“What are the best Coming Of Age Books Of All-Time?” We looked at 436 of the top books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 31 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Coming Of Age” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 400+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
“Liza never knew that falling in love could be so wonderful . . . and so confusing.
“”‘Liza,’ Mom said, looking into my eyes, ‘I want you to tell me the truth, not because I want to pry, but because I have to know. This could get very unpleasant . . . Now–have you and Annie–done any more than the usual experimenting . . . ‘
‘No, Mom,’ I said, trying to look back at her calmly. I’m not proud of it, I make no excuses–I lied to her.”””
Lists It Appears On:
Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion, eleven- going on twelve-year-old Margaret talks over her problems with her own private God.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
The electrifying first novel from James Baldwin, whose life and words are immortalized in the Oscar-nominated film I Am Not Your Negro ‘I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal with my father.’ Drawing on James Baldwin’s own boyhood in a religious community in 1930s Harlem, his first novel tells the story of young Johnny Grimes. Johnny is destined to become a preacher like his father, Gabriel, at the Temple of the Fire Baptized, where the church swells with song and it is as if ‘the Holy Ghost were riding on the air’. But he feels only scalding hatred for Gabriel, whose fear and fanaticism lead him to abuse his family. Johnny vows that, for him, things will be different. This blazing tale is full of passion and guilt, of secret sinners and prayers singing on the wind.
With a new introduction and notes, this edition of Great Expectations offers new insights into one of Dickens’s most fascinating and disturbing novels. Charting the progress of Pip from childhood to adulthood, Dickens shows the dangers of being driven by a desire for wealth and social status. As Pip moves from the Kent marshes to busy, commercial London, encountering many extraordinary characters–from Magwitch, the escaped convict, to Miss Havisham, a woman locked up with her past–he is confronted with the challenge of establishing a sense of his own identity and values contrary to the plans others have for him.
“Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. Though critically acclaimed, it was largely ignored upon its initial publication. Yet soon it became a cult favorite among both students and literary critics who compared it to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye in its influence on modern thought and literature.
William Golding’s compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories—and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible.”
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.
“Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.”
“Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians’ time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.
Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?”
The Secret Garden, a classic loved for more than seventy-five years, is all that its title implies. It is, as one might imagine, a mystery. But it is also a love story and the love is as passionate and fervent as one could imagine. It is a story of the love of nature, of science and the scientific method, and of isolated and lonely human beings who learn to care not only for others, but equally important, for themselves. This deluxe Children’s Classic edition is produced with high-quality, leatherlike binding with gold stamping, full-color covers, colored endpapers with a book nameplate. Some of the other titles in this series include: Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, King Arthur and His Knights, Little Women, and Treasure Island.
The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters’ breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.
One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.
For generations, readers have been charmed by the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But before they can send her back, Anne—who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home—wins them over completely.
The classic portrayal of a woman’s passionate search for a richer life than that traditionally allowed women in Victorian society continues to endure.
“Before. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for Culver Creek boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called “The Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including clever, beguiling, and self-destructive Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.
After. Nothing will ever be the same. “
Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukú—the curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.
“Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.”
“The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.”
Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.
From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior—such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce—no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans’ daily experiences are tenderly threaded with family connectedness and raw with honesty. Betty Smith has, in the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life-from “junk day” on Saturdays, when the children of Francie’s neighborhood traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences—a truly remarkable achievement for any writer.
The 1934 journal of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain reveals her perspective on six stormy months in the eccentric and poverty-stricken life of her family in a ruined Suffolk castle, ending with the revelation that Cassandra is deeply in love.
As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.
Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Intended at first as a simple story of a boy’s adventures in the Mississippi Valley—a sequel to Tom Sawyer—the book grew and matured under Twain’s hand into a work of immeasurable richness and complexity. More than a century after its publication, the critical debate over the symbolic significance of Huck’s and Jim’s voyage is still fresh, and it remains a major work that can be enjoyed at many levels: as an incomparable adventure story and as a classic of American humor.
Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That’s because he’s being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he’s really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.
“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 beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.
The Outsiders is a dramatic and enduring work of fiction that laid the groundwork for the YA genre. S. E. Hinton’s classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was first published.”
From the time it was written back in 1868, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has enchanted young readers, who identify with the realistic and lively personalities of the four March sisters. Growing up as the Civil War rages, Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy face the challenges and difficulties of life—and, sometimes, each other.
