Childhood Heroes

Being the bookworm that I was (and very much still am),  my childhood heroes were not very often real people.  I settled for characters in fiction books.  I wanted to be Harriet the Spy or Matilda. Matilda was the reason that I tried to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens as a 5th grader.  I remember proudly buying a notebook at the corner store in emulation of Harriet the Spy.    As I got older my book bound heroes changed.  In middle school I wanted to be Meg Murry. I suppose that is what being a bookworm does to a child.  I am not so sure fictional role models are a bad thing.  It is a heck of a lot better than having kids want to be like Britney Spears.