More book help please- a story with 2 protagonists

[Karen in CO]

My dd is working on a new story and wants to write it with two protagonists. As we were talking about the difficulty of developing each character, she asked if I knew of any books with two protagonists. I am once again at a loss. Everything I could think of had good supporting characters, but not really two protagonists which led me to find the term deuteragonist or second most important character.

 

So, two questions... Do you know any book examples that have 2 protagonists and not just a protagonist and sidekick? And second question, how on earth did I get out of my depth in literature when my child is only in fifth grade? My oldest made a decent score on his SAT Literature subject test without me ever knowing what a deuteragonist was.:blink:

[swimmermom3]

Would The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fit her requirements? I suspect she has already been there, done that. I have to push Over Sea, Under Stone again because if your dd is interested in writing, Cooper's descriptive powers will blow her away. Both books involve sets of siblings as the main actors.

 

For strictly dueteragonist, try The Eastern Beacon by Mary Ray if you can get your hands on it as it is out of print. It begins in 267 AD and has a girl and a boy for the protagonists. Somewhere on this board, I have a synopsis of it and I will see if I can locate it. It is a survival tale with well-drawn characters and a high degree of historical accuracy.

[swimmermom3]

Karen, if you feel overwhelmed, please, oh please send her my way. I would love to work with an enthusiastic reader right now.:tongue_smilie:

 

My youngest had the effrontery to write a poem about his room and mention his bookshelves with "all of the untouched books." Double :tongue_smilie:

[Alice]

I just finished a book with my son that had alternating chapters from the viewpoints of John Smith and Pocahontas. I'm not sure they would both be protagonists, but depending on the viewpoint each could be argued to be the protagonist.

 

I second the Susan Cooper suggestion, just because it's my all time favorite from childhood. :)

 

Would any book that is more about a group than one person be considered to have more than on protagonist. Narnia books or Half Magic by Eager or The Saturdays by Enright are all examples that come to mind.

[regentrude]

Chronicles of Narnia? All four kids are protagonists

 

Lord of the Rings? Frodo and Aragorn are both protagonists

[Karen in CO]

Karen, if you feel overwhelmed, please, oh please send her my way. I would love to work with an enthusiastic reader right now.:tongue_smilie:

 

My youngest had the effrontery to write a poem about his room and mention his bookshelves with "all of the untouched books." Double :tongue_smilie:

 

But he wrote poetry. :D

untouched books. that is very sad.

[Karen in CO]

Neither of these are available on Kindle. I'll have to put them on her list to look for in the library.

The Eastern Beacon sounds exactly like what she is looking for.

 

Thanks

[stripe]

The Secret Garden?

[Karen in CO]

Chronicles of Narnia? All four kids are protagonists

 

Lord of the Rings? Frodo and Aragorn are both protagonists

 

Ah ha. Frodo and Aragorn work for me as dual protagonists. I can see that. Thank you. Now I can explain it better.

[Susanah]

I think a Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis would qualify. Both (human) characters are well developed and their respective horses play sidekick to each.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My dd is working on a new story and wants to write it with two protagonists. As we were talking about the difficulty of developing each character, she asked if I knew of any books with two protagonists. I am once again at a loss. Everything I could think of had good supporting characters, but not really two protagonists which led me to find the term deuteragonist or second most important character.

 

So, two questions... Do you know any book examples that have 2 protagonists and not just a protagonist and sidekick? And second question, how on earth did I get out of my depth in literature when my child is only in fifth grade? My oldest made a decent score on his SAT Literature subject test without me ever knowing what a deuteragonist was.:blink:

 

What about Sense and Sensibility, where you have both Elinore and Marianne?

 

Or the magical realism book, Sorcery and Cecilia, which is written as a series of letters between two protagonists who never meet in the book. Tara Road, by Maeve Binchy, would be a more adult example, where the action follows two different women, who have swapped houses for the summer. Actually Binchy does a lot of ensemble books, where several different characters have relatively equal weight as their stories weave about each other. Evening Class and The Scarlet Feather were like this.

[Jilly]

The Red Pyramid has two protagonists, and every other chapter is told from either Sadie or Carter's point of view. This isn't a classic story, but it was the first book that came to mind.

[Chris in VA]

A Separate Peace would work--but it's kinda sad and may not be appropriate.

[dhudson]

What about "The Wrinkle in Time" series? Margeret and Charles Wallace would seem to be protagonists and in "Many Waters" the twins should qualify.

 

 

Does that help?

[JudyJudyJudy]

The Red Pyramid has two protagonists, and every other chapter is told from either Sadie or Carter's point of view. This isn't a classic story, but it was the first book that came to mind.

This is what I was going to suggest, as well as the second book in the series, The Throne of Fire.

[lewelma]

Perhaps Ivanhoe. I have not yet finished it, but it seems that Ivanhoe, The Black Knight, and Robin Hood are all protagonists pushing forward the idea of honor and Chivalry. Plus Rebecca is a strong female for the literary era.

 

Ruth in NZ

[stripe]

Morning Girl alternates between a brother and sister.

[Karen in CO]

The problem that CC and I have found with many stories that we examined for dual protagonists is that often both of the main characters have the same goal. Is there a name for that type of relationship in literature? I don't think that they could be distinct protaonists.

 

I would think that multiple protagonists should each have their own objectives. In the story my dd is trying to develop, that is the type of plot she wants. She wants the two protaongists to further their equal goals and pursue their own paths that weave together into the plot. They will share an antagonist.

 

 

We've also found that a subplot can have it's own protagonist distinct from the main plot's protagonist.

 

It is amazing what you can you find once you start looking for another progaonist.

[Karen in CO]

What about Sense and Sensibility, where you have both Elinore and Marianne?

 

Or the magical realism book, Sorcery and Cecilia, which is written as a series of letters between two protagonists who never meet in the book. Tara Road, by Maeve Binchy, would be a more adult example, where the action follows two different women, who have swapped houses for the summer. Actually Binchy does a lot of ensemble books, where several different characters have relatively equal weight as their stories weave about each other. Evening Class and The Scarlet Feather were like this.

 

Is Sense and Sensibility approgriate for a 10yo girl? I don't like the author and have never read that book. (please don't kick me out of the wtm group for that. :D)

[swimmermom3]

Fascinating question, Karen. I think that you could say that for part of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund has a different objective than his siblings, but of course, they converge in the end.

 

Dd just walked in and said, "Lord of the Flies." That may not fit your idea of age-appropriateness though. Dd thinks that there is a black-and-white movie that may not be as intense as the book. We'll peruse the bookshelves again today as I am intrigued.