Winner of the Whitbread Prize for best first fiction, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a coming-out novel from Winterson, the acclaimed author of The Passion and Sexing the Cherry. The narrator, Jeanette, cuts her teeth on the knowledge that she is one of God’s elect, but as this budding evangelical comes of age, and comes to terms with her preference for her own sex, the peculiar balance of her God-fearing household crumbles.
“Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it.
There are many voices in this novel: children’s voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.”
This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show,when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
| # | Book | Author | Lists |
| (Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each) | |||
| 32 | A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | James Joyce | Mashable |
| Popsugar | |||
| 33 | A Wrinkle in Time | Madeleine L’Engle | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot 2 | |||
| 34 | All the Pretty Horses | Cormac McCarthy | Mashable |
| Five Books | |||
| 35 | An Abundance of Katherines | John Green | Goodreads 1 |
| Popsugar | |||
| 36 | Bless Me, Ultima | Rudolfo Anaya | Book Riot 2 |
| Book Bub | |||
| 37 | Catcher in the Rye | J.D. Salinger | Mashable |
| Woman & Home | |||
| 38 | Eleanor & Park | Rainbow Rowell | Goodreads 1 |
| Mashable | |||
| 39 | Ender’s Game | Orson Scott Card | Mashable |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 40 | Fuckness | Andersen Prunty | Flavorwire |
| Mashable | |||
| 41 | Fun Home | Allison Bechdel | Early Bird Books 1 |
| Bustle 2 | |||
| 42 | Goodbye, Columbus | Philip Roth | Short List |
| Woman & Home | |||
| 43 | Holes | Louis Sachar | Mashable |
| Woman & Home | |||
| 44 | How the García Girls Lost Their Accents | Julia Alvarez | Bustle 1 |
| NBC News | |||
| 45 | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Maya Angelou | Mashable |
| Book Bub | |||
| 46 | King Dork | Frank Portman | Common Sense Media |
| Short List | |||
| 47 | Long Way Down | Jason Reynolds | Book Riot 2 |
| Common Sense Media | |||
| 48 | Luna | Julie Anne Peters | Early Bird Books 1 |
| Penguin | |||
| 49 | Maurice | E.M. Forster | Early Bird Books 1 |
| Penguin | |||
| 50 | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides | Mashable |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 51 | Mosquitoland | David Arnold | Bustle 1 |
| Common Sense Media | |||
| 52 | Rainbow Boys | Alex Sanchez | Goodreads 2 |
| Book Riot 1 | |||
| 53 | Rubyfruit Jungle | Rita Mae Brown | Bustle 2 |
| Penguin | |||
| 54 | Speak | Laurie Halse Anderson | Mashable |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 55 | Tell the Wolves I’m Home | Carol Rifka Brunt | Goodreads 1 |
| Book Riot 2 | |||
| 56 | The Blue Sword | Robin McKinley | Best Fantasy Books |
| Goodreads 3 | |||
| 57 | The Book of Lost Things | John Connolly | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot 2 | |||
| 58 | The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Book Riot 2 |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 59 | The Dark is Rising | Susan Cooper | Best Fantasy Books |
| Publishers Weekly | |||
| 60 | The Diary of a Young Girl | Anne Frank | Book Bub |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 61 | The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | Common Sense Media |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 62 | The Giver | Lois Lowry | Mashable |
| Book Bub | |||
| 63 | The Glass Castle | Jeanette Walls | Flavorwire |
| Popsugar | |||
| 64 | The Goblin Emperor | Katherine Addison | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot 2 | |||
| 65 | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | C.S. Lewis | Best Fantasy Books |
| Mashable | |||
| 66 | The Secret Life of Bees | Sue Monk Kidd | Goodreads 1 |
| Popsugar | |||
| 67 | The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | Ann Brashares | Common Sense Media |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 68 | This Boy’s Life | Tobias Wolff | Mashable |
| Flavorwire | |||
| 69 | Two Boys Kissing | David Levithan | Early Bird Books 1 |
