The best coming of age books with unstoppable, underdog protagonists

In a heartfelt story of redemption, Deanna Lambert was labeled the school slut after her father caught her having car sex with a high school boy. Unforgiven and dejected in a smothering, gossip-fueled small town, Deanna faces the people she least wants to face in a moving attempt to outlive her past, with no help offered by her dysfunctional parents and a sister overwhelmed with young motherhood. I loved the gorgeous realism of this book, fueled by the deep intimacy Zarr creates with her sincere, frank-hearted, narrator.

Celebrated author and Stanford professor Tobias Wolff recounts his perilous teenage years in the 1950s Pacific Northwest. Clever, conniving Toby (self-named Jack Wolff) will do whatever it takes to reinvent himself in a memoir full of larger-than-life characters, thrilling events, emotional rollercoasters of betrayals, broken dreams, and hard-won triumphs, all conveyed in prose so lucid that the book has been college assigned for its poetic honesty at the sentence level for decades. Guaranteed you’ll be floored by what it takes for Wolff to ultimately transcend the merciless circumstances of his life. 

Trust me; you’ve never read a book like Billy Bathgate. Not only does it have a high-stakes plotline full of peril on every page, but Doctorow’s breathtakingly explosive prose is as volatile and alluring as the characters themselves. Fifteen-year-old Billy Bathgate transcends his street urchin existence in the 1930s Bronx by endearing himself to (and falling in love with the girlfriend of) the outrageously violent and unpredictable Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz. Billy’s genius is far-reaching—juggling, scamming, acting, evading the wrath of police and rival mobsters including Lucky Luciano. Based loosely on true events, this one will supercharge you emotionally and intellectually (again, trust me).

This one’s the fastest read of the bunch; in fact, you may find yourself rebooting for a second savory read without putting it down. Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon faces a life sentence for his alleged participation in a robbery that killed a convenience store owner. To cope with the horrors of his cell block, where the spirited African American teen is housed until his trial ends, Steve recounts events before and after the crime in the form of a screenplay; this enthralling courtroom drama deep-dives into the racial and economic forces responsible for overcrowding our flawed criminal justice system. Steve’s perseverance against odds is truly inspiring.  

Made into the film that launched Jennifer Lawrence’s career (with a stunning performance by John Hawkes as Teardrop), the read is truly an exhilaration. After her father puts up their house for bond and disappears, Ree Dolly has set out to track him down dead or alive. The book’s razor focus on a beautifully clean line of tension, paired with Woodrell’s signature prose that is at once raw and lyrical, visceral and philosophical, make the book un-put-downable; from its violent beginnings to its super nova ending, we feel every second of Ree’s considerable wounds and triumphs as she goes against generations of savage patriarchy. Fans of Ozark will experience an even deeper plunge into the drug cartels (meth cooks in this case) and horrific lawlessness that smothers the woods of southwestern Missouri.