Looking for some new books to read? How about ones that are similar to our favorite television shows?
If you like ‘Agent Carter’ read ‘Code Name Verity’ by Elizabeth Wein
What it’s about: When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo in Nazi occupied France she has a choice: reveal everything she knows or face torture and execution. She chooses the former and what follows is the tale of how she first met her best friend Maddie in the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) and wound up in Nazi custody. “Verity” and Maddie were unlikely friends brought together by an umbrella, a shared fear, and an air raid. During ordinary times the Scottish royal fluent in French and German and the aspiring pilot might never have met, but the Second World War shook up many things. It continued to shake up the lives of the two friends right up until the fateful flight that brought them to France, leaving one friend trapped in the burning wreckage of the fuselage and the other as a prisoner of war.
Although the novel is fiction, the story was inspired by the lives of many amazing women who acted as spies and pilots during World War II. “Verity’s” confession to the Gestapo explores the lives of two such women who are forced to ask themselves just how far they are willing to go to save a friend.
Why you’ll like it: Now that we know Agent Carter is getting a second season (eeeeekkkk!!!), we’ll all need something to tide us over until the show returns. Code Name Verity is the perfect book to fill the gap. The book is a 1940s era novel about female spies and pilots during World War II. It’s not Peggy and the Howling Commandos, but I’d say it’s just as interesting. The lead characters are intelligent, determined, and strong-willed just like a certain agent we know. The book has twists and turns galore which will keep readers on their toes until the very end. And like Agent Carter, the book deals with the sexism that women had to put up with, but focuses mostly on the daring and determination of the women themselves in the face of enemy fire and the scathing opinions of their colleagues. It is exciting and at times heart-wrenching, but mostly it gives us an amazing look at friendship and the lives of military women during WWII.
If you like ‘Kim Possible’ read ‘Ms. Marvel’ by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
What it’s about: Kamala Khan spends her time hanging out with her friends and writing Avengers fanfiction — until a mysterious fog transforms her into a superpowered teen and changes her life forever. Suddenly Kamala’s life becomes infinitely more complicated as she struggles to find her identity as a superhero while also hiding her new extracurricular activities from her friends and family. As Kamala tries to figure out her transformative powers she meets new allies and uncovers dark secrets just beneath the surface of her beloved Jersey City.
Why you’ll like it: Teen superhero who struggles to balance her life as an ordinary high school students with saving the world on a regular basis—am I describing Kim Possible or Ms. Marvel? Either, really! Fans of that amazing and too-short lived Disney channel show will love seeing a protagonist just as strong willed and normal (if incredibly heroic) in Ms. Marvel. Kim Possible gave kids and teens a female action hero, and Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan does the same. This comic does a particularly good job of reversing tropes and questioning norms as Kamala works to understand her new role as a superhero within the context of her life and her Muslim faith and as she refuses to act with gratuitous violence even in the face of great danger. She is a superhero like we’ve never seen before, but have always needed. And to top it all off, Kamala even has a sidekick/non-superpowered friend who has a Ron Stopable vibe and some definite romantic potential.
If you like ‘The Vampire Diaries’ read ‘The Coldest Girl in Coldtown’ by Holly Black
What it’s about: Tana lives in a world where vampires are real and everyone knows it. In order to slow the spread of vampirism and protect uninfected humans, Coldtowns — isolated and inescapable communities where vampires are cordoned off — were created. Things get complicated for Tana when she goes to a party where everyone is slaughtered by a group of vampires. Her ex-boyfriend Aiden was infected, she becomes tangled up with Gavriel, a vampire on the run from his past, and Tana suddenly finds herself thrust into a world of vampires as she races against the clock to get Aiden to the nearest Coldtown before his cravings for blood cause him to hurt someone.
Tana knows that going to the Coldtown will put her life in danger, but she believes doing so will help protect the people she loves, including her little sister. But in Coldtown nothing is quite as it seems, and no one, not even the broodingly attractive Gavriel, can be trusted.
Why you’ll like it: The two key components of The Vampire Diaries are vampires (obviously) and complicated romances; The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is full of both of those. The vampire mythology is different in the book, but vampires are still the dangerous and brooding creatures that fans of TVD will love. One of the more interesting aspects of vampire culture in the world of Coldtown are the fanatics who are so obsessed with vampires that they go to Coldtowns as humans in the hopes of being turned. Vampire culture aside, though, this book is full of characters tormented by their (too-long) pasts and broken friendships, as well as romantic tension between the very-human Tana and the very-vampire Gavriel. Hmm star crossed human-vampire relationships — sound familiar? Much like Elena, though, Tana has a very big heart and her first priority is has always been her little sister. Tana would do anything to protect her, even if it means dooming herself to an eternity in Coldtown.