August 2002 | Here it is, the middle of August, and we found ourselves reminiscing about the days when the end of summer meant shopping for notebooks and pencils and picking out a new outfit for the first day of school. In this issue, we've gathered some of our favorite coming-of-age stories, all told by unforgettable narrators who will appeal to the kid in you.

1.  Books of Late: Our favorite coming-of-age novels
2.  Tips: Making the most of coming-of-age stories in your book group
3.  Food for Thought: Some end-of-summer snacks for you and the little ones
4.  Etc.: A little literary background of coming-of-age tales

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1.  Books of Late

"If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head. As formative events go, nothing else comes close. . . ." With these brave new words, Brady Udall joins the ranks of Tolstoy, Dickens, Jane Austen, and their ilk--all those who have contributed an unforgettable first sentence of a novel to the realm of literature--just as Edgar Mint, his feisty but sensitive hero, will soon join the ranks of our favorite fictional characters. You just can't help rooting for Edgar, the perspicacious young orphan whose first memory is of the left tire of a United States postal jeep grinding his tiny head into the hot gravel of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. From these inauspicious beginnings, Edgar sets out on a grand journey to discover his past and his purpose, making his way from the intensive care unit to a home for wayward American Indian kids to the bosom of a devout but deeply disturbed Mormon family.

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Would you say that early adolescence is a difficult time for most people? Would you say that it's generally one of the less graceful periods in a person's life? For all those of you pausing to torture yourself with visions of your 7th-grade hair, skin, and smooth moves, we ask you to consider instead the difficulty of writing a novel from that adolescent perspective. We ask you to consider the many less-than-graceful literary efforts that authors have made to make this perspective seem "real" to adult readers. It's actually one of the hardest things to do as a writer, and Galaxy Craze can do it. This is a wonderfully original, astoundingly convincing coming-of-age story about a young British girl living on the outskirts and looking in. Craze's ability to make the intangible tangible is truly impressive-her words recreate that mysterious mental place where a young person can still, on occasion, think with the imaginative consciousness of a child, even as she longs to think with the practicality and cynicism of an adult.

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Sometimes, you can just feel a great novel coming on from the very first sentence. Take this one, for example: "I was ten the summer that we drove my mother crazy." Oh, just admit it. You know you want to know what the next sentence is. But we refuse to spoil the pleasure for you. The time is the early 1950s. The setting is the small rural town of Four Corners. And the narrator, ten-year-old Rainey, is one of the most convincing and compelling young voices ever to tell the story of the murky journey from childhood to adult awareness. Not that Rainey's is your typical almost-adolescence. The middle child of five confused siblings all under the age of thirteen, Rainey isn't sure why her mother is in a sanatorium. She can't ask her dad, because he's almost always at the bar. She doesn't have to ask her aunt, because Merle rarely lets a moment go by without reminding the children who is to blame. Merle has left her husband and son back in the Bronx, she tells the kids, "to come to this frigging sorry excuse for a Shangri-La because we had finally succeeded in driving her sister crazy." Merle, by the way, is one of the best fictional characters ever to slash and burn her way across a page. And what Merle can't teach Rainey about the harsh, greedy reality of human love, her teenage daughter Joan certainly can. As frequently funny as it is dark and terrifying (you almost hate yourself for laughing), Four Corners is that rare first novel--a flat-out, hands-down, must-read.

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2.  Tips

Ask each member of your group to choose his or her favorite coming-of-age story. It could be a well-worn favorite you encountered in grade school, or a recent read that took you back to those oh-so-trying times.

* Each member can then write a two-to-three sentence description of the book and why he or she would recommend it for book group discussion and/or private reading.

* Share these recommendations with your group and then choose one or more titles for a special "coming-of-age" meeting or a thematically connected series of meetings.

Some book groups enjoy taking a break from books for a special, once-a-year meeting (often this works well during the summer or over the holidays). Consider meeting with your group to discuss your own personal coming-of-age stories. You'll be surprised at the diversity--and the humor and pathos--of your stories!

* Each member should jot down a few notes before the meeting. You don't have to write a novel (or even a short story!), just take a moment to recall some telling details of how you came of age. Why did you choose this particular moment? What was it that changed for you after this event?

* When you share these stories with each other, you might consider how your coming-of-age compares with novels you've read, movies you've seen, songs you've heard about the pain and pleasure of growing up. What are some common rites of passage in our culture? How do children become young adults these days -- what tangible "rituals," if you will, do we have to mark this important transition?

* Mother-daughter book groups are all the rage now, and you can join the fun! Talking about books in this kind of setting is not only good for your child's mind, it builds a bridge between generations. While most parent-young adult book groups include kids between the ages of 10 and 14, you can start a book group with children of any age. We're happy to help you get started and to recommend books that both parents and kids will enjoy. Just call or email us anytime!

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3.  Food for Thought

Try some of these yummy and fun-to-make snack recipes that will please the little ones and remind you of your own childhood!

Ants On a Log
Spread a celery stick with peanut butter, and line up raisin ants marching across the top.

Peanut Butter Funny Faces
Spread peanut butter over a rice cake. Create faces with raisins, for eyes, mouth and nose.

Buttersotch Graham Squares

Ingredients:
12 graham crackers
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Break each graham cracker in half. Place close together on 17 1/4 x 11 1/2 x 1" non-stick jelly roll pan.
3. Place butter and brown sugar in a glass measuring cup. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute, until butter is melted. Stir. Let cool at room temperature 2 minutes.
4. Add pecans, mix well.
5. Put a teaspoon of mixture on center of each cracker.
6. Bake 7 minutes on center oven rack. Let cool 3 minutes. Remove from baking pan with metal turner. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

Want more yummy, kid-friendly recipes? Visit Molly Moo!

Kaleidoscope Honey Pops

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups water
3/4 cup honey
3 cups assorted fruit, cut into small pieces
12 3 oz. paper cups or popsicle molds
12 popsicle sticks

Directions:
1. In a pitcher, whisk together water and honey until well blended.
2. Place 1/4 cup fruit in each mold.
3. Divide honey-water mixture between cups.
4. Freeze until partially frozen, about 1 hour.
5. Insert popsicle stick; freeze until firm and ready to serve.

For more sweet recipes, ask the honey experts at Honey.com.

Click here for a printable version of the recipes.

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4.  Etc.

The coming-of-age novel is one of the most popular, and with good reason. A bildungsroman (also called an apprenticeship novel) deals with the development of a young person, usually from adolescence to maturity, and it is frequently autobiographical (think of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations). The mark of these coming-of-age novels is the moment when the main character recognizes his or her own place in the world.

For more coming-of-age stories from all kinds of traditions, check out these cool sites:

Female Coming-of-Age Stories: A Bibliography

Male Coming-of-Age Stories: A Bibliography

Purple Pyjamas: An Online Community for Girls (and smarter guys)

Coming-of-Age: A Bar Mitzvah Story

Coming-of-Age and Coming Out: Representations of Gays and Lesbians in Young Adult Literature

Coming-of-Age in an Amazon Tribe

Coming-of-Age in Japan

Coming-of-Age as an African Warrior

Coming-of-Age in the Navajo Nation

 

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