Top Five Wednesday: Teachers & Mentors

Teachers & Mentors

Top 5 Wednesday is a group challenge created by Lainey and run by Sam that includes a new book-related topic every week. Check out the goodreads group for topics and to interact with the community.

This week's Top Five Wednesday, we're talking about mentors and teachers. For some reason, this week's list ended up being very male-oriented, which is kind of a shame, so if you have any suggestions for books with great female mentors, I would love to hear them.

Continue Reading...

5. Silas from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I read The Graveyard Book a really long time ago, so the details are a little hazy, but one of the things that struck me most about the story was this prospect of Bod having a found family of people (or... not quite people?) who've taken it upon themselves to look after him and to raise him, despite having no responsibility to do so. What strikes me most about Silas in particular, Bod's primary guardian, is that he has this kind of vague unknowable quality to him. He keeps things from Bod, but he still always protects him.

4. Count Alexander Rostov from A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Unlike all the other characters on this list, Rostov does not play a supporting role in his novel, but the lead. Still, he's a mentor and father figure to two young girls, as well as (I would argue) to many of the people he comes into contact with. A Gentleman in Moscow spans years and years of the Count's life, and by the end of it, despite having lived such a secluded life being trapped in the hotel, he is an older gentleman who is so wise and compassionate, and his encouragement of his charges while also trying to teach them manners is just wonderful.

3. Luther Rose from Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman

This one is sort of a more complicated answer, because I don't admire Luther Rose or think he made any kind of good role model. But I did really appreciate the complexity of emotion between the gang leader and his charge, Reece. After murdering the family who employed Reece on their farm, Luther chooses not to kill the boy, as he may have information on the man who killed his brother. Following that, Luther turns Reece into the Rose Kid, a feared and mythologized bandit. Throughout the story, Reece grapples with this impossible quandary of Luther being the only consistent father figure he's ever known, and knowing all the terrible things that he's been responsible for. It could have been explored further, for sure, but I really enjoyed how this story acknowledged that need for validation from a mentor, even when you oppose them.

2. Kelsier from The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

I hands down believe that Kelsier is the best part of the Mistborn trilogy, and the best thing that could have happened to Vin, the trilogy's main protagonist. Did he use her? Yeah, in a lot of ways, he did. But he also gave her something worth fighting for and introduced her to a family that, while still full of criminals and still out for a larger goal, works as a unit and looks out for each other. He mentored her in her training as a Mistborn, but more importantly, he mentored her on what's important in life, and he showed through his actions that there's nothing more important than loyalty. I think probably the best thing about Kelsier as a mentor is that he's also a fully fleshed out character in his own right, who grapples with his own demons and is a self-aggrandizing asshole, but tries to do the best he can with the lot he's been given.

1. Chiron from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I recently read Miller's epic retelling and the scenes where the boys, Achilles and Patroclus, are training under Chiron were my favourite scenes in the book. Obviously if you know anything about the myth of Achilles or the battle of Troy, you'll know that more often than not Chiron's advice fell on deaf ears, but I think it's so important that he was so respectful of what both of the boys wanted for themselves and for each other. Patroclus wasn't a fighter, and didn't adhere to the gender norms for his people, and Chiron accepted that with such grace and respect. Obviously, this makes sense given that it is literally his role in Greek myth, but Chiron is kind of the epitome of a good mentor in my eyes. He'll try to show you what's right, and he'll advise you, but in the end, he'll help you to take your own path.