| Bustle 2 | |||
| 70 | Weetzie Bat | Francesca Lia Block | Bustle 1 |
| Penguin | |||
| 71 | Will Grayson, Will Grayson | John Green and David Levithan | Bustle 2 |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| 72 | Wonder | R.J. Palacio | Common Sense Media |
| Goodreads 1 | |||
| (Titles Appear On 1 Lists Each) | |||
| 73 | A Boy’s Own Story | Edmund White | Early Bird Books 1 |
| 74 | A Clockwork Orange | Anthony Burgess | Short List |
| 75 | A Closed and Common Orbit | Becky Chambers | Book Riot 2 |
| 76 | A Density of Souls | Christopher Rice | Goodreads 2 |
| 77 | A Girl Like That | Common Sense Media | |
| 78 | A Home at the End of the World | Michael Cunningham | Goodreads 2 |
| 79 | A Monster Calls | Patrick Ness | Book Riot 2 |
| 80 | A Quiet Kind of Thunder | Sara Barnard | Book Riot 2 |
| 81 | A Ring of Endless Light | Madeleine L’Engle | Goodreads 3 |
| 82 | A Song of Fire and Ice | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 83 | A Wizard of Earthsea | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 84 | Aaron’s Story | Mason Dodd | Goodreads 2 |
| 85 | Absolute Beginners | Colin MacInnes | Short List |
| 86 | Acacia: The War with the Mein | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 87 | Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories | Garth Nix | Goodreads 3 |
| 88 | Adaptation & The Huntress | Malinda Lo | Book Riot 1 |
| 89 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | Mashable |
| 90 | Alex Verus | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 91 | All American Boys | Frank Mosca | Book Riot 1 |
| 92 | All Souls: A Family Story from Southie | Michael Patrick MacDonald | Book Riot 2 |
| 93 | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Mashable |
| 94 | All the Right Stuff | Common Sense Media | |
| 95 | All We Can Do Is Wait | Common Sense Media | |
| 96 | All You Need Is Love | Russell J. Sanders | Goodreads 2 |
| 97 | Although teenagers | culturally in any case | Short List |
| 98 | American Dervish | Ayad Akhtar | Mashable |
| 99 | American Panda | Common Sense Media | |
| 100 | American Street | Ibi Zoboi | Book Riot 2 |
| 101 | Among Others | Jo Walton | Goodreads 3 |
| 102 | And If I Fall | Robin Reardon | Goodreads 2 |
| 103 | Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life | Barbara Kingsolver | Goodreads 3 |
| 104 | Anne of Avonlea | L.M. Montgomery | Goodreads 3 |
| 105 | Annie John | Jamaica Kincaid | Book Bub |
| 106 | Another Day in Paradise | Eddie Little | Flavorwire |
| 107 | Ask the Passengers | A.S. King | Book Riot 1 |
| 108 | At the Lake | Geoff Laughton | Goodreads 2 |
| 109 | Aurora Leigh | Elizabeth Barrett-Browning | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 110 | Bad Feminist | Roxane Gay | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 111 | Bartimaeus Sequence | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 112 | Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast | Robin McKinley | Goodreads 3 |
| 113 | Because of Winn-Dixie | Kate DiCamillo | Book Bub |
| 114 | Ben Raphael’s All-Star Virgins | K.Z. Snow | Goodreads 2 |
| 115 | Bereft | Craig Laurence Gidney | Book Riot 1 |
| 116 | Better Nate Than Ever | Common Sense Media | |
| 117 | Beyond the Grave | Jude Watson | Goodreads 3 |
| 118 | Binti | Nnedi Okorafor | Book Riot 2 |
| 119 | Black Swan Green | David Mitchell | Short List |
| 120 | Blood Song | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 121 | Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef | Gabrielle Hamilton | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 122 | Blue is the Warmest Color | Julie Maroh | Mashable |
| 123 | Born a Crime | Trevor Noah | Book Riot 2 |
| 124 | Braden’s Story | Mason Dodd | Goodreads 2 |
| 125 | Breaking Dawn | Stephenie Meyer | Goodreads 3 |
| 126 | Bridge to Terabithia | Katherine Paterson | Book Bub |
| 127 | Brooklyn | Colm Tóibín | Book Riot 2 |
| 128 | Brown Girl Dreaming | Jacqueline Woodson | Goodreads 3 |
| 129 | Burn Baby Burn | Common Sense Media | |
| 130 | Call Me Maria | Judith Ortiz Cofer | NBC News |
| 131 | Catching Fire | Suzanne Collins | Goodreads 1 |
| 132 | Chemistry | Signature | |
