper Voyager Impulse.
Leo Valdez is my favorite character, too. He’s awesome. And much more human and relatable than the more macho fighter types. I’m also fond of Annabelle who has her own geek cred.
Others I can think of are Artemis Fowl in the series of the same name, Sam from the “Lorien Legacies” series by Pittacus Lore, and geek girl Alex in “The Monster Files” by Cate Dean.
Artemis Fowl is a good addition to this list.. fun reads.
Hermione also goes on to become the actual Minister of Magic (Ministress?) if you go by Cursed Child ;)
I love love love Violet Baudelaire :)
I’m sure there are others in my book collection but I’m having trouble spontaneously thinking of any. David in the Reckoners actually IS pretty geeky in his obsession with the Epics, although that also stems from personal reasons.
No mention of Encyclopedia Brown, the most Geeky of them all? His name says it outright.
Actually, I’m trying to think of the show where some cool dude was admitting that the whole point of being cool was appearing as if you didn’t care about anything.
Maybe the Simpsons? Sure sounds like something from that.
Of course, it’s not wrong, people do lose their cool over things they like.
Hermione is as geeky as they come, and she’s awesome.
Second Lisamarie, David is geeky in a way, in a good way.
Does Anne of Green Gables qualify? She is, too, a bit bookwormish, but I’m not sure it classifies as a YA series.
Edit: While it is most definitely NOT a YA series, since we are talking about awesome geeks, I would like to make an honorable mention of Jasnah Kholin :)
6, Kaladin ALMOST counts, and I’d certainly have read the like as a Young Adult, but you know, a few decades to late.
Fortunately I still have the heart of a Young Boy. (Kept on my desk, in a jar.)
@7 How is Kaladin geeky? He is a man who purposefully chose to be a soldier instead of pursuing his medical studies. He always were more interested in fighting than in learning, I really do not see how he can be read as a geek.
8, fighting, or learning about fighting, can also be geekiness. I’m even watching a show where a character is being described as a fighting-geek.
You might also say he’s that way about honor, or that way in general. About the only way I couldn’t read him as a geek is if I was sticking to the old carnival term.
All hail Agatha Heterodyne, nee Clay, the heroine of Girl Genius. She is one of the most powerful Sparks in Europa, along with Gil(gamesh) Wulfenbach, Tarvek the Storm King, and many other people who build assorted gadgets both large and small. When they aren’t blowing up stuff, of course.
@10 They often do both at once. There is something to be said for multitasking.