List Maniac #26 - Favorite Secondary Characters (Marchetta Madness)

Oops! Sorry for the super long title, it's just that it's Marchetta Madness Week and I realized I hadn't done a List Maniac in a really long time! So I decided to spot light some of my favorite secondary characters. 

In this case, my criteria to call them Secondary is that we have never seen things from their perspective. These are the characters I've loved and wish I knew more about them!  

And now, onto the list! 

Jimmy Hailler (Saving Francesca / The Piper's Son)

"Jimmy Hailler was a killer of a listener. The guy understood fragmented people." (The Piper's Son)

At first glance, Jimmy is a bit of a clown. He's always saying and doing the one thing that will make everyone uncomforatble, and he seems to do it only for his own amusement. But people tell him stuff, he's doesn't judge and he ends up having more inside and perspective than anyone would ever give him credit for. His personal history is hinted at in bits and pieces, but I always feel like I want to know more about him. Sadly, he's currently MIA and not even his friends know where he is. 

Celie of the Flatlands (Finnikin of the Rock / Froi of the Exiles) 

When Lady Celie first appears on the page, you don't think a lot about her. But she keeps making small appearances and now, after reading Froi, I've realized that she kind of lingers. And I want to hear more about her. I know from the bits and pieces that she's very smart and braver than one would guess seing as she's beautiful. And I'm happy to hear that we'll be hearing more about Celie soon.

Marcus Sandford (Looking for Alibrandi)

"Who's the hunk?"

She looked pensive and reached to touch it. 

The person in the photo was of medium height with golden-brown hair. He was smiling broadly, leaning against a shovel, with no shirt on. 

"His name was Marcus Sandford." 

"An Australian?" I screeched. "You know an Australian hunk?"

"He was my friend."

When I read Looking for Alibrandi, I was captivated by the story of Nonna Katia and Marcus, and I always wondered about him. What his life had been? Did he marry someone else? Had kids? Did he still thought about Katia? I would love to get answers to all of those questions, mostly because I always thought they deserved a happy ending. And even though he's never in the story 'in the present day', I wish he were.

Ben Cassidy ((On The) Jellicoe Road / The Piper's Son)

"When it's time for Ben to play his solo - his eyes are close, his mind anywhere but here, his fingers so taut and precise that it almost looks painful - my eyes well with tears. Because you know from the look on Ben's face that he's somewhere you want to be."

Ben is a really close friend to both Raffy and Taylor - he is Taylor's second in command in the territory wars - but he never gets quite as much page time as Raffy or Jonnah or Chaz. But I love whenever he's around. I love that he likes to tease Jonah and he's not afraid of him (though he often gets beat up for his efforts), and that he loves music so much. I was so happy to see him and his band make a cameo in The Piper's Son, but it's just never enough.

Tariq of Lascow & the other Last Borns (Froi of the Exiles)

I really liked Tariq the second he showed up in Froi of the Exiles, he's essentially a nice, decent man who was worthy of leading people. I would have loved to hear more of him and his life in the caves. The other Lastborns, Satch of Desantos and Grijio of Paladozza (as well as his sister Tippideux) also intrigued me. I hope they feature more in Quintana of Charyn.

Special Mention: Danny Griggs ((On The) Jellicoe Road / The Gorgon in the Gully).

I know Danny does have his own book but is only available in Australia, and as such is very hard to come by this side of the pond. I love Danny because Jonah loves him. I would LOVE to read his story and I hope someday is published in the US so I can get my paws on it.  

Okay, so that's my list! and I admit it would have been up way earlier if not because I kept getting distracted while I was looking for quotes about these characters and ended up reading big chunks of each book, just because.