Female Stalkers in YA

[Belle_91]

So, recently there has been a lot of discussion on male stalkers in YA with Edward Cullen and Patch from Hush, Hush. However, I was wondering, are there any good YA books that have it the other way around.

I'm writing a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, and as you all know she sacrifices ALOT for a boy she doesn't even know. I was just wondering if there were any good YA books where the girl makes a mistake kind of like this or goes around sort of creeping on her crush. I'm having my MC do it a little bit, but I want to make sure I'm doing it right. I still want people to like her, even though she's making a huge mistake.

Okay, thanks.

[totopink]

I can't help you but I'd love to read the same sort of thing. I'm writing a book where my female MC is sort of stalking a dead girl she never met by fawning over her friends/life and it gets a bit weird.

I want her to be all crazy obsessive but I still want her to be sweet and likeable, you know? It's a difficult subtlety to pull off and I haven't read a book that does it well yet.

[The_Ink_Goddess]

I'm writing one, though the guy is kind of a stalker too.

[itsmary]

In How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot, the MC lives next door to her crush/best guy friend and spies on him with binoculars.


Unfortunately, when I hear about female stalkers I always think about Taylor Swift. She has a song on her first album she wrote about a guy she allegedly stalked but who wanted nothing to do with her. But How to Be Popular is sort of a funny book anyway, so the stalking is played for laughs and it's not really creepy.

[Momento Mori]

HEART-SHAPED BRUISE by Tanya Byrne has the lead female MC stalking another girl who she blames for ruining her life.

MM

[Renee Collins]

This could be very interesting. I can't think of any examples, but I will say that I came dangerously close to stalking the guy I liked when I was in junior high.

[johnhallow]

Is she hot? Everybody knows hot people can't be stalkers. They're just socially awkward.

[kuwisdelu]

Originally Posted by johnhallow

Is she hot? Everybody knows hot people can't be stalkers. They're just socially awkward.

This will be my new excuse. Now I just need a shirt that says it. It'll go great with my "just shy not antisocial" shirt.

[The_Ink_Goddess]

Originally Posted by johnhallow

Is she hot? Everybody knows hot people can't be stalkers. They're just socially awkward.

And, if a hot person stalks you, you should be GRATEFUL.

[Yeasayer]

The Stalker Chronicles by Carley Moore is a humorous contemporary book about a girl who is known for stalking. I heard the author read from it at a Teen Author Reading Night in NYC and the audience laughed a lot.

Sophomore Cammie Bliss has long been labeled a stalker by her peers, but when a cute new boy named Toby arrives at her small town high school, Cammie has a chance to be "normal." Trouble is, she can't really help herself and she's up to her old tricks of "intense observation and following" pretty quick. Making things worse, her younger brother is dating one of the most popular girls in the school, her parents have separated, and her dad has begun to watch their house most nights. Cammie has simply got to figure out why she behaves the way she does, and end it once and for all.

[kuwisdelu]

Originally Posted by The_Ink_Goddess

And, if a hot person stalks you, you should be GRATEFUL.

It especially helps if they're yandere. NOM.

Wait... I can't tell if ya'll are being sarcastic or not anymore...

[Pterofan]

Speak of the devil. I just wrote a book with female stalkers in it. The MC is obsessed (even she agrees she might be acting a bit stalkerish) with the star of her favorite TV show. The real stalker is a vampire girl who's also in love with the guy, and wants to make him hers forever, if you get my drift.

[ArachnePhobia]

Y'know, the only thing coming to mind is that old movie, Swimfan.

My second doorstopper novel, which I've been seriously considering pulling back out when my current WIPs are done, was named "Bad Princess." The titular character had a creepy obsessive crush on the MC, a sheltered and generally optimistic young man whose planet she was invading. He was also the only person who could stop her.

[Windcutter]

Originally Posted by ArachnePhobia

Y'know, the only thing coming to mind is that old movie, Swimfan.

My second doorstopper novel, which I've been seriously considering pulling back out when my current WIPs are done, was named "Bad Princess." The titular character had a creepy obsessive crush on the MC, a sheltered and generally optimistic young man whose planet she was invading. He was also the only person who could stop her.

It sounds sooo cool.

And yeah, I thought of Swimfan, too.

I'm also writing one. She is a sweet, cheerful girl. She also blackmails her crush into going out with her and she keeps her Granpa's old Ruger Blackhawk revolver oiled, clean and in a pink box under her bed.

[Belle_91]

It just always seems to be the guy that does the stalking, when girls do it too. Just take a look at what those One Direction kids or Robert Pattison goes through on a daily basis. Also, I liked the Taylor Swift reference. Thanks guys!

[Momento Mori]

I have a feeling that ROCKAHOLIC by C J Skuse touches on stalking (it's comic YA about a girl who accidentally kidnaps the lead singer of her favourite band).

MM

[SAppleyard]

I haven't heard of one, but that definitely sounds interesting and The Little Mermaid is an awesome example of a female stalker. I know the movie Fatal Attraction deals with a female stalker...its R so don't watch if you aren't 17 its reallly graphic haha...but it was an interesting look at female stalkers - though technically she had mental illnesses.

[Belle_91]

It seems that the market is overloaded with Male stalkers. I was reading a book and low and behold, there's another creepy guy stalking the girl. I guess he's hot so it's okay? *shrug* (I'm being sarcastic). I'm getting really sick of the trend being like this. If a guy lurks outside of your house and says weird things to you that you aren't comfortable with, you probably shouldn't hang out with him.

Sorry for the little rant, it's just getting old.

[Horserider]

Originally Posted by SAppleyard

I haven't heard of one, but that definitely sounds interesting and The Little Mermaid is an awesome example of a female stalker. I know the movie Fatal Attraction deals with a female stalker...its R so don't watch if you aren't 17 its reallly graphic haha...but it was an interesting look at female stalkers - though technically she had mental illnesses.

Obsessed is another movie about a female stalker. Creepy and definitely not YA, but a good movie.

I can't think of any YA novel examples, but now I want to find some.

[EMaree]

Originally Posted by Momento Mori

HEART-SHAPED BRUISE by Tanya Byrne has the lead female MC stalking another girl who she blames for ruining her life.

Seconding this. HEART-SHAPED BRUISE is a great read, though the stalking doesn't have any romantic undertones.

I'm also in the club of people writing about girl stalkers, though my stalker is a secondary character.

[Corinne Duyvis]

I haven't read HEART-SHAPED BRUISE, but man, I love that title.

I also love the idea of a Little Mermaid retelling highlighting the stalking/obsessive aspect. That sounds golden.

[ArachnePhobia]

Fatal Frame/Project Zero is a video game aimed at the YA market. Its main villain is a female stalker (spoiler): Kirie's family murdered her lover to keep her "pure," so she stalks and kidnaps the MC's brother because he looks like the dead guy. It's a cool game overall.

[Rhoda Nightingale]

^I thought Fatal Frame was just sort of aimed at the survival-horror market? *scratches head*

[ArachnePhobia]

Originally Posted by Rhoda Nightingale

^I thought Fatal Frame was just sort of aimed at the survival-horror market? *scratches head*

Maybe "aimed" was a poor choice of words. I should have said "that would appeal to," because it has a lot of elements in common with YA, characters are around the same age, etc.

[Rhoda Nightingale]

Okay, I see what you're saying. There's some overlap there, sure. They are wildly different demographics though--I doubt that marketing decisions were made based on them appealing to the readerships of YA literature. But yeah, there's overlap.