Match #2: Juliette (Seed 16) vs Cammie (Seed 17) Goes to Cammie

Winner of Match # 2 is Cammie Morgan


Welcome to the YA Sisterhood! Thank you in advance for your participation in our Tournament of Heroines! We hope you make some friends (and not too many enemies), discover some fantastic books, and have a lot of fun! 

Some general rules before we begin:

There may be some spoilers in the following post. We've tried to keep it fairly general, but overall, this Tourney will not be spoiler-free. So beware.

Secondly, You are welcome to write your own comments about either character in the comments section, but we will not tolerate rudeness. The minute it crosses over from logical argument into character bashing, your comments will be deleted and your vote canceled.
POLLS WILL BE OPEN FOR 24 HOURS AND WILL CLOSE AT 12:01AM EST ON DECEMBER 2ND.

And now for the match....

Hi guys! I'm Brenna from Esther's Ever After, and for the YA Heroine Tournament I am advocating Juliette from Tahereh Mafi's SHATTER ME! Whether you've read this book and loved it, or are interested in learning more about it you can stop by my blog, my Twitter, and my Facebook page all of which will be kept up to date with news and announcements regarding #TEAMJULIETTE!

In Shatter Me, the world has been nearly completely destroyed, and we meet this girl. Juliette is a 17 year old teenage girl living in a world ruled by the iron fist of The Reestablishment, who govern out of fear and intolerance.

Juliette doesn't fit in, and she isn't like other people. Charged with a murder she didn't intend to commit, Juliette is special because her touch has the power to absorb the energy of others. She's a freak and an outcast, a girl who's been constantly rejected even by her own parents.

So when we meet Juliette, she has been isolated, and broken down to a point where she is holding on to her sanity by a thread. But she doesn't remain that way.

I read lots of YA, and I love lots of characters. But while I was reading the book, what struck me was how inspiring Juliette was compared to these other leading ladies.

She is incredibly brave and strong, forced to adapt to the lonely and broken life she's been given.

But that doesn't stop her, because she's determined to LIVE. To experience all the best life has to offer, and she's going to fight for that.

She's so much  more than just another survivor- she's a fighter.

Her passion to truly live is contagious, and she jumps at every chance she's given to experience life to the fullest of her capabilities.

An intelligent young woman, with a voice narrating how even her memories of a child represent her brilliant understanding of the evil in the world, and her strong sense of justice will resonate with everyone.

  

A heroine is someone who stands up for what's right, and is willing to risk everything she has to meet that. Not only that, but she inspires others to do the same. Even as a child she was doing this, as she was caring and constantly putting the needs of others above her own. And there's someone who remembers this about her from years earlier...

Her resilience and refusal to give up eventually provide her with the motivation to accept herself and her ability. And while she first comes across as broken, the sheer inner strength radiating from her is like a blinding light in this dark and bitter world. She refuses to allow others to manipulate her, and even practices extreme self-control and restraint to save the lives of others, even if their death and suffering would benefit her.

Yet at the same time, her strength hasn't hardened her. She is as delicate and vulnerable as can be, and while she bends she doesn't break.

Shatter Me is all about Juliette's growing confidence in who she really is and what she can do. Because she won't let others define her, and she won't let anyone else control her. This is HER life, and she is going to OWN it.

Image from Novel Novice

  

Juliette has literally been through hell and back again. Her life is a constant struggle of life and death, and she recognizes a true purpose of what she can achieve with her gift- something much bigger than becoming an international secret agent, and getting the guy. And while Cammie is a great girl, she has yet to exhibit such inner strength and purpose to the extent that Juliette has. A revolution is stirring in the world of Shatter Me, and change is coming... and I have a feeling we know exaclty who's going to be in the frontline. Juliette is mature beyond her years after all the horrors she has gone through and witnessed, something that a girl in a spy highschool can't contend with.

  

Keep in mind that Shatter Me is a new debut, one that was only released TWO weeks ago and Juliette is a newcomer to the YA scene. But that does NOT mean that she is easily ignored! And while many of her opponents are well-established characters with multiple books of history to back them up, she has one. Don't let that sway you away from recognizing Juliette as the heroine she is- for those who have already read Shatter Me are continually acknowledging how much of  a role model and inspiration Juliette is as a young woman. And if you haven't read Shatter Me yet, I hope you're a bit more interested after getting to know Juliette a bit more today!

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Intro:

Hi all!

Jen here from Almost Grown-up! I'm in my twenties and an aspiring writer. I've been many things, but a spy isn't one of them! Nevertheless, the idea fascinates me, which is why I'll be representing Cammie Morgan in the Tournament of Heroines.

You can follow along with the Gallagher Girl's tournament efforts using the Twitter hashtags #TeamCammie or just following me @almost_grown_up.

But enough about me. You're here for Cammie.

1. About Her

Cameron Morgan doesn't live the life of the average fifteen (seventeen as of the latest book) year-old, not even when the Gallagher Girls series begins. For one thing, she goes to a boarding school. For another, it's an all-girls school. And if that wasn't enough? It's a school to train spies.

And Cammie? The girl is nearly as good as spies-in-training get. Maybe it's genetic. Both of her parents were spies (in fact, Mom's the headmistress of Gallagher Academy), as was her aunt Abby. Dad was lost in a mission, the details of which are only just beginning to come to light.

Ally Carter's been quoted as saying "Cammie is average. In every way average [...] She's not too tall, too short, too chubby, too thin, too anything. She's probably got light brown hair and eyes that change color depending on what she's wearing."

2. Best Attributes

She makes her looks work for her as a spy in training, but not as the cliched femme fatale. Those average looks let Cammie blend in with the crowd to gain information, lose tails, and get closer in tricky situations. She refers to herself both as "The Chameleon" and a "Pavement Artist." It's her gift as a spy, but not her only one.

Cammie is incredibly smart-- she has to be to attend school at the Gallagher Academy. At the age of 4, she cracked the NSA's Sapphire Series and when she was 9, she trailed her father (the renowned spy) through a mall to find out what he was buying her. She also speaks several languages.

One of Cammie's strongest attributes is her sense of loyalty. She doesn't always let someone into her trust and her confidence that easily, but once they're there, it's hard to shake her.

Some examples AND A COUPLE SPOILERS:

(1) Even after things have to be broken off with her first boyfriend, Josh, she still feels badly about hurting him and doesn't rub other boys in his face. (2) Mr. Solomon and Zach both work their way into Cammie's trust (though it takes some time), and even when signs point to them being on the opposite side, she can't quite believe it. (3) Though Macey McHenry starts as the bane of Cammie's existence, she becomes one of her dearest friends. (4) Cammie's love for her father and his memory is taking her down a dangerous path, but she's determined to continue anyway.

3. What makes your girl a true heroine?

Though her life isn't average, in so many ways, Cammie is an average girl. She gets crushes on boys, she studies for classes, she breaks some school and family rules, she makes mistakes. And that's what makes her a heroine. She's one of us. Given the right circumstances, a girl could be like Cammie in some ways. She kicks butt. She doesn't let things stand in her way. She wants to save her friends and her family, and she sometimes does exactly that. We can all do things like that in small ways, which is what she inspires.

But the biggest thing that makes Cammie a true heroine to me? She grows. She learns from her past, both in relationships and spy work. The first book is centered around her desire to have a boyfriend, but the later books show major growth. There are still boys, but they're not everything anymore. She realizes that there are bigger problems than boy problems and first loves don't have to be forever.

4. What makes your girl better than her competitor?

Cammie can be downright hilarious at times, from the investigative "journals" that she and her friends keep up to her everyday antics, something that the serious world and situation of Juliette's doesn't allow much time for. The levity perfectly balances things out when situations get a little more serious. Also, though she gets a little zany at times, she doesn't walk the fine line between sanity and insanity that Mafi's Juliette does. And her problems are neither caused, nor can they be solved, by paranormal means.

5. Anything else you’d like to add?

Cammie made a video about how much she wants you to vote for her in this Tournament. Check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out!

VOTE CAMMIE (!) and be a true "sister of Gillian" ;)