# List of coming-of-age stories

Coming-of-age stories focus on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, although "coming of age" is a genre for a variety of media, including literature, theatre, film, television and video games.

## In literature

* The Telemachy in Homer's Odyssey (8th century BC)
* Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, by Ibn Tufail (12th century)
* The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding (1749)
* The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne (1759)
* Candide, by Voltaire (1759)
* Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (1817)
* Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens (1837–1839)
* Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (1860–1861)
* Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (1868–1869)
* Little Men, by Louisa May Alcott (1871)
* The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain (1876)
* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (1884–1885)
* The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (1894)
* The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (1894–1895)
* The Blue Lagoon, by Henry De Vere Stacpoole (1908)
* Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908)
* A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1916)
* All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (1929)
* Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
* The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers (1940)
* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (1943)
* Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes (1943)
* The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (1951)
* East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (1952)
* Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson (1956)
* The Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino (1957)
* Flowers for Algernon, short story and novel by Daniel Keyes (short story 1959, novel 1966)
* To Kill a Mockingbird, novel by Harper Lee (1960)
* Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls (1961)
* A Clockwork Orange, a novel by Anthony Burgess (1962)
* The Learning Tree, novel by Gordon Parks (1963)
* The Graduate, novel by Charles Webb (1963)
* The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath (1964)
* The Last Picture Show, by Larry McMurtry (1966)
* The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton (1967)
* Last Summer, by Evan Hunter (1968)
* Sounder, by William H. Armstrong (1969)
* A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck (1972)
* A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich, by Alice Childress (1973)
* Ordinary People, by Judith Guest (1976)
* A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean (1976)
* Vision Quest, by Terry Davis (1979)
* The Body, short story by Stephen King (1982)
* The Color Purple, by Alice Walker (1982)
* The Sheep-Pig, by Dick King-Smith (1983)
* Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (1985)
* It, by Stephen King (1986)
* This Boy's Life, memoirs by Tobias Wolff (1989)
* What's Eating Gilbert Grape, by Peter Hedges (1991)
* The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides (1993)
* Ghost World, graphic novel by Daniel Clowes (1993–1997)
* The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, novel by Chris Fuhrman (1994)
* The Zigzag Kid, by David Grossman (1994)
* Into the Widening World, a collection of 26 short fictional coming-of-age stories by 26 notable authors (published 1995)
* Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling (1997–2007)
* The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
* Alex Rider, by Anthony Horowitz (2000–till date)
* The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares (2001)
* Life of Pi, by Yann Martel (2001)
* Invincible, by Robert Kirkman (2003–2018)
* The Power of Five, by Anthony Horowitz (2005–2012)
* Winter's Bone, by Daniel Woodrell (2006)
* Call Me by Your Name, by André Aciman (2007)
* Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, by Peter Cameron (2007)
* The Enola Holmes Mysteries: The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer (2007)
* The Name of the Wind and the rest of The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (2007–present)
* Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain by Derek Landy (2007–2014; 2017–present)
* Goodnight Punpun, by Inio Asano (2007)
* Paper Towns, by John Green (2008)
* Homestuck, by Andrew Hussie (2009-04-13 to 2016-04-13)
* The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han (2009–2011)
* The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth (2012)
* Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews (2012)
* Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli (2015)
* Boy Erased: A Memoir, by Garrard Conley (2016)
* Bones & All, novel by Camille DeAngelis (2015)
* The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas (2017)
* Boy Swallows Universe, by Trent Dalton (2018)
* Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, by Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2018)
* The Prom: The Novel, by Saundra Mitchell with Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin (2019)

## In theatre

* West Side Story (1957–present)
* Oliver! (1960–present)
* Miss Saigon (1989–present)
* Once on This Island (1990–present)
* Billy Elliot the Musical (2005–2016)
* Spring Awakening (2006–2015)
* Hadestown (2006–present)
* 4000 Miles (2011–2013, 2022)
* Choir Boy (2012–2019)
* Dear Evan Hansen (2015–present)
* Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2017–present)
* Mean Girls (2017–present)
* The Prom (2017–present)
* & Juliet (2019–present)
* Almost Famous (2019–present)
* The Outsiders (2022–present)
* How to Dance in Ohio (2022–2024)
* Heathers (musical) (2010–??)

## In manga and anime

A large portion of the manga industry is dedicated to teenagers, such as Weekly Shōnen Jump and Weekly Shōnen Magazine and, therefore, a majority of said manga contains some aspects of the protagonist's growth. Coming-of-age stories are called Shujinkō-Seichōkei (主人公成長系), meaning "protagonist's growth type".

### Manga

* Dragon Ball (manga) (1984-1995)
* Hunter × Hunter (1998-present)
* Naruto (1999–2014)
* Fullmetal Alchemist (2001-2010)
* Vinland Saga (manga) (2005-present)
* Strobe Edge (2007–2010)
* Attack on Titan (2009-2021)
* Ao Haru Ride (2011–2015)
* Assassination Classroom (2012-2016)
* Mob Psycho 100 (2012-2017)
* Haikyu!! (2012-2020)
* My Hero Academia (2014–2024)
* Love Me, Love Me Not (2015–2019)
* Violet Evergarden (2015-2020)

### Anime

* Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
* The End of Evangelion (1997)
* Kiki's Delivery Service (1998)
* Spirited Away (2001)
* Eureka Seven (2005)
* From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
* Suzume (2022)
* The Boy and the Heron (2023)

## In film

In film, coming-of-age is a genre of teen films. Films in this subgenre include:
* Little Women (1933)
* Anne of Green Gables (1934)
* Captains Courageous (1937)
* The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
* The Wizard of Oz (1939)
* Babes in Arms (1939)
* Pinocchio (1940)
* Little Men (1940)
* Bambi (1942)
* The Human Comedy (1943)
* Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
* Great Expectations (1946)
* Oliver Twist (1948)
* The Blue Lagoon (1949)
* Cattle Drive (1951)
* The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
* East of Eden (1955)
* Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
* The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959)
* Old Yeller (1957)
* Johnny Tremain (1957)
* The House of the Angel (1957)
* The 400 Blows (1959)
* West Side Story (1961)
* To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
* David and Lisa (1962)
* The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
* Oliver! (1968)
* Romeo and Juliet (1968)
* Kes (1969)
* Last Summer (1969)
* The Learning Tree (1969)
* The Last Picture Show (1971)
* Summer of '42 (1971)
* Walkabout (1971)
* Sounder (1972)
* American Graffiti (1973)
* Badlands (1973)
* Tom Sawyer (1973)
* Huckleberry Finn (1974)
* Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
* Cooley High (1975)
* Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)
* the original Star Wars movie trilogy (1977–1983)
* Saturday Night Fever (1977)
* A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich (1978)
* Big Wednesday (1978)
* Grease (1978)
* Bloodbrothers (1978)
* Breaking Away (1979)
* Over the Edge (1979)
* Fame (1980)
* Foxes (1980)
* Ordinary People (1980)
* The Blue Lagoon (1980)
* Endless Love (1981)
* Gregory's Girl (1981)
* The Fox and the Hound (1981)
* The Last American Virgin (1982)
* Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
* Flashdance (1983)
* The Outsiders (1983)
* Risky Business (1983)
* Rumble Fish (1983)
* Footloose (1984)
* Sixteen Candles (1984)
* The Karate Kid (1984)
* The Bay Boy (1984)
* The Color Purple (1985)
* the Back to the Future movie trilogy (1985–1990)
* The Breakfast Club (1985)
* Fandango (1985)
* Heaven Help Us (1985) also known as Catholic Boys
* Mischief (1985)
* Vision Quest (1985)
* Pretty in Pink (1986)
* Stand by Me (1986)
* Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
* Empire of the Sun (1987)
* Running on Empty (1988)
* Stand and Deliver (1988)
* Stealing Home (1988)
* Big (1988)
* Heathers (1988)
* The Delinquents (1989)
* Dead Poets Society (1989)
* Say Anything... (1989)
* The Little Mermaid (1989)
* A Brighter Summer Day (1989)
* Mermaids (1990)
* My Own Private Idaho (1991)
* Dogfight (1991)
* Boyz n the Hood (1991)
* The Man in the Moon (1991)
* Flirting (1991)
* A River Runs Through It (1992)
* A Bronx Tale (1993)
* Menace II Society (1993)
* Dazed and Confused (1993)
* This Boy's Life (1993)
* What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
* The Man Without a Face (1993)
* The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)
* The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
* There Goes My Baby (1994)
* Little Women (1994)
* The War (1994)
* The Lion King (1994)
* Babe (1995)
* The Basketball Diaries (1995)
* Empire Records (1995)
* Kids (1995)
* Clueless (1995)
* Whisper of the Heart (1995)
* Tom and Huck (1995)
* Romeo + Juliet (1996)
* Titanic (1997)
* Telling Lies in America (1997)
* All I Wanna Do (1998)
* 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
* The Virgin Suicides (1999)
* The Wood (1999)
* The Iron Giant (1999)
* American Beauty (1999)
* Girl, Interrupted (1999)
* Almost Famous (2000)
* Billy Elliot (2000)
* Girlfight (2000)
* Bring It On (2000)
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
* Y tu mamá también (2001)
* Spirited Away (2001)
* The Princess Diaries (2001)
* Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
* the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011)
* The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)
* Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
* Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
* Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
* Thirteen (2003)
* The Motorcycle Diaries (2003)
* Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
* House of D (2004)
* 13 Going on 30 (2004)
* Lakshya (2004)
* Mean Girls (2004)
* Temporada de patos (2004)
* The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
* ATL (2006)
* Ratatouille (film) (2007)
* Superbad (2007)
* Happy Days (2007)
* Hounddog (2007)
* Persepolis (2007)
* Juno (2007)
* The Poker House (2008)
* 35 Shots of Rum (2008)
* Let the Right One In (2008)
* The Reader (2008)
* Gamyam (2008)
* Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
* Kotha Bangaru Lokam (2008)
* Fish Tank (2009)
* Bandslam (2009)
* Wake Up Sid (2009)
* the How to Train Your Dragon movie trilogy (2010–2019)
* Winter's Bone (2010)
* Submarine (2010)
* Let Me In (2010)
* Pariah (2011)
* Hick (2011)
* Turn Me On, Dammit! (2011)
* Life of Pi (2012)
* Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
* The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
* The Zigzag Kid (2012)
* The Spectacular Now (2013)
* The Kings of Summer (2013)
* The Way Way Back (2013)
* Wetlands (2013)
* Fukrey (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Girlhood (2014)
* The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
* The Falling (2014)
* Mustang (2015)
* Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
* The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)
* Dope (2015)
* Mistress America (2015)
* Paper Towns (2015)
* Coming Through the Rye (2015)
* Kerintha (2015)
* Sleeping Giant (2015)
* Yevade Subramanyam (2015)
* Inside Out (2015)
* The Peanuts Movie (2015)
* Moana (2016)
* Moonlight (2016)
* The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
* American Honey (2016)
* 20th Century Women (2016)
* 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten (2016)
* Call Me by Your Name (2017)
* Hot Summer Nights (2017)
* Lady Bird (2017)
* It (2017)
* November Criminals (2017)
* Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi (2017)
* Coco (2017)
* Eighth Grade (2018)
* Mid90s (2018)
* The Hate U Give (2018)
* Leave No Trace (2018)
* Boy Erased (2018)
* The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
* Love, Simon (2018)
* To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
* Bumblebee (2018)
* The Grinch (2018)
* The King (2019)
* The Lion King (2019)
* Booksmart (2019)
* Little Women (2019)
* Yes, God, Yes (2019)
* Enola Holmes (2020)
* Onward (2020)
* Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (2020)
* Nahuel and the Magic Book (2020)
* The Half of It (2020)
* The Prom (2020)
* Cherry (2021)
* Chhello Show (2021)
* Luca (2021)
* Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
* Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021)
* There's Someone Inside Your House (2021)
* Licorice Pizza (2021)
* CODA (2021)
* The Hand of God (2021)
* The Black Phone (2021)
* West Side Story (2021)
* Live Is Life (2021)
* Turning Red (2022)
* Aftersun (2022)
* Bones and All (2022)
* Egghead & Twinkie (2023)
* Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)
* Barbie (2023)
* Freedom, Wisconsin (2023)
* Riley (2023)
* Uproar (2023)
* Inside Out 2 (2024)
* Merrily We Roll Along (TBA)
Films featuring protagonists in particular age groups, such as pre-teens, are:
* Melody (1971)
* Pretty Baby (1978)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
* My Girl (1991)
* The Sandlot (1993)
* Léon: The Professional (1994)
* Crooklyn (1994)
* Now and Then (1995)
* The White Balloon (1995)
* Matilda (1996)
* Ponette (1996)
* Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
* Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
* The Florida Project (2017)
* Jojo Rabbit (2019)
* C'mon C'mon (2021)
* The Fabelmans (2022)
or post-high school and college students, in films such as:
* Love Story (1970)
* Young People (1972)
* Carrie (1976)
* Animal House (1978)
* Porky's (1981)
* With Honors (1994)
* Kicking and Screaming (1995)
* Good Will Hunting (1997)
* Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
* American Pie (1999)
* Ghost World (2001)
* the Spider-Man film franchise (2002–present)
* An Education (2009)
* 3 Idiots (2009)
* Whiplash (2014)
* Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
* Aanandam (2016)
* Meesaya Murukku (2017)
* Chhichhore (2018)
* The Souvenir (2019)
* Klaus (film) (2019)
* Pink Skies Ahead (2020)
* The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
* Don (2022)
or people aged around 20 years old who do not go to college, such as:
* Brooklyn (2015)
* Sweet 20 (2017)
or in the case of unique coming-of-age stories centered on post-college aged individuals, such as:
* All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
* The Seven Year Itch (1955)
* The Graduate (1967)
* Charly (1968)
* Taxi Driver (1976)
* An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
* St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
* What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
* Never Been Kissed (1999)
* Old School (2003)
* The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
* Frances Ha (2012)
* The Worst Person in the World (2021)
* All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

## In television

Coming-of-age television series include:
* 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020)
* Adventure Time (2010–2018)
* Amphibia (2019–2022)
* Anne with an E (2017–2019)
* Annika (1984)
* Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011)
* Atypical (2017–2021)
* Boy Meets World (1993–2000)
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)
* Cobra Kai (2018-2025)
* Dawson's Creek (1998–2003)
* Degrassi franchise (1979–2017)
** Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015)
* Di4ries (2022–present)
* The End of the F***ing World (2017–2019)
* Euphoria (2019–present)
* Everything Sucks! (2018)
* Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000)
* Friday Night Lights (2006–2011)
* Girl Meets World (2014–2017)
* Girlboss (2017)
* Glee (2009–2015)
* Gossip Girl (2007–2012)
* Grand Army (2020–present)
* Gravity Falls (2012–2016)
* Happy Days (1974–1984)
* Heartstopper (2022–present)
* Hilda (2018–2023)
* I Am Not Okay with This (2020)
* Invincible (2021–present)
* Ladhood (2019–present)
* Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983)
* Love, Victor (2020–2022)
* The Lying Life of Adults (2023–)
* Malhação (1995–present)
* Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (2019–present)
* Ms. Marvel (2022)
* My Brilliant Friend (2018–)
* My So-Called Life (1994–1995)
* The O.C. (2003–2007)
* On My Block (2018–2021)
* One Day at a Time (2017–2020)
* One Summer (1983)
* Over the Garden Wall (2014)
* The Owl House (2020-2023)
* PEN15 (2019–2021)
* Prisma (2022–present)
* The Queen's Gambit (2020)
* The Sea Beyond (2020–)
* A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2019)
* Sex Education (2019–present)
* Sintonia (2019–present)
* Skam (2015–2017)
** SKAM Austin (2018–2019)
* Skins (2007–2013)
* Steven Universe (2013–2020)
* Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2024–present)
* Stranger Things (2016–present)
* The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022–present)
* Teen Wolf (2011–2017)
* That 70's Show (1998–2006)
* Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
* We Are Who We Are (2020)
* We Bare Bears (2015–2020)
* Wednesday (2022–present)
* The Wonder Years (1988–1993)
** The Wonder Years (2021) (2021–2023)
* Anos Dourados (1986)
* Anos Rebeldes (1992)
* Young Royals (2021–present)
* Young Sheldon (2017–2024)

## In video games

* Life Is Strange (2015)
* Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)
* Persona (series) (1996-present)