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Books with Teenage Characters
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in the Lifetime of Reading Challenge, or simply interested in reading books with teen characters, we’ve curated a diverse list of recommendations with main characters ranging from ages 13 to 19. For this list, we focused primarily on adult fiction novels, although we did include some highly rated YA titles that provide specific insights into the teen years.
What is a coming-of-age novel?
A coming-of-age story is one in which a young person is heading toward adulthood while gaining knowledge and maturity along the way. Every teenage experience is unique, but for most people, a few things are true – the teen years are often challenging, always formative, and very few people get out of them without some heartbreak.
These years between childhood and adulthood are a balancing act between needing guidance and seeking independence. This balancing act leads to compelling storylines in fiction and memorable non-fiction accounts of growing up.
Coming-of-age novels can be classified as young adult or general adult fiction. The majority of the books on the list are adult fiction, but we’ve specifically identified those that are considered Young Adult of YA. A “young adult” classification means that the book was written with teenage readers as the intended target audience, but statistics show that approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The Best Books with Teenage Main Characters
The People We Keep
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Sixteen-year-old April has a rough life, fending for herself in a motorless motorhome that her father won while playing poker. She works at a diner but dreams of being a songwriter. After flunking out of school and another fight with her dad, April sets off to find a better life for herself.
Along the way, she meets others with complex stories, which are the perfect inspiration for her songs. But even more important than that, she finds that family doesn’t have to mean the community you were born into. Instead, people you meet can become family.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a beautifully written, character-driven, coming-of-age novel, but keep in mind that it is an adult novel, not a YA book.
April isn’t always likable, and she makes many bad decisions along the way. But she’s a raw and real character you’ll come to love despite her flaws.
This book is packed with so much genuine emotion, honesty, and heart that you’ll want a copy on your shelf so that you can read it again!
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Mary Jane
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Book Summary
Mary Jane tells the story of two very different family lifestyles and a 14-year-old girl trying to decide who she really is. Mary Jane is a quiet, book-loving girl from a traditional, conservative family in 1970s Baltimore. When she is offered a job as a nanny for a local doctor, her mom assumes their home is equally tidy and respectable.
However, the house is a huge mess, and it’s about to get crazier. The doctor has welcomed a rock star and his wife to stay at the house while he tries to get sober. Mary Jane has a lot to teach them about tidiness and schedules, and all the while, they are opening her eyes to the world outside her bubble. By the end of the summer, she’ll have a much better understanding of who she wants to be.
The Book Girls Say…
This was one of our favorite books of the last few years, and one that really stuck with both of us! It’s a beautiful and entertaining story of a 14-year-old girl seeing herself as a separate person for the first time. Angela really enjoyed listening to the audiobook because it incorporates music.
Although the main character is a teenager, this is an adult novel with some adult themes and scenes, not a YA title. It makes an excellent read because of the perspective that comes from looking back at the years between innocence and maturity.
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The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus
Book Summary
Penelope Elliot Winters (Pen) is a Toronto, Canada native who has just started her freshman year of college at the University of Edinburgh. She grew up hearing her father’s stories about his years at school in Scotland, but one story he never told was that of his Elliott Lennox. So why, then, is Pen named after him?
Pen knows that her divorced parents are hiding something from her, and over the years, she’s pieced together enough clues to know that it has something to do with Lord Elliott Lennox, who is now a famous mystery author in Scotland. After settling in at her new home abroad, she reaches out to Lord Lennox. He is happy to hear from his old friend’s daughter and invites her to visit his family’s centuries-old estate. There, she meets and forms an attachment to the extended Lennox crew.
Pen is a book nerd who loves languages, as is evidenced by the Victorian-esque style of her inner (and sometimes outer) monologue. The story follows her through her first year of university as she navigates friendships, relationships, and family dynamics – those of the Lennox family and her own.
The Book Girls Say…
Many of the early reviews of this book complain that the title is misleading. It appears that many people picked the book up hoping for or expecting a story similar to Remarkably Bright Creatures, with an octopus as a main character.
