coming of age books

what are some good ones?

 

I was a teenage faerie by Francesca Lia Block is a very good one.

 

the secret life of bees by sue monk kidd is one of my favorites

 

The Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird
Huck Finn
The Road (yeah)

 

It isn't on anyone's list of 'classic' books, but Nathan's Run by John Gilstrap made me cry reading it. It's well written and of course anything that has to do with kids and pain well let's say superman has weaknesses other than Kryptonite

 

Jodi Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" and "Change Of Heart". I liked "My Sister's Keeper" too.

 

"Candles Burning" by Tabitha King (wife of Stephen) and Michael McDowell - an excellent read. I found that the book description (on the jacket cover) was not accurate - but still, well worth taking time to read.

 

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky. If you haven't read it, you must! It's sooo good. Anyone of any age could relate to it somehow, I'm sure.

I agree with whoever mentioned The Secret Life of Bees. That's a great one, and with some history, too.

Another great one is She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. You will be amazed that a man wrote it.

And Summer Sisters by Judy Blume is also another favorite of mine.

I read so many novels that could be considered "coming of age". I guess I relate to them, I dunno. If I think of anymore, I'll definitely letcha know!

 

My favorite is Rule of the Bone by Russel Banks and its about this kid who drops out of school and leaves his house at about 14/15 and goes on a crazy adventure.

 

An old but crazy good book: The Adventures of Roderick Random

A new, kind of weird one, but fun to read: I am Charlotte Simmons

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is probably the coming of age novel.

 

This boys life- Tobias Wolff

 

the perks of being a wallflower is good. It seems to be the "Catcher in the Rye" of the late 90's/early 00's.

 

definitly 1984, george orwell

 

I really enjoyed Looking for Alaska by John Green

Here's the summary from Amazon if you care to read.

 

'Kafka on the Shore' - Haruki Murakami
'The Highest Tide' - Jim Lynch
'Beside the Ocean of Time' - George Mackay Brown

Not the most obvious choices lol

 

I definitely love (and I think nothing beats) the immortal Catcher in the Rye by Salinger. A close second to this would probably be Trainspotting, which is a gem if you can get past the language barrier. =)

 

"the loneliness of the long distance runner" by alan sillitoe is about a teenager who is sent to a reform school.while he is there he joins the cross country team.he enjoys some freedoms because he is able to go out in the countryside for training.he also gets treated well by the warden and other staff.but then he begins to question if if he wants preferred treatment.it's a pretty good story to read.

 

i've read "all quiet on the western front" by erich maria remarque twice. i read it in high school and really didn't get that much out of it.a few years back i found a copy.i got alot more out of it that time....the story is about soldiers in ww1.the real brilliance to remarque's novel are the universal human truths revealed by the characters observations on their experiences.although film adaptations have been done.the book remains far better.

 

"company k" by william march is a collection of 123 one page stories about marines in ww1.i haven't been able to find it at my library but i have a book about american writers with 14 of the stories in it.i would say it's a coming of age book because many of the marines are away from their homes for the first time.tryuing to survive the terror of war they are forced to do things which are not in their nature.this is a very poignant book which i can't get out of my mind.it is based on the author's own experiences.

 

Try this one: I Am The Messenger by Mark Zusak. I'm reading this book right now and really enjoying it. I've read another book by him called The Book Thief. This guy writes for teenagers but his writing style is readable by anyone... it's not crap, it's a good book.

Then there are the everlasting, classic gems...
Catcher in the Rye
The Bell Jar
Perks of Being a Wallflower

Someone mentioned The Road. Profound book... amazing writing... but is it considered coming of age? Hmm.