| 133 | Chronicles of Amber | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 134 | Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 135 | Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World | Janet E. Cameron | Goodreads 2 |
| 136 | City of Ember | Jeanne DuPrau | Mashable |
| 137 | Clara and Mr. Tiffany | Susan Vreeland | Goodreads 3 |
| 138 | Clementine | Common Sense Media | |
| 139 | Codex Alera | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 140 | Cup of Water Under My Bed | Daisy Hernández | NBC News |
| 141 | Dandelion Wine | Ray Bradbury | Mashable |
| 142 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Omnibus Edition Volume 1 | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 143 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Omnibus Edition Volume 2 | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 144 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume Eight | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 145 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume One | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 146 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume Seven | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 147 | Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume Six | Cecilia Tan | Goodreads 2 |
| 148 | Dear Hank Williams | Common Sense Media | |
| 149 | Dear Martin | Nic Stone | Book Riot 2 |
| 150 | Diamond Boy | Common Sense Media | |
| 151 | Disgruntled | Asali Solomon | Book Riot 2 |
| 152 | Divergent | Veronica Roth | Goodreads 1 |
| 153 | Dry | Augusten Burroughs | Bustle 2 |
| 154 | Dumb Jock | Jeff Erno | Goodreads 2 |
| 155 | Dumplin’ | Julie Murphy | Bustle 1 |
| 156 | Dune | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 157 | Echo | Common Sense Media | |
| 158 | Eclipse | Stephenie Meyer | Goodreads 3 |
| 159 | Eliza and Her Monsters | Common Sense Media | |
| 160 | Ella Enchanted | Gail Carson Levine | Goodreads 3 |
| 161 | Emily’s Quest | L. M. Montgomery | Publishers Weekly |
| 162 | Escape from Aleppo | Common Sense Media | |
| 163 | Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World | Frances Burney | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 164 | Every Day | David Levithan | Book Riot 1 |
| 165 | Every Exquisite Thing | Matthew Quick | Book Riot 2 |
| 166 | Every Other Weekend | Zulema Renee Summerfield | Book Riot 2 |
| 167 | Everything Leads to You | Nina LaCour | Book Riot 1 |
| 168 | Excuse Me While I Slip into Someone More Comfortable | Eric Poole | Goodreads 2 |
| 169 | Fangirl | Rainbow Rowell | Goodreads 1 |
| 170 | Farseer Trilogy | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 171 | Finding North | Carmen Jenner | Goodreads 2 |
| 172 | Finding Our Way | Jayson James | Goodreads 2 |
| 173 | Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me | Anna Martin | Goodreads 2 |
| 174 | Freshman Feint | Elaine Ashford | Goodreads 2 |
| 175 | Full of Beans | Common Sense Media | |
| 176 | Gem & Dixie | Common Sense Media | |
| 177 | Gentleman Bastard | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 178 | Gertie’s Leap to Greatness | Common Sense Media | |
| 179 | Ghost: Track, Book 1 | Common Sense Media | |
| 180 | Girls in the Moon | Janet McNally | Book Riot 2 |
| 181 | Greensleeves | Eloise Jarvis McGraw | Goodreads 3 |
| 182 | Half the World | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 183 | Ham on Rye | Charles Bukowski | Flavorwire |
| 184 | Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence | Michael Marshall Smith | Book Riot 2 |
| 185 | Hard Rain Falling | Don Carpenter | Flavorwire |
| 186 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | J.K. Rowling | Goodreads 1 |
| 187 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | J.K. Rowling | Goodreads 1 |
| 188 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | J.K. Rowling | Goodreads 1 |
| 189 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | J.K. Rowling | Goodreads 1 |
| 190 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | J.K. Rowling | Goodreads 1 |
| 191 | Hatchet | Gary Paulson | Mashable |
| 192 | Have a Little Faith | Diana McKinley | Goodreads 2 |