Having just finished reading the novel, Angela thinks that once more people pick it up and give it a chance for what it is, rather than what it’s not, the ratings will better reflect the simple beauty of this coming-of-age novel. It felt nostalgic to Angela, who was transported back to her own time as a study abroad student in the early 2000s.
Although it’s hinted at early on, the title is explained near the end of the novel with an analogy that compares motherhood to the lifecycle of the common octopus.
Demon Copperhead
Book Summary
This is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. Like Copperfield, Copperhead examines institutional poverty, but in this time in contemporary Appalachia.
Born to a teenage single mother, Damon (soon to be known as Demon) braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, opioid addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela was hesitant to read this 500-page book because it sounded quite depressing, but once she picked it up, she was immediately hooked. While it is heartbreaking throughout, it’s also an incredibly touching story that somehow feels both meandering and fast-paced at the same time, thanks to Kingsolver’s gorgeous writing.
The Girl With the Louding Voice
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Book Summary
Adunni is a 14-year-old girl living in poverty in a Nigerian village. She loves school and knows that learning all she can is the key to achieving a better life. But, despite promising to allow Adunni’s schooling to continue after her mother’s death, Adunni’s father makes a decision that ends her education in the village and changes the trajectory of her life.
You’ll be moved to both tears and cheers as Adunni endures and overcomes heartbreaking challenges while remaining focused on her dream of an education.
The Book Girls Say…
In August of 2024, the sequel, And So I Roar, was released. It picks up when Adunni is 15 years old, and the husband she escaped is searching for her. Again, she must use her louding voice to protect herself and others in her village.
While we didn’t experience this ourselves, some readers struggle with the dialect in either audio or written form, but find that the other form works well for them (ie: if the audio isn’t working for you, try reading and vice versa). The main character, Adunni, tells the story using her limited English, and one of the beautiful parts of the writing is that you can see her improvements over time.
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We Begin at the End
Book Summary
Thirteen-year-old Duchess Day Radley considers herself an outlaw. She’s hot-headed and believes that rules aren’t meant for her. She lives her life somewhere in the gray area between right and wrong.
Her single mom, Star, can hardly care for herself, let alone two -kids. So Duchess spends her days protecting her 5-year-old brother, Robin, and mothering her own mom.
Walk still lives in Cape Haven, the same coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He does his best to protect Duchess and Robin in all the ways that Star cannot. Although Walk is now the chief of police, he is still scarred by the memory of having to testify against his best friend, Vincent, thirty years ago.
Three decades after that testimony, Vincent is being released from prison, which spells trouble for both Walk and Duchess. This story is told from their alternating points of view. The primary narrative is set in the present day with flashbacks to past events.
The Book Girls Say…
Chris Whitaker is the author of the wildly popular All the Colors of the Dark. While We Begin at the End isn’t nearly as long as All the Colors of the Dark, readers still need to be prepared to go along for a twisty ride in a crime thriller. The character-driven mystery is brilliantly developed in such a way that you won’t understand the story until it all comes together at the end.
I Must Betray You
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Book Summary
In 1989, Communist regimes were falling throughout Eastern Europe, but Romania was still under the control of a tyrant – Nicolae Ceaușescu. Seventeen-year-old Cristian wants to be a writer, but writing freely is not possible in his world.
When Cristian is forced to work as an informer for the secret police, he must decide whether he’s willing to betray those he loves or if he can use the terrible situation to help bring down Ceaușescu.
The Book Girls Say…
Ruta Sepetys has a gift for telling untold stories in compelling, relatable ways, and this book was no exception! It immediately earned a place on our list of our favorite books of 2022.
While this novel is classified as YA, the characters and subject matter are very well-researched, making it very enjoyable for adult readers.
We’ve had more than 100 of our readers rate this book across our Decades and Book Voyage Challenges, and it has been universally loved! Another highly-rated YA historical fiction from Ruta Sepetys is The Fountains of Silence, which features teenagers living in 1957 Madrid during the Franco dictatorship.
