5 YA Picks for the Archie Comics Gang

Archie Andrews
The series’ eponymous figurehead is so average, they should call him Average Andrews. Archie’s an okay student and a bit of a delusional klutz, he has a crappy car, he’s super loyal to his friends, and he’s not always the best with changes to the status quo (see: The Lipstick Incident). Mr. Andrews naturally gravitates toward male protagonists who are the moral center of their story, so we’d start him on Holes, by Louis Sachar. Protagonist Stanley Yelnats IV is no more the smoothest guy on the block than Archie is.—however, Stanley’s awkwardness might just stem from a curse laid on his family over a hundred years ago, which he also blames for his current predicament: digging holes as he serves out an 18-month sentence at boys’ detention center Camp Green Lake. What he discovers, though, is that sometimes life puts you exactly where you need to be. That’s a message Archie can thoroughly get behind, especially when he’s sitting between Betty and Veronica at the soda shop.

Forsythe “Jughead” Jones
After his family loses its fortune and former friends become his biggest detractors, Jughead realized the only way to live life is to do what makes you happy and not care about what others think. As a result, the two things he cares about are his best friend Archie and food. Generally aloof, Jughead tends to be the voice of reason, like when he thwarts an ill-conceived scheme to get Archie and Betty back together. His appreciation for subverted expectations makes Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes a solid choice for his bookshelf. Jughead is equally drawn to Laia, whose love for her incarcerated brother drives her to infiltrate the Empire’s military academy on behalf of the rebels, as he is to Elias, a top student of the academy who doesn’t believe in the world order he has been trained to enforce. The novel’s rollercoaster ride holds Jughead’s attention like a plateful of burgers, and he can’t wait for the sequel, A Torch Against the Night.

Elizabeth “Betty” Cooper
Betty is literally Archie’s girl next door, but she’s more than a trope. She’s a good student who isn’t afraid to knuckle down and fix Archie’s crappy car, and she won’t abide anyone who tries to confine her to a stereotype. When she reads, Betty likes stories about strong girls who never try to hide their wild side—the one area in which Betty could use a little help. Betty lives vicariously through books like Gingerbread, by Rachel Cohn, in which main character Cyd Charisse is a rebellious, ragdoll-toting wild card who gets kicked out of boarding school and shipped to NYC for a summer to get to know her “bio-dad” and step-siblings. Cyd manages to learn a bit about maturity without giving up her signature sass and punk-rock attitude.

Veronica Lodge
Veronica is a rich girl above all else. She’s materialistic and self-obsessed, and she feels little remorse when she steamrolls over other people. But underneath that, she has the capacity to support people’s endeavors (after all, she offers to get a fashion-minded classmate in touch with a famous designer), and she has the softest of spots for lovable goof Archie. Though she doesn’t show it to people other than her therapist, Ronnie is a romantic, and with that in mind, she would certainly pick up something like The Juliet Club, by Suzanne Harper, a modern book rich with star-crossed lovers and other Shakespearean themes. Ronnie’s love of classic romance is a secret, of course, so Harper’s book is tucked deep in the shadows of her giant purse, nestled right next to her teacup puppy.

Reggie Mantle
Resident bad boy Reggie is a handful for sure. Richer than most and prone to delusions of grandeur, he craves status. He’s materialistic and beyond competitive, especially when it comes to Archie. It’s clear that, at every step, Reggie is overcompensating for an insecurity he buries very deep. He likely reads books in which the main characters are considered the best at something, become the best at something, or gain a treasure beyond their imagining. He’d misguidedly find a role model in Andrew “Ender” Wiggins of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. Ender is a genius who rises through the ranks to become commander of the best team at Battle School. Overlooking Ender’s wild emotionality and eventual guilt over the things he has done during the bugger war, Reggie would see what he sees in himself: a powerhouse who inspires jealousy and should be constantly showered with praise. It’s doubtful he would grasp the true lesson that Ender’s Game offers, which is that pursuing greatness through someone else’s definition of it does not always end in happiness. (He should really have a heart to heart with Jughead.)