Coming-of-age Novels

If you enjoy stories in which the main characters develop a new understanding of themselves, and/or the world around them, you may want to try these coming-of-age novels:

Berg, Elizabeth – We are all Welcome Here, 2007

In  the summer of 1964, polio victim Paige Dunn delivers her baby from an iron lung, and ends up raising her daughter, Diana, alone after her husband divorces her. Able to move only her head, Paige requires round-the-clock nursing care that social services barely cover. Now 13, Diana has taken over the night shift to save them money, sharing her mother’s care with African-American day worker Peacie, who is protective of Paige and unforgiving of Diana’s adolescent yearning for freedom.

Childress, Mark – Crazy in Alabama, 1993

This is the story of two journeys — Lucille’s from Industry, Alabama, to Los Angeles, to star on The Beverly Hillbillies after murdering her husband and dropping off her six kids at her mothers and her 12-year-old nephew Peejoe’s, who is about to discover two kinds of southern justice, and what that means about the stories he’s heard and the people he knows.

Earley, Tony – Jim the Boy, 2000

Jim the Boy is the portrait of a young boy as he takes his first tentative steps toward adulthood in a tiny southern town earlier in this century. He plays baseball, attends a new school, and befriends a rival, all the while measuring himself against the high standards set by his mother and uncles and the long shadows cast by his dead father.

Goldberg, Myla – Bee Season, 2000

Eliza has no reason to believe she is anything but ordinary, especially after her teachers place her in the class for slow learners. Her father dotes on her older brother Aaron’s rabbinical ambitions. Her mother seems fully absorbed by her law career. When a spelling bee threatens to reaffirm her mediocrity, Eliza amazes everyone: she wins. Her newfound gift garners an invitation not only to the national competition, but to her father’s sacred study where a new dictionary beckons and offers a spiritual awakening.

Hoffman, Alice – The Story Sisters, 2009 

Elv, Meg and Claire are the three beautiful, black-haired Story sisters, who live on Long Island with their mother, Annie. Their close bond and happy lives are altered irrevocably one day when Elv and Claire share an encounter with a stranger that will change them forever. They swear themselves to secrecy and attempt to overcome the trauma as best they can.  Annie doesn’t understand Elv’s suffering and by the time she realizes what is happening it is too late.

Knowles, John – A Separate Peace, 1959

Scholarly Gene and athletic Finny are best friends at a prep school in the 1950s. Their physical resemblance and complementary personalities make them almost like doubles of each other. A tragic fall from a tree leads to shattered dreams for one boy and self-discovery and maturity for the other.

Lamb, Wally – She’s Come Undone, 1992

As a young teenager, Dolores was raped by her neighbor. She isolates herself and eats in order to cope. By the time she graduates high school, she weighs over 250 pounds and is miserable. After a failed attempt at going to college, Dolores ends up in a mental institution, where she learns how to cope somewhat with the outside world, but it is her experiences after leaving the institution that really allow her to become a full person.

Leffland, Ella – Rumors of Peace, 1979

A young girl named Suse comes of age during World War II in Northern California. As the novel progresses, she becomes more and more obsessed with the war. With the bombing of Hiroshima, however, there are still no answers to Suse’s questions about the brutality and irrationality of war, and she is left adrift in a sea of moral confusion.

Lynch, Jim – The Highest Tide, 2005

Miles O’Malley, a boy with a fascination for the sea, copes with the trials of growing up, his infatuation with the girl next door, bickering parents, and his fear that his life and his beloved Puget Sound are slipping away.

Maynard, Joyce – Labor Day, 2009

A story of love, sexual passion, painful adolescence, and devastating betrayal as seen through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy; and the man he later becomes, looking back on the events of a single long, hot, and life-altering weekend.

McDermott, Alice – Child of My Heart, 2002

A teenage girl, raised on the east end of Long Island among the country estates of the rich, reflects on her understanding of human nature during a seemingly idyllic summer spent with her eight-year-old cousin Daisy.

Searles, John – Boy Still Missing, 2001

When Dominick falls in love with his father’s mistress, his affair leads to an accidental death and the realization that his mother has hidden some dark secrets from him that may change his future.

Watson, Larry – Montana 1948, 1993

The events of a small-town summer forever alter 12-year-old David Hayden’s view of his family. It is a tale of love and courage, of power abused, and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice.

Wroblewski, David – The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, 2008

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar’s uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles’ once peaceful home. When Edgar’s father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm and into Edgar’s mother’s affections.

~ Valerie

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