How about Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy? I’m not sure who she would admire. Her tenacity alone is admired by many women now.

Maria, that’s a great character (so I’m told — I haven’t read that trilogy yet, but they’re on my list!).

I still haven’t met a better heroine than Alanna of Trebond. The Song of the Lioness quartet remains a favorite of mine even though I’m turing 25 this year. Her determination and loyalty (even her bad temper) are something to be admired.

What makes Katniss strong is that she is completely overlooked and unexpected by the Capitol. They underestimate a young girl like her to have the power to move the people of Panem to overthrow the dystopian government under President Snow…. She learns hunting skills out of an innocent desire to spend time with her father, and the need to survive (learning to hunt and gather food and medicinal/useful herbs, etc.) This becomes the essential trump card Katniss pulls in the arena, as well as her naive obliviousness to how beautiful she is and how attractive she is to both Gale and Peeta. She is also most strong when she is weak, assuming love is a weakness (of Rue, for example). As for a historical connection to a woman in history, I think of Anne Frank. She gave us incredible insight into what it was like to be a young Jewish girl, hiding during the Holocaust. She was able to “overthrow” the Nazi Regime by coming into the classroom of every middle school student and inspiring a new generation to learn about the horrors of genocide and hatred. Hitler is only remembered as evil, Anne is the voice we identify with; Katniss has done the same for the dystopian novel as Anne Frank did as the voice of the Holocaust.

I think that Katniss would admire Joan of Arc, but one of the things that I love most about her is her ability to question herself about the morality of things. In Mockingjay, she is able to pull back and see that not all ends justify the means. I wonder about that with Joan of Arc… Did she have any doubts? Or was it all-consuming faith, a knowing that she was right? Because sometimes that leads you down Gale’s road. I see Katniss as a sort of Boadicea, fighting for her land and people; a Joan of Arc, fighting for her ideals; a Mother Teresa, fiercely protective of those in need and having empathy even for those who have wronged her. There is something about Katniss that is beyond the warrior: she has pity for those who cannot see that mercy is stronger than brute force.