Coming of age stories – characterised by a lead character who experiences a life-changing event, that transforms them into the person they will become – are incredibly popular. That’s because they are relatable!

Many of us have experienced events that shaped us. Whether it was first love (or first heartbreak), the discovery of a family secret, or a relationship with a Mentor figure, these events changed us irrevocably.

Here are 5 of my favourite Coming of Age stories:

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

Many people remember Dodie Smith as the author of 101 Dalmatians, but she also wrote this beautiful story about family and first love.

Many people too, remember the famous first line – “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink”. In this story, Cassandra Mortmain lives with her eccentric family – her novelist father, glamorous step-mother, younger brother, and bored, beautiful sister Rose – in a crumbling castle. When the American heirs to the castle arrive for a visit, the family’s lives are turned upside down, and Cassandra must confront the joy and pain of first love.

What this book does so well is convey the emotions of first-time attraction – the joy, the hopelessness, the intense feelings of attachment. But most importantly, the pain of letting go when we finally realise that we are not our person’s choice – the realisation that they have not chosen us.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Like him or loathe him, it wouldn’t be a coming of age list without John Green!

Yes, his books are formulaic – white, nerdy boys fall in love with white, quirky girls who change their lives – and there’s a great deal of criticism to be found on the web about his work that we don’t have time to delve into today. I personally find his works a mixed bag : Paper Towns was great, An Abundance of Katherines dreadful.

But we should include TFIOS simply because it is what many would describe as a timeless coming of age story : two teenage cancer patients meet at a support group and become friends, and then lovers. It is a story that shouldn’t work (I knew before I’d reached the end of page 5 what the ending would be) but does. It’s funny, engrossing, and WILL tug at your heart strings.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In last week’s Book and a Brew meeting, two group members arrived carrying the same book: for our Coming of Age prompt, they’d chosen to read Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.

It was an interesting choice, not least because I think people are often a bit afraid of this book. They probably read it in school at some stage, didn’t fully understand its complexities, or someone told them they’d read it and they shouldn’t bother. (Why not just make up your own mind?)

It’s a book I’ve returned to several times over the years, and the reason it is so masterful is because it essentially tells the story of young girl (Scout), who observes as her father (Atticus Finch) defends a young black man falsely accused of rape.

I think too, that this book has endured not because it is an especially well-written or engrossing novel (those who criticise it – including our group members – felt that it was slow and incredibly dry), but because it depicts events that are, regrettably, still happening today. A simple check of the news will reveal multiple stories on racial profiling, false accusations against people of colour, and police brutality. We need books like TKAM to remind us (and future generations) that these events should never be normal. We should keep calling them out, we should keep highlighting injustice, and we should learn from the events of the past to ensure a better future.

Maame by Jessica George

My choice for this fortnight’s prompt, and a great one if I do say so myself!

I loved Maame and tore through it in less than a week (unusual for me). It was fresh, enjoyable, and fast paced. It made me laugh, made me think, and (only once) made me cry.

Maddie’s life is less than ideal. She’s the sole carer for her father (who suffers from early-onset Parkinson’s Disease), with a mother who lives in Ghana, and a brother who is away most of the time. She’s a PA in a role she hates. She’s torn between two cultures – too Ghanaian for the white colleagues she works with, and too British for her family.

When her mother returns from home from Ghana, Maddie seizes the chance to finally live her life. Moving out, getting a new job (after being unceremoniously fired), and deciding to become a “new Maddie”, she is ready to experience a few firsts.

This book is an interesting one in that it is essentially two novels: the first half is a traditional coming of age story. The second half begins with (** spoiler**) the sudden death of Maddie’s father, and from here Maame becomes something different: a story about grief, guilt and moving forwards from a devastating loss. I related to this part of the book in many ways – in 2012 I lost my much-loved Nan, and many of the emotions experienced by Maddie mirrored my own.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

I was quite young the first time I read J.D Salinger’s best known novel, and I was surprised to find that it didn’t have much of an effect on me.

This novel is legendary for being the work that inspired Mark Chapman to kill John Lennon. Some – like Chapman – become obsessed with it. Some feel inspired by it. For a few, it changes their life. Honestly, I didn’t feel much at all. It was ok. Nothing more, nothing less.

The story is told in flashback – a three day period in December in which the narrator (Holden Caulfield) tells how he fled Pencey Prep (full of crooks and phonies, apparently) for a series of fleeting encounters, with erstwhile women, strangers in dive hotels, thinking always of his sister Phoebe (the only one, according to Holden, who understands him).

We’ve probably all known a Holden Caulfied at some point. A loner, with few friends, who has never known intimacy or love, who lashes out at the world because they feel no one understands them. I’ve known a few in my time! I think it was this that put me off the book – having long since ended any association with people who resemble Holden, I’d no desire to spend time in his company for a second longer (albeit in a fictional sense).

Any Coming of Age stories I’ve missed?