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The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship and Hope in America
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Book Summary
The Newcomers follows twenty-two immigrant teenagers throughout the 2015-2016 school year as they land at South High School in Denver, Colorado. Ranging in age from fourteen to nineteen, most of these students came directly from refugee camps in countries plagued by war, famine, or drought.
The non-fiction read follows the student’s English language education with their dedicated and creative teacher, Mr. Williams. As they grasp the language, their individual histories unfold and add faces, names, and stories to those seeking asylum. At the same time that these teenagers are trying to adapt to an unfamiliar way of life in a new country, they are also balancing the more typical teenage challenge of fitting in and making friends.
The Book Girls Say…
The author not only gets to know the students, but also the families of those who are comfortable sharing their stories with her. This provides insights into the challenge of starting over for the parents whose education and career achievements in their home countries often mean little in the US because of the language barrier forcing them to start over in more ways than one.
Angela lives in a neighborhood adjacent to South High School and has seen the positive impacts of the Newcomer program throughout the community.
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Colorado Books: The Best Books Set in the Centennial State
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Book Summary
The summer of 1961 started full of hope and innocence in New Bremen, Minnesota – a new young president, the Twins baseball team playing their debut season, root beers at the soda counter, and comic books on the barbershop magazine racks. But the season soon turned grim, with multiple deaths. Accident? Natural? Suicide? Murder?
When the tragedies occur in town, 13-year-old Frank Drum is thrust into adulthood overnight. The novel is part mystery and part coming-of-age story, told by Frank himself as a 40-year-old adult looking back on that fateful summer.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers say that this book deals with spirituality without being overtly religious.
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Tell The Wolves I’m Home
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Fourteen-year-old June had a very close relationship with her uncle, Finn, and was devastated when he died in 1987 from AIDS, which was then still a mysterious and seldom talked about illness.
June meets a stranger at Finn’s funeral – someone who is also struggling with the loss – and as the two get to know each other, their unexpected friendship may be what they each need to heal.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers say this 2012 Goodreads Nominee for Best Fiction takes you back to the AIDS fears of the 80s and provides a great glimpse into the decade. That said, the book is more about the characters and relationships and has fewer details about the overall AIDS crisis.
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The Firekeeper’s Daughter
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Book Summary
This YA thriller, written by a Native American author, is about a biracial teen who is an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe. Eighteen-year-old Daunis has never quite fit in at home or on the reservation. She dreams of heading to college, but after a tragedy, she must remain home to care for her mom.
Life takes another big turn when she witnesses a murder and then reluctantly goes undercover in the criminal investigation to infiltrate a drug ring in her community.
The Book Girls Say…
Although some feel this book starts slow, it made the list of our reader’s favorite books of 2021! They mentioned that it’s great on audio to hear the beautiful native language woven into the book.
Be aware that this book contains a sexual assault.
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Beartown
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
In the tiny community of Beartown, life revolves around hockey. It provides entertainment and hope for a better future. Beartown is a story about hockey, small-town life, and much more. When a shocking event occurs, the town quickly takes sides. Who will stand up for the truth and put hockey above humanity?
If you’ve already read Beartown or the sequel Us Against You, this is a great excuse to pick up the final book in the trilogy, The Winners, which was published in September 2022. All three books in the trilogy feature teenage main characters.
The Book Girls Say…
This was a 5-star read for both of us! Some will say you have to like hockey to like this book, but the book really isn’t about hockey – it’s about people.
Fredrick Backman has a gift with words and melodic phrasing, along with a phenomenal insight into the motivations of the teenagers and adults alike. He writes characters that are so well-rounded that even when you don’t agree with their decisions, you will still understand what they were thinking.
NOTE: This story includes one scene with sexual violence.
