THAT AWKWARD PHASE
Coming-of-age stories have long been a staple for writers and hold enduring appeal with readers
Youth culture, slang and fashions may change but one thing remains timeless — growing up is an awkward learning curve.
Whether it’s the quest to belong, get the girl or boy, or find your voice in a sea of conformity, the transition from young and naive to older and wiser is rarely a smooth one. These novels will remind you that coming of age is no easier now than it was then.
JANE EYRE (CHARLOTTE BRONTË, 1847)
This fictional autobiography follows Eyre’s development from neglected orphan to wife and heiress. In a story set in Northern England in the early 1800s, she struggles to find belonging wherever she goes, from her cruel aunt’s home to boarding school to Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester. He’s been keeping a scandalous secret hidden in the attic ...
GREAT EXPECTATIONS (CHARLES DICKENS, 1860)
A classic Victorian tale that chronicles the life and journey of Pip, an orphan living with his abusive sister and her good-natured husband. While Pip is visiting his parents’ gravestones, an escaped prisoner accosts him, demanding his help with some errands. The young boy obeys the convict, eventually forgets all about him and grows up to be a blacksmith who dreams of a higher station in life. One day, an anonymous benefactor bestows him money to become a gentleman — and Pip naively assumes his problems are solved.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE (J.D. SALINGER, 1951)
Originally intended for adults, young readers quickly adopted this tale of an expelled boarding school student as their own. Holden Caulfield stumbles his way through 1950s New York City around Christmas with a few bucks to his name and a red hunting cap to keep his ears from falling off in the cold. If you’ve never read the book and intend to now, just don’t base your whole life around it, since it’s one of the most popular books of all time and that would make you a phoney. And if there’s one thing Holden hates, it’s phoneys.
LORD OF THE FLIES (WILLIAM GOLDING, 1954)
The novel, about a group of
British schoolboys marooned on a tropical island, has long stood as an allegory for systems of government versus anarchy. In the midst of an unspecified war, a plane evacuating civilians crashes, leaving the boys to try to survive on their own while awaiting rescue. They try to organize and establish rules, while relationships form and devolve until the unsupervised children descend into brutality and chaos.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (HARPER LEE, 1960)
This staple in high school classrooms all over North America is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel known for its treatment of racial injustice and loss of innocence. Set in the U.S. South during the Great Depression, it tells the story of Scout Finch, the daughter of local lawyer (and literary hero) Atticus Finch. He decides to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, falsely accused of raping a white woman. The trial creates all kinds of problems for Scout and her brother, who are given an unforgettable lesson in moral conviction.
THE OUTSIDERS (S.E. HINTON, 1967)
All good stories open with a fight scene. Even a one-sided affair after our protagonist exits a movie theatre. Ponyboy Curtis, Darry, Sodapop and others make up a gang of greasers in 1965, all coming from a variety of broken homes and failing to stay in school. Betrayal and brotherhood appear throughout the novel, keeping it on bookshelves around the world for a reason. Stay gold, Ponyboy.
THE BODY (STEPHEN KING, 1982)
This novella, set in the summer of 1960, is widely known by its adapted movie title, Stand By Me. It’s the story of four friends setting off along the railroad tracks outside of town looking for a dead body, which may or may not exist. The quest, which finds them coming to grips with the harsh truths of growing up in a small town, takes them over a junkyard fence, across a bridge where they’re nearly crushed by a train and through a solid beating from a couple of older kids. It’s one way to say goodbye to summer before heading back to school.
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (STEPHEN CHBOSKY, 1999)
The main character, 15-yearold Charlie Kelmeckis, has just started his first day of high school when he’s already dubbed uncool. Fortunately, seniors Sam and Patrick are there to adopt him, in a sense. They take him to parties and football games, get him on stage during the Rocky Horror Picture Show and suddenly, he’s cool. Anyone who’s ever been alone against the wall during a school dance will be sure to get something out of this book.
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (MARK HADDON, 2003)
This critically acclaimed novel is narrated in first person by 15-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone, who lives with his father in Swindon, England. The teen has a form of autism and can find it difficult to interpret emotions and the world around him. When he discovers his neighbour’s poodle has been stabbed with a garden fork in the middle of the night, Christopher becomes determined to solve the mystery of who killed the dog, despite warnings to leave the case alone.
LOOKING FOR ALASKA (JOHN GREEN, 2005)
Based on the author’s own experiences at a boarding school, this book tells the story of Miles Halter, a boy obsessed with the last words of famous people. Halter and his roommate, known as The Colonel, as well as their classmate named Alaska Young, begin their friendship when they’re kidnapped as a prank by the rich students and thrown into a lake. The three bond while planning a series of revenge pranks that get crazier and crazier — while still going to class, of course.