Sybil Nelson's Priscilla the Great Tens List + Giveaway

I was at an Alumni event for my undergraduate university and got to talking to one of the Alumni who happens to be from Sweden. After telling him that I was an author as well as a PhD student he began to fill me in on the really fascinating life story of Astrid Lindgren, probably the most famous Swedish author (that is, until Stieg Larsson came into the picture). As you probably know, Astrid Lindgren wrote Pippi Longstocking, one of my favorite books as a child. Thinking about that freckle faced, redhead girl got me thinking about another redhead close to my heart, Priscilla Sumner, the star of my Priscilla the Great series. But there are many other redheaded characters in literature that probably had some influence on the creation of Priscilla’s character. So I created a list of the top ten red heads in literature. Then I put them in order according to how similar they are to Priscilla.

10. Glinda the Good Witch. Though this character from the Wizard of Oz makes the list of the top ten
redheads in literature, I can’t say she resembles Priscilla too much. For one thing the word “Good” is in
her name. Not to say Priscilla is a bad person, I mean she is a super hero. But “Good” isn’t the first word
that comes to mind when you think of a twelve-year-old who would tie her little brother to a chair and
set him on the curb with a sign that says “take me I’m free.”

9. Strawberry Shortcake. Yeah she makes the cut, but she’s a little too sweet to be like Priscilla. And
though I probably read the books and watched the cartoons, for the life of me I can’t even remember
what they were about.

8. Raggedy Ann. I never read these books, but I distinctly remember watching the cartoon when I was
a child. From what I recall, Raggedy Ann and Andy were dolls that would come to life and have little
adventures. Even though I was terrified of dolls that came to life (Don’t even get me started on Chucky.
He definitely doesn’t make the list) I really like the cartoon for some reason. Anyway, for her ability to
go on adventures she gets a higher position on the list than Strawberry Shortcake.

7. Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. This is a cartoon that I watch with my daughters and I found out that
it is also a series of books. Much like Priscilla, Maggie is a lovable character who is good to her friends.

6. Madeline. Like Priscilla, Madeline is cute, precocious and very outgoing.

5. Fancy Nancy. These are positive family orientated books about a little girl who likes to dress up.
Similar to Priscilla the Great in that it’s all about family and how they grow together and stand by each
other. Also, Priscilla went through a phase in the third grade where she wore a feather boa to school
every day for a month. Not many people know that about her. Don’t tell her I told you.

4. The Little Mermaid (Disney version). I’m pretty sure she wasn’t a redhead in the Hans Christian
Andersen version, so we’ll just focus on the Disney one. I think Ariel is similar to Priscilla in that, well,
she’s not quite human. Also, she’s strong willed and saves the life of Prince Eric. Priscilla saves a lot of
lives in the series.

3. Anne of Green Gables. This is a sweet tale of love and friendship. Definitely the sentimental sides
of Priscilla the Great mirror this. Best friends Anne and Diana have a falling out similar to Priscilla and
Tai. But they get past it and their friendship grows even stronger. Anne and Gilbert have a love, hate,
friendship/love affair going on just like Priss and Kyle. Anne is also strong-willed and imaginative just like
Priscilla.

2. Rogue. Okay, so I cheated a little. Rogue is a character from the X-Men comics. But, hey, they’re
called comic books aren’t they? So it still counts. Rogue is my absolute favorite X-Men superhero. She’s
fiery, she’s strong and she not afraid of anything. She doesn’t shoot fire like Priscilla, but they both have
super strength. Honestly, she would have been number one except for that tricky little detail of her not
actually being from literature.

1. Pippy Longstocking. Of course, Pippy had to be number one. It all started with her. The similarities are
so tremendous that when the movie producers who bought the option for Priscilla the Great wanted to
pitch it to studios, they came up with the tag line: Pippy Longstocking meets Juno. I don’t exactly agree
with that since Priscilla isn’t pregnant. Well…okay, let me not give anything away. Just read book 2!


You can see more tour stops at Teen Book Scene.

Giveaway from Sybil Nelson

Win a Priscilla the Great Prize Pack!
Prize Pack includes:
1 signed Priscilla the Great book,
1 Priscilla the Great t-shirt,
1 Priscilla the Great totebag,
and a $15 iTunes gift card!
That's over a $50 value! 

All you have to do is comment on one of the posts during my blog tour March 14th to April 8th and you're automatically entered!

So comment here and you are entered to win this great prize pack!