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Circle of Friends
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Book Summary
Life-long friends Benny and Eve grew up in the small Irish village of Knockglen during the 1950s. At the age of 17, they both head to university in Dublin, where their circle of friends expands to include beautiful Nan and handsome Jack, also 17-18 years old. But heartbreak and betrayal result when their worlds of Knockglen and Dublin collide, and long-hidden lies emerge that will test the bonds of their friendship.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela read this book several decades ago, and it still stands out as one of her all-time favorite coming-of-age novels!
It’s a simple, character-driven story about friendship. It has a slower pace, but it’s heartwarming and beautifully told from the first page to the last (but be aware that there are more than 700 pages in between).
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The Black Kids
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Book Summary
Ashley Bennett grew up in LA in a wealthy and prominent family. She’s leading a charmed life where her senior year is split between the classroom and the beach.
Everything changes on an April afternoon when four LAPD officers are acquitted in the beating of Rodney King. As LA erupts in violent riots around her, Ashley tries to continue with her normal life, but she’s no longer just a teenager – now she’s a “Black kid.”
The Book Girls Say…
This book is perfect for fans of Angie Thomas’ The Hate You Give, which is set in the 2010s.
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Dear Edward
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Book Summary
Twelve-year-old Edward boards a plane with his beloved older brother and his parents, bound for their new home and life in California. But when the plane tragically crashes, Edward emerges as the sole survivor. After recovering from his injuries, he goes to live with his mom’s sister and her husband with the eyes of the world on him. Everyone is eager to hear his story.
His aunt and uncle work hard to shield him from all the attention and to allow him time to process his loss, but when Edward uncovers a stack of letters, he discovers an unexpected path to healing.
The chapters in the book alternate between Edward’s day-to-day life during the three years following the accident, and a minute-by-minute recounting of the ill-fated flight, through which we are introduced to many of the other passengers.
The Book Girls Say…
Although the main, named character is a teen, this is not a YA book. Half of the book details the experiences of the adults on the plane. As you would expect, this book is heavy in the grief department, so be prepared and keep the tissues close by.
Dear Edward was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Fiction in 2020. Though it is a work of fiction, the author has stated that it was loosely inspired by the 2010 crash of Libyan-operated Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, in which the sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy. When Ann Napolitano learned about this crash, she said, “This story flayed me. I could not imagine how that boy would be OK, and I could feel from the stickiness of my obsession that I was going to have to write a book that created a set of circumstances to make him OK.”
The book has also been adapted into a television series on Apple TV+.
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The Fault in Our Stars
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Book Summary
Hazel has known her life would be cut short since she was first diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She reluctantly attends the “Cancer Kid Support Group” at the request of her mom, but what she finds there is the last thing she expected- first love.
Hazel and the charming Augustus Waters have many things in common, including their favorite author, whom they are determined to meet, even if they have to travel to Amsterdam to do it.
The Book Girls Say…
John Green helped the YA (young adult) book scene explode into mainstream popularity in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and this is one of the first YA titles we remember our adult friends all picking up.
Another very influential YA author during the same time was Rainbow Rowell, who published the popular Eleanor and Park in 2012.
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The Lincoln Highway
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Book Summary
This entire novel takes place over the course of 10 days in 1954. Eighteen-year-old Emmett has finished his term on a work farm, where he was sent after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
The warden drives Emmett home to Nebraska, where he plans to pick up his 8-year-old brother before heading west for a fresh start. However, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work camp, Duchess and Wooly, have stowed away in the trunk. The three teens and 8-year-old Billy adjust their plans and set out across the country together. The book is told from alternating points of view.
The Book Girls Say…
Despite its title, this book is about a journey of self-discovery as much as it is about a cross-country journey. Portions of the book are set along the Lincoln Highway, but some readers are surprised that this is less of an adventure novel and more introspective.
Lincoln Highway was voted as one of our reader’s overall favorite books in both 2021 & 2022.
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Concrete Rose
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Seventeen-year-old Mav is following in his father’s footsteps, which unfortunately means dealing with the King Lords gang to help provide for his hard-working but underpaid mom. He thinks he has life under control until he finds out that he’s a father himself.
