What is a Coming of Age Story?

What’s a coming of age story?

A coming of age story describes the changes that happen in a young person’s life as they mature from childhood to young adulthood.

It’s the tale of a hero or heroine’s transition from naiveté to wisdom against the backdrop of any setting.

It’s a common genre with many stellar novels.

Well known examples

Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield and Great Expectations are both tales of young men as they grow into adulthood with a crazy cast of characters and adventures along the way.

David Copperfield’s story paralleled some of Dickens’ own life. (Which may be why authors write coming of age stories; they already know the material.)

Jane Austen’s Emma is the wonderful novel of a would-be matchmaker whose foibles turn on her.

The stories are often told in first person so the reader stays in the protagonist’s point of view.

This adds emotional wallop as we identify with emotions and memories of our own youth.

Adults may enjoy such tales because it reminds them of their maturing–misconceptions and all.

Even The Wizard of Oz fills the definition as we watch Dorothy grow to appreciate her modest Kansas home while traveling through the craziness of Oz.

Coming of Age over a series of books

A series is the perfect place to watch a loved character grow up and mature.

Certainly that was part of Harry Potter‘s draw as each book heralded a new school year and growth.

Robin Jones Gunn matured her title character Christy Miller from a freshman at a new high school in California all the way to the present day.

Twenty years later, Robin’s writing stories about Christy as a new mother.

Like Harry Potter, Christy Miller grew up before our reading eyes.

Some of my frustration with books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys stories is we didn’t see any growth or change.

My children were horrified when I pointed out the books took place during the same summer or two?

Did the Nancy Drew or the Hardy brothers ever change or mature?

Even my young boys didn’t think so.

My favorites?

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King.

In which a teenage orphan Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes. Mentored by the great detective, Mary grows into her intellect, physique and emotional satisfaction.

Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain.

Taran comes of age over the course of five books. He collects a cast of unusual friends and sidekicks who help him grow into both his character and his destiny.

A Poppy in Remembrance as a coming of age story.

I describe my World War I historical novel as a coming of age story.

When the book opens, Claire Meacham hopes to “intern” with her journalist father.

She’s been preparing herself by learning about history, geography, political events and even stenography and typing so she can do the job.

Unfortunately, few women worked as foreign correspondents, during the WWI era.

Most women were assigned spots on the women’s page covering “soft” stories.

Nellie Bly was an infamous exception.

But Claire perseveres, and as she thrusts herself into her father’s life, she also gets tripped up with other age-appropriate events.

She falls in love–or does she? What does that even mean?

Claire also meets her Savior through Oswald and Biddy Chambers, and her spiritual life explodes.

My husband likes to describe the story as “What would it have been like to have been one of Oswald Chambers’ students?”

But a novel, even one with three strands, often needs more than that to be interesting.

How about coming of age during a war–in three different theaters of conflict?

What happens in Claire’s life?

A Poppy in Remembrance comes out this fall; you can find out then.

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