| 193 | Heart Berries: A Memoir | Terese Marie Mailhot | Book Riot 2 |
| 194 | Hello, Groin | Beth Goobie | Book Riot 1 |
| 195 | Hello, Sunshine | Common Sense Media | |
| 196 | Henry IV Part I | William Shakespeare | Five Books |
| 197 | Hideous Kinky | Esther Freud | Woman & Home |
| 198 | His Dark Materials | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 199 | Hold me Closer | David Levithan | Penguin |
| 200 | Hold Still | Common Sense Media | |
| 201 | Home: A Memoir of My Early Years | Julie Andrews Edwards | Goodreads 3 |
| 202 | How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater | Marc Acito | Goodreads 2 |
| 203 | How to Behave in a Crowd | Signature | |
| 204 | How To Build a Girl | Caitlin Moran | Bustle 1 |
| 205 | Hush | Common Sense Media | |
| 206 | I Am J | Cris Beam | Bustle 2 |
| 207 | I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter | Common Sense Media | |
| 208 | I Have Lost My Way | Common Sense Media | |
| 209 | I Never Liked You | Chester Brown | Flavorwire |
| 210 | I’ll Give You the Sun | Jandy Nelson | Goodreads 1 |
| 211 | If I Stay | Gayle Forman | Goodreads 3 |
| 212 | In Hawthorn Park | Jason Timothy Stephens | Goodreads 2 |
| 213 | In Search of Us | Common Sense Media | |
| 214 | Infinite In Between | Common Sense Media | |
| 215 | Into the Grey | Celine Kiernan | Publishers Weekly |
| 216 | Island of the Blue Dolphins | Scott O’Dell | Goodreads 3 |
| 217 | It’s Kind of a Funny Story | Ned Vizzini | Mashable |
| 218 | Jacob Have I Loved | Katherine Paterson | Goodreads 3 |
| 219 | Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key | Common Sense Media | |
| 220 | Juliet Takes A Breath | Gabby Rivera | Book Riot 2 |
| 221 | Junonia | Common Sense Media | |
| 222 | Just a Bit Confusing | Alessandra Hazard | Goodreads 2 |
| 223 | Keeping Safe the Stars | Common Sense Media | |
| 224 | Keeping You a Secret | Julie Anne Peters | Book Riot 1 |
| 225 | Kiss | Jacqueline Wilson | Penguin |
| 226 | Kissing in America | Common Sense Media | |
| 227 | Kushiel’s Dart | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 228 | Lawnboy | Paul Lisicky | Goodreads 2 |
| 229 | Less Than Zero | Bret Easton Ellis | Short List |
| 230 | Liar & Spy | Common Sense Media | |
| 231 | Light a Single Candle | Beverly Butler | Goodreads 3 |
| 232 | Like Water for Chocolate | Laura Esquival | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 233 | Long Price Quartet | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 234 | Losing It | Signature | |
| 235 | Lottery | Patricia Wood | Book Riot 2 |
| 236 | Lucky Linus | Gene Gant | Goodreads 2 |
| 237 | Lunch Money | Common Sense Media | |
| 238 | Magician | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 239 | Make Your Home Among Strangers | Jennine Capó Crucet | NBC News |
| 240 | Map of Ireland | Stephanie Grant | Book Riot 1 |
| 241 | Mark Cooper versus America | Lisa Henry | Goodreads 2 |
| 242 | Maud Martha | Gwendolyn Brooks | Book Riot 2 |
| 243 | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Jesse Andrews | Popsugar |
| 244 | Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 245 | Miles Morales: Spider-Man | Common Sense Media | |
| 246 | Mistborn | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 247 | Mockingbird | Common Sense Media | |
| 248 | Mockingjay | Suzanne Collins | Goodreads 1 |
| 249 | Moonglass | Jessi Kirby | Goodreads 3 |
| 250 | More Than We Can Tell | Common Sense Media | |
| 251 | My Brilliant Friend | Elena Ferrante | Goodreads 3 |
| 252 | My Ladybird Story | Magus Tor | Goodreads 2 |
| 253 | My Life in France | Julia Child | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 254 | Naked | David Sedaris | Bustle 2 |
| 255 | Nation | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 256 | New Moon | Stephenie Meyer | Goodreads 3 |
| 257 | Northanger Abbey | Jane Austen | Early Bird Books 2 |
| 258 | Norwegian Wood | Haruki Murakami | Mashable |
| 259 | Okay for Now | Common Sense Media | |
| 260 | Olivia | Dorothy Strachey | Penguin |
| 261 | Orphan Train | Christina Baker Kline | Mashable |
| 262 | Other Voices, Other Rooms | Truman Capote | Penguin |
