Book Characters with the best jobs

Each week, Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl hosts Top Ten Tuesday, a way to collectively celebrate our love of books via lists. This week, the topic of discussion is characters whose jobs we’d like to have. I picked out some characters who have pretty interesting jobs-some of which I’d like to do as a forever job, and some of which I’d just like to try out for a day or a week or some other very short period of time. So if you want to know about some of the book characters with the best jobs, keep reading!

1. Drew Chan in Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

I mean, obviously, it would be rent a *girlfriend* in this scenario, but I think it could be fun to be a girlfriend-for-hire to impress parents, or get them off your back, or whatever. It would allow me to see how good my acting skills really are! I don’t think this is something I’d want as a long-term job, but I do think it would be fun to try out.

2. Mrs. Vanderbeeker in The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glaser

So the Vanderbeekers are possibly my favorite middle grade family of all time, and I love all of the books in the series so much. So, *SPOILER ALERT* in the third book in the series, The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue, Mrs. Vanderbeeker, the mom in the story, is about to open a bakery/cat cafe in Harlem. I currently live in Harlem, and this is something I want to exist SO MUCH. And if I could be the one running the business that combines two of my favorite things, cats and baked goods, then all the better!

3. Emma Lewis in None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney

Emma is a serial killer survivor who is recruited by the FBI to interview other serial killers and try to help out with cold cases, but ends up being tasked with helping to solve an active case, and having to work with a notorious serial killer in the process. While I do have a bit of a fascination with solving mysteries and working for the FBI, I think this also might be a “fun to try, but not to do forever” type of job.

4. Jo Kuan in The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Jo secretly writes an advice column for her local newspaper called “Dear Miss Sweetie.” I enjoy writing, and I also enjoy telling people what to do, so I think being able to share my opinions in an advice column would be really fun. 

5. Clara Shin in The Way You Make Me Feel by Mauren Goo

Clara has to spend the summer working in her father’s food truck as a punishment for a prank gone wrong. I, however, would not see working in a Food Truck as a punishment. Probably, anyway. I think it would be really cool to have a food truck, as long as I could convince someone else to do the driving!

6. Saira in Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra

I’ve loved Doogie Howser for as long as I can remember, so the concept of teenage prodigy doctor has always appealed to me. Given that I am currently in my 30s, becoming any kind of doctor, let alone a teenage doctor, doesn’t really seem possible, but it’s fun to dream, right?!

7. Cora Lee in The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang

Cora Lee is a resurrectionist, or, essentially, a grave-digger. Anatomists will pay good money for bodies with medical anomalies, so she scours the city in the middle of the night to find the most profitable of corpses. I wouldn’t say that I necessarily WANT to be a grave digger, but I think the whole medical mystery aspect is interesting, and it might be cool to *try* for a night or two.

8. Caledonia Styx in Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

Who wouldn’t want to captain a ship of female pirates? I mean, sure, it’s dangerous, and maybe a little dirty, and kind of illegal, but it’s also exciting, right? I don’t know if I can see myself as a ship captain long term, but perhaps for a summer. I’m sure I’d learn some valuable skills!

9. Naomi in The Final Six by Alexandra Monir

Who hasn’t wanted to be an astronaut at some point, right? And a science genius part of a team of teen astronauts who are going to travel to one of Jupiter’s moons to find a place to resettle humankind? YES PLEASE. (Except for all the super dangerous, shady stuff. Read the book, if you haven’t!)

10. Emmy King in The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Despite having no musical talent to speak of, I’ve always thought it would be amazing to be a famous musician of some sort. So if I could take over for Emmy as drummer for the band The Brightsiders, it would be a dream come true. The awesome bandmates would be just as important as the fame and fortune, of course.

So, there you have it-10 characters whose jobs I covet. Tell me, have you ever read about a job in a book and wished it could be yours?

Are you looking for more book lists? Try these:

• Young Adult Books to Make You LOL
• 25 Black YA Authors USA Today Forgot to Tell You About
• YA Fake Dating Books to Read After To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

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