Teens@Random

Hi, my name's Amanda. I'm a college student. I'm majoring in child development and studio arts, and I love art and reading.

Fantasy is my favorite, but really, I'll read almost anything. I seem to be especially attracted to stories with strong female leads.

Favorite Subjects

For school: Art

For books: Fantasy (magic, dragons, fairies and faeries, mythology [especially Celtic], sword and sorcery, etc...)

Favorite Quote

Leonard: Well, it seems once again you're
caught between a rock and a crazy place.
Sheldon: [Pauses] Oh, I hate when that
happens.
--The Big Bang Theory

“We blow it up so you don’t have to.”
—Adam Savage from Mythbusters (so it’s from a TV show... who cares?)

“I’d rather be eaten by a dragon.”
—Princess Cimorene (Dealing with Dragons)

“My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with the truth itself. What succor, what consolation is there in the truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? When the lightning strikes shadows on the bedroom wall and the rain taps at the window with its long fingernails? No. When fear and cold make a statue of you in your bed, don’t expect hard-boned and fleshless truth to come running to your aid. What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie.”
—Vida Winter (The Thirteenth Tale)

“I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur as she delicately combs it with her rough pink tongue. ‘Cat, I would lend you this book to study but it appears you have already read it.’ She looks up and gives me her full gaze. “Don't be ridiculous,” she purrs, ‘I wrote it.’”
—Dilys Laing (Miao)

"I've got Aspergers. What's your excuse?"

"Books may well be the only true magic."
--Alice Hoffman

Favorite Authors

Diana Wynne Jones and Tamora Pierce are the best, but I love so many authors... Eva Ibbotson, Cornelia Funke, Clare Dunkle, Patricia Wrede, Lois Duncan, Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer, Shannon Hale, Meg Cabot, Christopher Paolini, Lemony Snicket, Kathryn Reiss, Mary and Carol Higgins Clark, Brian Jaques, and Maria V. Snyder are all wonderful. (To name just a few... LoL!)

Favorite Books

There's too many to name all of them, but my top picks are Dealing With Dragons, Howl's Moving Castle, Peter Pan, The Tea Rose, A Little Princess, A Long Way From Chicago, The Hollow Kingdom, The Thirteenth Tale, Harry Potter, Bloody Jack, Stargirl, the Sally Lockhart trilogy, Because of Winn Dixie, Artemis Fowl, Faerie Wars, and anything by Tamora Pierce.

Favorite Characters

From Dealing With Dragons, Cimorene (because she is funny, strong, and creative, and she doesn't care what people think of her) and Morwen (because she is smart and practical and she loves cats and books); Jacky Faber from Bloody Jack, (because she's just such a character and always comes out on top, no matter how much trouble she gets into); Alanna, Beka, and Daine from Tamora Pierce's Tortall books, because they are strong and go for their dreams; Holly Short from Artemis Fowl (because she’s just super cool) and of course Artemis (because there's a little bit of criminal mastermind in me, too); Sara Crewe from A Little Princess (because she is the ultimate optimist and dreamer); Vida Winter from The Thriteenth Tale (because I wish I could weave stories like her’s); the grandmother in A Long Way From Chicago (because she makes me laugh no matter how down I am); and Howl from Howl's Moving Castle, because he expresses himself with green slime.

Favorite Movies

White Christmas ROCKS!!! I also like Now and Then, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (which is just about the only movie that I like as much as the books), Mama Mia, Sweet Home Alabama, and Titanic. (Something cool about Titanic: One of my teachers has this huge jewerly collection and a bunch of the pieces used in the movie were hers!)

My favorite TV shows are Gunsmoke (Matt and Kitty forever!!!) and Friends, which are tied for #1; I Love Lucy, Di ck Van Dy ke, Mary Tyler Moore, M*A*S*H, Bewitched (the black and white episodes with the first Darren), Mythbusters, Castle, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, and Warehouse 13.

I like country music. My favorite band is Sugarland, but I like many others.