| 263 | Paper Towns | John Green | Goodreads 1 |
| 264 | Parable of the Sower | Octavia E. Butler | Mashable |
| 265 | Pathfinder | Orson Scott Card | Goodreads 3 |
| 266 | Pawn of Prophecy | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 267 | Peg Boy | R. G. Berube | Goodreads 2 |
| 268 | Perfect Freedom | Gordon Merrick | Goodreads 2 |
| 269 | Persepolis: A Story of Childhood | Marjane Satrapi | Bustle 1 |
| 270 | Peter and Wendy | J. M. Barrie | Mashable |
| 271 | Piecing Me Together | Common Sense Media | |
| 272 | Please Don’t Come Back From the Moon | Dean Bakopoulos | Mashable |
| 273 | Practically Seventeen | Rosamond du Jardin | Goodreads 3 |
| 274 | Prep | Curtis Sittenfeld | Goodreads 3 |
| 275 | Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | Five Books |
| 276 | Prim Improper | Deirdre Sullivan | Publishers Weekly |
| 277 | Raise It Up | Nick Wilgus | Goodreads 2 |
| 278 | Rani Patel in Full Effect | Common Sense Media | |
| 279 | Rats Saw God | Rob Thomas | Short List |
| 280 | Raymie Nightingale | Common Sense Media | |
| 281 | Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me | Becky Jerams | Goodreads 2 |
| 282 | Rebound | Common Sense Media | |
| 283 | Red Rising | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 284 | Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party | Common Sense Media | |
| 285 | Riddle-Master Trilogy | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 286 | Riding Chance | Common Sense Media | |
| 287 | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | Mildred D. Taylor | Book Bub |
| 288 | Romeo and Juliet | William Shakespeare | Mashable |
| 289 | Rumour Has It | Joseph James Hunt | Goodreads 2 |
| 290 | Running with Scissors | Augusten Burroughs | Mashable |
| 291 | Sabriel | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 292 | Saint Anything | Sarah Dessen | Bustle 1 |
| 293 | Salt & Storm | Kendall Kulper | Publishers Weekly |
| 294 | Sam Dorsey and His Sixteen Candles | Perie Wolford | Goodreads 2 |
| 295 | Saving Francesca | Melina Marchetta | Goodreads 3 |
| 296 | Scourge of the Betrayer | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 297 | See You in the Cosmos | Common Sense Media | |
| 298 | SERVICE | David Monster | Goodreads 2 |
| 299 | Seventh Son | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 300 | Sevenwaters | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 301 | Silver Sparrow | Tayari Jones | Book Riot 2 |
| 302 | Sing, Unburied, Sing | Jesmyn Ward | Book Riot 2 |
| 303 | Skippy Dies | Paul Murray | Short List |
| 304 | Sleeping Angel | Greg Herren | Book Riot 1 |
| 305 | Small Damages | Common Sense Media | |
| 306 | So Hard to Say | Alex Sanchez | Goodreads 2 |
| 307 | Solo | Common Sense Media | |
| 308 | Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You | Peter Cameron | Short List |
| 309 | Son of a Witch | Gregory Maguire | Goodreads 3 |
| 310 | Song of the Lioness | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 311 | Sour Heart | Signature | |
| 312 | Spindle’s End | Robin McKinley | Goodreads 3 |
| 313 | Stalking Darkness | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 314 | Stardust | Neil Gaiman | Mashable |
| 315 | Stargirl | Jerry Spinelli | Mashable |
| 316 | Sugar Rush | Julie Burchill | Penguin |
| 317 | Surprising Myself | Christopher Bram | Goodreads 2 |
| 318 | Sweetbitter | Stephanie Danler | Popsugar |
| 319 | Swimming in the Monsoon Sea | Shyam Selvadurai | Book Riot 1 |
| 320 | Tess of the d’Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy | Five Books |
| 321 | That Alien Feeling | Alessandra Hazard | Goodreads 2 |
| 322 | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie | Book Bub |
| 323 | The Accident Season | Moïra Fowley-Doyle | Penguin |
| 324 | The Adrian Mole novels | Sue Townsend | Uniplaces |
| 325 | The Age of Miracles | Karen Thompson Walker | Goodreads 1 |
| 326 | The Alex Crow | Common Sense Media | |
| 327 | The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay | Michael Chabon | Short List |
| 328 | The Amber Spyglass | Philip Pullman | Goodreads 3 |
| 329 | The Amish Midwife | Mindy Starns Clark | Goodreads 3 |
| 330 | The Art of Fielding | Chad Harbach | Short List |
| 331 | The Bean Trees | Barbara Kingsolver | Goodreads 3 |
| 332 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice | Laurie R. King | Book Riot 2 |
| 333 | The Belles | Common Sense Media | |
| 334 | The Blood Mirror | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 335 | The Blue Castle | L.M. Montgomery | Goodreads 3 |
| 336 | The Body | Stephen King | Uniplaces |
| 337 | The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them | E. Lockhart | Goodreads 3 |
| 338 | The Bread Sister of Sinking Creek | Robin Moore | Publishers Weekly |
| 339 | The Broken Empire | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 340 | The Chaos | Nalo Hopkinson | Book Riot 2 |
| 341 | The Chocolate War | Robert Cormier | Book Bub |
| 342 | The Chronicles of Prydain | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 343 | The Clan of the Cave Bear | Jean M. Auel | Goodreads 3 |
| 344 | The Closest I’ve Come | Common Sense Media | |
| 345 | The Cycle of Fire | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 346 | The Dangerous Art of Blending In | Common Sense Media | |
| 347 | The Dark | John McGahern | Publishers Weekly |
| 348 | The Deed of Paksenarrion | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 349 | The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks | E. Lockhart | Goodreads 3 |
| 350 | The Distance Between Us | Reyna Grande | NBC News |
| 351 | The Education of Margot Sánchez | Lilliam Rivera | NBC News |
| 352 | The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 353 | The Girl Who Could Fly | Victoria Forester | Goodreads 3 |
| 354 | The Girl Who Fell from the Sky | Heidi W. Durrow | Book Riot 2 |
| 355 | The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest | Stieg Larsson | Goodreads 3 |
| 356 | The Girls | Emma Cline | Popsugar |
| 357 | The Glass Casket | McCormick Templeman | Publishers Weekly |
| 358 | The Goldfinch | Donna Tartt | Goodreads 1 |
| 359 | The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole | Sue Townsend | Short List |
| 360 | The Half-Bad series | Sally Green | Penguin |
| 361 | The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas | Book Riot 2 |
| 362 | The Heart’s Invisible Furies | Signature | |
| 363 | The High School Chronicles of Ariel Schrag | Ariel Schrag | Book Riot 1 |
| 364 | The Hobbit | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 365 | The House on Durrow Street | Galen Beckett | Goodreads 3 |
| 366 | The House You Pass On the Way | Jacqueline Woodson | Book Riot 1 |
| 367 | The Housekeeper and the Professor | Yōko Ogawa, translation Stephen Snyder | Book Riot 2 |
| 368 | The Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins | Goodreads 1 |
| 369 | The Joy Luck Club | Amy Tan | Book Bub |
| 370 | The Kingkiller Chronicles | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 371 | The Last Days of California | Mary Miller | Mashable |
| 372 | The last Illusion | Porochista Khakpour | Book Riot 2 |
| 373 | The Liar’s Club | Mary Karr | Flavorwire |
| 374 | The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez | Common Sense Media | |
| 375 | The Little Friend | Donna Tartt | Goodreads 3 |
| 376 | The Luster of Lost Things | Signature | |
| 377 | The Magic Toyshop | Angela Carter | Publishers Weekly |
| 378 | The Magicians | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 379 | The Mighty Miss Malone | Common Sense Media | |
| 380 | The Miseducation of Cameron Post | Emily M. Danforth | Bustle 2 |
| 381 | The Most Dangerous Place on Earth | Signature | |
| 382 | The Mysteries of Pittsburgh | Michael Chabon | Flavorwire |
| 383 | The Namesake | Jhumpa Lahiri | Book Bub |
| 384 | The Neverending Story | Michael Ende | Mashable |
| 385 | The Poet X | Elizabeth Acevedo | Book Riot 2 |
| 386 | The Rachel Papers | Martin Amis | Short List |
| 387 | The Residue Years | Mitchell S. Jackson | Book Riot 2 |
| 388 | The Roanoke Girls | Signature | |
| 389 | The Rotter’s Club | Jonathan Coe | Short List |
| 390 | The Rule of Three | DiscontentedWinter | Goodreads 2 |
| 391 | The Secret History | Donna Tartt | Short List |
| 392 | The Sky Is Everywhere | Jandy Nelson | Goodreads 3 |
