Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games

The house favorite when it comes to young women warriors, Katniss exhibits everything you could possibly ask for in this category: a fierce and cunning combat skill (archery), various reasons to be both courageous and vengeful (volunteering for the Games to save her sister, for one), and of course a soft side.

Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior – Divergent

This marvelous dystopian series by Veronica Roth can more than hold its own next to The Hunger Games, and so can its central heroine Tris, who stands out right from the beginning. It is her audacity, originality and courage that set the entire story in motion.

Hermione Granger – Harry Potter

While the talented Emma Watson has unquestionably grown out of her Hermione roots, this resourceful, spunky and powerful character helped make HP into the worldwide phenomenon that it is. As the series progressed and evolved, so did Hermione Granger, growing into the talented and clever witch she is at the series’ end: a witch not to be fussed with.

Lena Haloway – Delirium

The courage to love might be the fiercest quality of all, and it is stunningly portrayed by Lena Haloway in the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver. At the first book’s end, Lena has to do the unthinkable: escape into the uncharted and mysterious Wilds beyond the city walls…a desperate and rebellious act fitting of a woman warrior.

Clary Fray – The Mortal Instruments

It’s important not to overlook Clary Fray as a potential warrior. While she is learning of a new world and her place within it during the first volume of this remarkable series, Clary grows into a powerful shadowhunter in her own right and is more than able to fend for herself when the going gets tough…