When presented with a rare opportunity to break out of gang life, he has a chance to change the direction of his family. But it’s difficult to walk away from the only lifestyle you’ve ever known, especially when loyalty is everything to the King Lords.
The Book Girls Say…
Concrete Rose is the prequel to the popular book, The Hate U Give, which is also a great choice for this month if you haven’t read it yet! The book is written in dialect true to the characters, which helps transport you directly to Mav’s neighborhood. This also makes it an excellent choice for an audiobook.
Be aware that this book includes adult language as well as teenage pregnancy.
The Serpent King
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Book Summary
Dill’s father is a Pentecostal minister who first drew attention for his extreme beliefs and then for a scandal. His friend Travis has his own demons in the form of an abusive father, so he escapes into a book series called Bloodfall. Dill has secret feelings for friend Lydia, a free spirit, sarcastic, fashion blogger who dreams of leaving rural Tennessee and heading to New York.
The teens must lean on each other for the stability that Dill and Travis don’t have at home.
The Book Girls Say…
Woven into this story of three unlikely friends trying to navigate the end of high school are stories of small-town life and themes of courage. But you’ll also need a box of tissues handy!
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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
It all starts with a pair of jeans at a thrift shop. When everyone loves them, four 15-year-old friends decide to try on the jeans to see who they fit best. Somehow the jeans fit everyone perfectly, so the friends decide to form the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Throughout the summer, the pants see all and keep the friends connected as they each experience the most memorable summer of their lives.
The Book Girls Say…
Neither of us read this book when it was first popular because we mistakenly thought it was just a fluffy YA book. We were surprised to read review after review that describes this book as a “deeper than you expect” coming-of-age book that deals with love, forgiveness, sex, and death, while still being squarely based in teenhood and filled with humor. This book will give you “all the feels!”
Be aware that one of the teens in the book has a brief relationship with a college sophomore. Some readers expressed concerns with this age difference.
Reconstructing Amelia
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Book Summary
Kate is in the middle of an important meeting when she gets the frustrating call that her fifteen-year-old daughter has been caught cheating at her exclusive school.
When she arrives to pick Amelia up, the school is surrounded by emergency vehicles, and Kate learns that her daughter jumped to her death. At least that is what she believes until an anonymous text tells her that Amelia didn’t jump.
This suspense/mystery is a great insight into the increasing role of social media during the 2010s and the damage that comes along with it.
The Book Girls Say…
Unlike most of the books on this list, this book is told from the mother’s perspective, but we still feel that this is a great pick for the teenage years because the entire story centers around Kate’s efforts to understand her daughter’s life. Additionally, we see the story through teenage eyes by way of the emails, text messages, and blog posts that Kate pours over as she attempts to piece together her daughter’s final days.
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Necessary Lies
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Book Summary
Ivy Hart lost her parents at just fifteen years old and was left to care for her aging grandmother, her mentally ill older sister, her nephew, and even the tenants on the family’s small tobacco farm. It’s too much for any teenager, but especially one who also struggles with epilepsy. Who will care for Ivy?
Jane Forrester takes a job as the new social worker for Grace County and quickly becomes invested in the lives of the residents she works with, including the Hart women. Maybe even too invested, according to her boss and her husband.
Soon, Jane begins to uncover some of the dark secrets of small-town life in rural North Carolina. A decades-long Eugenics sterilization program in the state sought to determine which people were fit to reproduce. Once Jane learns the truth, she must decide whether standing up for what she believes is right is worth the risk.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Historical Fiction in 2013.
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Book Summary
It’s the 1960s, and seventeen-year-old Elwood has been raised by his loving but strict grandmother. His hard work and focus on always doing the right thing are about to pay off.
He is getting ready to enroll in the local Black college and has big dreams. Everything changes when an innocent mistake causes him to be sent to The Nickel Academy to be “reformed” from his so-called crimes.
