Let’s face it, coming of age books are timeless and there are so many different ways you can make a connection. Sometimes the main character is just so real, you can see your younger self in their personality. Other times it’s the experience; you’ve gone through this before, or you know someone who has, and it strikes a chord. It can be similarities in the family dynamic where maybe you realize that your particular assigned grown-ups have no idea what they’re doing. Most times it’s just the struggle™; growing up can be weird and awesome and stressful and terrifying on its own. So, attention adults adulting, and kids and teens adulting—you are not alone. Appropriateness: According to Scholastic, the reading grade level equivalent is an 8.6 and the interest level is 9-12. Written as a memoir, students would be reading about a man his/her own age growing up but just in just a different time. A collection that needed more nonfiction or biographies would need a book like this. Students who have an interest in journalism or writing could use this book. As students prepare for career research, this would be a good addition. The writing is clear, with an easy view between those words to his life's career. It was mild and kept me interested because I'm old and like thinking of the past. I'm not sure this would be interesting enough to someone who wasn't like me (old, thinking of the past) or related to him or the environs in which he was raised. With the exception of a few mild characters he met along the way, his formative years were not remarkable. After reading Growing Up, I can see why. Baker took no interest in the world around him. He had no ambition. He didn't think Europe entering into war was big news. He is almost proud of his complete ignorance of Leon Trotsky, a man who shaped the time he was living in. He had no interest and no plans for the future.

Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose.” The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima enters his life. She is a curandera, one who heals with herbs and magic. ‘We cannot let her live her last days in loneliness,’ says Antonio’s mother. ‘It is not the way of our people,’ agrees his father. And so Ultima comes to live with Antonio’s family in New Mexico. Soon Tony will journey to the threshold of manhood. Always, Ultima watches over him. She graces him with the courage to face childhood bigotry, diabolical possession, the moral collapse of his brother, and too many violent deaths.” A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

Value to Collection: Not only could it serve the needs of helping students make connection between prose and history, but it could also be a supplemental read for staff members. The reading level could appeal to reluctant or challenged readers. Baker grew up in very meager surroundings, so this could appeal to disadvantaged students. Baker could be seen as a positive role model for how far hard work can get someone in life. Russell Baker begins his memoir with a child's eye-view of a blissful life in the rural mountains (?) of Virginia with his mother, father, an abundance of Baker uncles and a much-loved grandmother . In later childhood and in adolescence he experienced the Great Depression in Newark NJ and Baltimore, mostly while living amongst some equally interesting maternal uncles. He speaks of the three strong women who influenced him - strength being not always an entirely positive attribute... Some boys grow lots of hair all over their bodies and some boys grow hardly any. Both of these are normal and look great!"

The memoir, Growing Up written by an outstanding author named Russel Baker, takes the readers to a nostalgic journey of his life as a curious young boy living in the rural Virginia to a determined writer. The memoir starts from a scene of his eighty years old mother (lying down in the hospital bed); despite being an energetic women in the early days and being a strong advocate of feminism, she has grown old and become senile. By looking at his senile mother, Russel recognizes human infirmity and aging over time, ending up thinking about his past childhood and his overall happy memories with his mother. Gazing upon his mother, Russel thinks about his parents and children of his own, wondering about his mother’s life and the harsh but blissful childhood filled with passion, hope, and joy. The Growing Up Book for Boys covers a range of subjects, from bodies to hygiene to crushes and the internet, but Davida Hartman is careful how she communicates her information, giving her audience confidence and not making them feel ashamed of any 'differences',Davida Hartman purposefully keeps her language and explanations simple and coupled with the fun illustrations by Margaret Anne Suggs, this makes the book ideal for its target audience. One of my favourite aspects is that the author stresses that the topics in the book are "private" and she encourages her young readers to share questions or concerns with their trusted adult. Relevance to Curriculum: It could be used as a supplement to the history text as it goes into detail about life during the 1930s and 40s. With the easy reading level, students who are struggling in American History could do research on an American living during the Great Depression who goes on to do great things. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist—books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.” The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Russel, having his heart broken from their breakup, unintentionally teaches his mother a lesson on the importance of happiness in a person’s life. Trying to find your place in the world is hard. Add hormones, first loves, and family drama into the mix, and growing up can feel like an impossible task — it’s no wonder so many of us try to put it off! But like it or not, we all have to grow up at some point, and as the best coming-of-age books prove — despite the challenges of this transitional period — we all emerge in one piece. 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.” Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Authority: Russell Baker is an award winning journalist and published author. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one of which is for this book. In this novel, he wrote first-hand about day-to-day events he experienced. Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered.” The Book Thief byMarkus Zusak

The Best Coming Of Age Books

Humble, orphaned Pip is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman—and one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of ‘great expectations.'” A separate Peace by John Knowles In All Souls,MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood.” Heart Berries: A Memoir byTerese Marie Mailhot Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.” The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston