coming-of-age stories

  • #BookBingoNW2021 Coming of Age

    Looking to fill your book bingo Coming of Age square? Check out one of these titles, in which characters confront confusing situations and pursue big dreams as they enter adulthood. White Ivy by Susie Yang As a teenager, Chinese-American Ivy is caught between the disapproval and harsh parenting style of her parents, and the love… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Coming-of-age films with an edge

    I recently saw Mud (2013) – easily one of the best movies of the year, so far – and was struck by its multiple layers. It’s a thriller that stars Matthew McConaughey in the title role as a fugitive living on a remote island, hiding from bounty hunters and pining for the love of his life,… Continue reading

  • Brooklyn Stories: Part One

    I wanted to live in Brooklyn ever since I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when I was a teenager. I felt suffocated by the boredom of small town Wisconsin life and yearned for the big city, where there was a wide diversity of people, cultures, languages; tall buildings, ports, bridges, subways, trains. Brooklyn had… Continue reading

  • In Praise of Felicity

    I am a sucker for television series about high school or college.  In other words, I love coming-of-age stories. So it was a surprise to me when I stumbled across the WB series Felicity. It started in 1998, when I was without television, so I missed its four seasons in the life of the plucky… Continue reading