I’ve always been drawn to coming-of-age stories. These are the years when you’re leaving the somewhat cocooned world of childhood and entering the intimidating but (arguably) more exciting world of adolescence. Although I’m now in my 70s, I still love a good coming-of-age story!
Although written before YA literature was even a thing, Huck Finn is still the Big Daddy of them all! So many writers, including me, honed their craft by studying the simple but elegant vernacular of this first-person narration. Mark Twain gives careful consideration to each word he uses, which is why this novel was so admired by writers such as Ernest Hemingway, who wrote, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." And it has a beautiful message of acceptance and rising above conventional beliefs to become a more decent human being to boot!
Another coming-of-age classic written before YA was a thing. Salinger is a master of dialogue and description, especially when it comes to his young protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who, although outwardly cynical and jaded, is simply vulnerable as he tries to find a place for himself in a world that can often seem insincere (phony) and downright threatening. In a way, Holden Caulfield represents all of us, even if more than fifty years have passed since some of us were teenagers.
One could argue that S. E. Hinton, at seventeen years old, wrote the book that really created the genre we now know as YA. Her first-person narration through Ponyboy Curtis also began to bend the rigid gender roles many of us felt at the time, whether we knew it or not, coming out of the fifties. Many didn’t realize at first that Ponyboy, a fourteen-year-old greaser, was narrated through the eyes of a seventeen-year-old girl, and that perspective softened the then rigid lines of gender identity. When I used this book in the classroom (as I often did), it was appreciated by girls as well as by the most reluctant of boy readers, thus making it an English teacher’s dream!
50 years of an iconic classic! This international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie is a heroic story of friendship and belonging.
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No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends-true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is…
I read this book when I finishing an early draft of my own first novel and I was thoroughly impressed as well as a little intimidated by it. Having drummed up the courage to write my own coming-of-age novel after reading another YA novel that was popular at the time which I felt had clunky dialogue and narration, I was amazed at Spinelli's spot-on dialogue and crisp narration which captured the quirky and (sometimes) wonderful world of a 7th-grade narrator who was no longer a little kid but who hadn’t yet entered into young adulthood. It remains one of my favorites even today.
Title: Space Station Seventh Grade( The Newbery Award-Winning Author of Maniac Magee) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: JerrySpinelli <>Publisher: Little,BrownBooksforYoungReaders
I had the pleasure of getting to know Richard Peck right before the publication of my first novel after I had given his name (as well as Jerry Spinelli’s) to my publisher when my editor asked for a short list of writers I’d like galleys sent to in search of early reactions. Dreamland Lake is the reason I added Richard to my list after discovering that, similar to my soon-to-be-published novel, it was the story of two boys finding a dead body. Peck’s ear for dialogue and eye for detail is impeccable, as is his fluent narration. Dreamland Lake is an underrated gem!
Flip and Brian have been best friends since grade school. But everything changes during the spring of seventh grade. That's when they find a man lying dead in the leaves near Dreamland Lake. What happens in the summer that follows will change the course of their friendship—and their lives—forever.
His real name was Tyler McAllister, but he felt like a lemon. He had allergies and nightmares, and was the only unfamous person in his family. But one night he and a friend went swimming at the forbidden quarry, and Tyler found a dead body. Now he’s determined to find out who killed the man and why they’re now after him….
This book (and its sequels) are about overcoming the odds; about learning to improve the skills and abilities you have, rather than dwelling on what you can't do. Conflict, plague, and scheming politicians are all featured along the way–but none of the characters are human!
When a plague kills half the Drax population, and leaves the hatchlings of the survivors with a terrible deformity – no wings – suspicion and prejudice follow. Continuously harassed by raids from their traditional enemies, the Koth, the Drax are looking for someone, or something, to blame.
Zarda, an apprentice Fate-seer, is new to her role and unsure of her own abilities; but the death of her teacher sees her summoned by the Drax Prime, Kalis, when his heir, Dru, emerges from his shell without wings.
A vision that Dru will one day defeat the Koth is enough to keep…