While this 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is fiction, it’s based on real “schools” and the unspeakable treatment of young Black men who were sent there during the 1960s. Elwood does his best to remain optimistic, but his positive attitude is challenged by his new friend Turner, who has experienced a different world growing up.
The Book Girls Say…
This book will make you feel every emotion. Through Colson Whitehead’s writing, you really get to know and feel for the characters and the situation they are thrown into. Regretfully, racial inequality in America is embarrassingly still a relevant topic today. This is not an easy book to read, but books like this are very important to adding perspective to the ongoing pushes for equality.
Colson Whitehead is also the author of Harlem Shuffle, a novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.
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Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Ginny is fourteen, autistic, and hiding a secret. She’s been in the foster care system since the age of nine, when she was taken away from her mother after suffering years of abuse. The social workers are determined to find Ginny a loving forever family, but they’ve yet to find the right fit. Ginny always runs away. She is now on her fourth “forever family” with parents who are determined to give her the love she deserves, but she’s still determined to go.
Although Ginny struggles to communicate with the world around her, we – the readers – hear Ginny’s inner thoughts and opinions as she tries to make sense of a world that often doesn’t make sense.
The Book Girls Say…
The author is the adoptive father of an autistic teenager, and he brings that compassion and understanding to the character of Ginny.
This book was previously published under the shorter title, Ginny Moon.
Speak No Evil
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Book Summary
Best friends Niru and Meredith are privileged teenagers growing up in Washington, D.C., but come from very different backgrounds. Niru appears to lead a very charmed life. He’s a track star at his prestigious private school, and after graduation, he is Harvard-bound. He has very attentive Nigerian parents, but he’s keeping a big secret from them- one that conflicts with their conservative views. Niru is gay.
Meredith – the daughter of two prominent Washington insiders- is the only one who knows Niru’s secret. But when Niru’s dad discovers that he’s gay, Meredith doesn’t lend Niru the support she knows he needs because she’s emotionally drained from dealing with her own troubles.
The Book Girls Say…
This book tackles many of the biggest issues facing teens today, including race, class, immigration, gender, and sexual orientation.
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The Outsiders
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Book Summary
Following two weeks in the life of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis as he struggles with right and wrong. His world is made up of just two groups – the “socs, ” a violent gang of rich kids who have money and can get away with anything, and the greasers, like Ponyboy, who live on the outside and need to watch their backs. Ponyboy is a proud greaser until the night that his friend makes a terrible decision, and he begins to question everything.
The Book Girls Say…
This coming-of-age novel is one of the most popular teenage books from the 60’s. It’s now regarded as not only an influential piece of literature in the 1960s, but also as one of the novels that laid the groundwork for the YA genre.
In 2024, it was adapted into a Tony-winning musical, so if you haven’t read the novel, be sure to pick it up before the show starts touring!
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Printable Version of the Challenge Booklist
Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site as Inner Circle or BFF members can access printable versions of the reading challenge book lists. As we update the Lifetime of Reading Challenges throughout the year according to the challenge schedule, the lists will become available in a single-page printable format for our BMAC members.
We offer two membership levels. Both our BFF members and our Inner Circle members get access to the single-page printables for the year-long reading challenges. Visit our Buy Me a Coffee membership page for a full list of benefits for each level.
Our BMAC members help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone!
If you have a suggestion for a book that you think would be a great addition to this list, please fill out this form.
Book Lists By Character Age
Links to our book recommendations for all twelve of the Lifetime of Reading challenge prompts can be found below:
- Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
- Books With Characters in Their 90s and 100s
- Books With Characters in Their 80s
- Books With Characters in Their 70s
- Books With Characters in Their 60s
- Books With Characters in Their 50s
- Books With Characters in Their 40s
- Books With Characters In Their 30s
- Books with Characters in Their 20s
- Books with Teenage Characters
- Books with a Child Protagonist (Bildungsroman Novels)
- Intergenerational Novels: Books that Connect Generations