| 393 | The Sunlight Pilgrims | Signature | |
| 394 | The Troupe | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 395 | The Truth About Forever | Sarah Dessen | Mashable |
| 396 | The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley | Signature | |
| 397 | The V Girl | Mya Robarts | Goodreads 1 |
| 398 | The Warded Man | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 399 | The Water Seeker | Kimberly Willis Holt | Goodreads 3 |
| 400 | The Wheel of Time | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 401 | The White Forest | Adam McOmber | Publishers Weekly |
| 402 | The Witcher | Best Fantasy Books | |
| 403 | The Witching Hour | Anne Rice | Goodreads 3 |
| 404 | The Wolf Inside | DiscontentedWinter | Goodreads 2 |
| 405 | The Woman Warrior | Maxine Hong Kingston | Book Riot 2 |
| 406 | The World According to Garp | John Irving | Uniplaces |
| 407 | The World of Normal Boys | K.M. Soehnlein | Goodreads 2 |
| 408 | The Wrong Unit | Rob Dircks | Book Riot 2 |
| 409 | The Year of Ice | Brian Malloy | Goodreads 2 |
| 410 | The Yearling | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | Book Bub |
| 411 | Thinking Straight | Robin Reardon | Goodreads 2 |
| 412 | Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher | Goodreads 1 |
| 413 | This Is Not for You | Jane Rule | Early Bird Books 1 |
| 414 | Throwing Stones | Robin Reardon | Goodreads 2 |
| 415 | Tietam Brown | Mick Foley | Short List |
| 416 | Tipping the Velvet | Sarah Waters | Bustle 2 |
| 417 | Toughskins | William Masswa | Goodreads 2 |
| 418 | Trust Me | Jeff Erno | Goodreads 2 |
| 419 | Trying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel | Common Sense Media | |
| 420 | Twelve | Nick McDonell | Short List |
| 421 | Twenty Boy Summer | Sarah Ockler | Goodreads 3 |
| 422 | Up a Road Slowly | Irene Hunt | Goodreads 3 |
| 423 | Up to This Pointe | Jennifer Longo | Bustle 1 |
| 424 | Vernon God Little | DBC Pierre | Short List |
| 425 | Wait Until Spring, Bandini | John Fante | Short List |
| 426 | Walk Two Moons | Sharon Creech | Book Bub |
| 427 | Watched | Common Sense Media | |
| 428 | We Are Okay | Common Sense Media | |
| 429 | We Were Liars | E. Lockhart | Goodreads 1 |
| 430 | What Happened to Goodbye | Sarah Dessen | Goodreads 3 |
| 431 | What I Leave Behind | Alison McGhee | Book Riot 2 |
| 432 | What We Lose | Signature | |
| 433 | When I Was Puerto Rican | Esmeralda Santiago | NBC News |
| 434 | Winger | Andrew Smith | Penguin |
| 435 | Words in Deep Blue | Signature | |
| 436 | Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist | Sunil Yapa | Book Riot 2 |
| Source | Article |
| Best Fantasy Books | Top 50 Best Coming of Age Fantasy Books |
| Book Bub | 34 Classic Coming-of-Age Books |
| Book Riot 1 | Coming Out and Coming of Age: YA LGBTQ Books |
| Book Riot 2 | 50 Must-Read Coming-of-Age Books |
| Bustle 1 | 13 Coming-Of-Age Novels From The Female Perspective |
| Bustle 2 | 9 Of Literature’s Best LGBTQ Coming-Of-Age Sexuality Stories That Helped Us All Become More Comfortable With Who We Are |
| Common Sense Media | Coming-of-Age Books |
| Early Bird Books 1 | 9 Must-Read Coming-of-Age LGBT Novels |
| Early Bird Books 2 | 9 Inspiring Female Coming of Age Stories |
| Five Books | The best books on Coming of Age |
| Flavorwire | 12 Coming-of-Age Novels That Are Better Than ‘Catcher in the Rye’ |
| Goodreads 1 | Popular Coming Of Age Books |
| Goodreads 2 | Popular Gay Coming Of Age Books |
| Goodreads 3 | Popular Girls Coming Of Age Books |
| Mashable | 50 coming-of-age books for when growing up is too hard |
| NBC News | 7 Excellent Coming of Age Books By and About Latinas |
| Penguin | A history of LGBTQ coming-of-age fiction (in 15 books!) |
| Popsugar | 18 of the Best Coming-of-Age Books to Read at Any Point in Your Life |
| Publishers Weekly | 10 Best Coming-of-Age Books You’ve Never Read |
| Short List | The 30 best coming-of-age novels |
| Signature | Finding a Place in the World: 12 Coming-of-Age Novels to Read Now |
| Uniplaces | 10 of the Best Coming-of-Age Novels for Students |
| Woman & Home | Top 10 Coming-of-Age Novels |
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