Cressida Crowell and Diana Wynne Jones--how are they for female characters? Is it knights and dragons? (She's not into that.)
I can answer better for Cressida Cowell. There are three main characters (Hiccup, Fishlegs and Camicaze) of whom one (Camicaze) is female (and a real character). The main villain is female; most, but not all, of the minor characters are male. Stereotypes are often defied. Definitely no knights. It's a fictionalised Viking archipelago in which dragons live with humans as hunting and riding dragons - something of a nod to Anne Maccaffery's Pern, perhaps, but with a very different tone. Without giving too much away, the relationship between humans and dragons is what drives the story arc. I think the author's heart is in the right place when it comes to gender (we went to a book festival event she did, and I'm going on that as well as on the books I suppose), *but* she quite explicitly set out to write the books that her little brother would have liked to read, she says. So, dunno. Give DD one and see what she thinks, maybe.
Wynne Jones: I know much less, because although I've skimmed a couple I haven't read with so much attention. My impression is that they might actually be more problematic; they have an old-fashioned feel. Wikipedia page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrestomanci
