When walking recently, T and I have talked a lot about what we’re going to be for Halloween. I’m not big into the holiday, but she is, and I’m willing to humor her. Today I have six characters I’d love to dress up as.

Hermione Granger (actual costume this year) – Given the casting of Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I thought dressing up as Hermione Granger this year would be awesome. It’s a fly in the face to all those who complained that a black Hermione isn’t canon. She has bushy hair and buck teeth, but her ethnicity is never mentioned. The reigning assumption among many readers (and I’m sure some who come across this post will tell me that I’m wrong) is that if a character’s ethnicity isn’t mentioned, then the character must be white. Even as a black bibliophile, I’m guilty of reading characters, even characters of color sometimes, as white. It’s about how we are socialized.

A rêveur from The Night Circus (actual costume last year). We love this story so much that this is what we did. Here’s a pic (it also goes along with my next example).

Doctor Who. I’ll argue he’s a book/comic book character as much as a TV character at this point. I borrowed that fez from a student last year who did actually dress up as Eleven, just so I could take that picture.

Storm from The X Men. She’s got this amazing mohawk thing going on. I could spray paint mine white and get to wear a cape. How awesome would that be.

Riley from Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. I don’t know how I’d pull this one off, but I would love to be able to raise awareness about the experiences of my non-binary brothers and sisters.

A Mask from An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. There’s something satisfyingly creepy about these mask characters, including that the masks fuse to their faces. That could be fun…

Which characters would you like to dress up as for Halloween?