Our childhoods and teenage years are life-defining, shaping the adults we become. It’s perhaps not surprising that coming-of-age stories are some of our most beloved.

‘Coming-of-age’ is often used interchangeably with ‘bildungsroman’, a quirky term that many readers may be unfamiliar with. Bildungsroman is a German phrase that translates to ‘novel of education’ or ‘novel of formation’. It’s a literary genre that focuses on the formative years of life, often exploring adolescence through to early adulthood, and where psychological growth and self-development are key aspects in a character’s arc.

Bildungsroman novels have been a regular feature on Booker and International Booker Prize longlists. The winner of the Booker Prize 2025, Flesh, was described as an ‘unconventional kind of bildungsroman’ by the Economist, while the Booker Prize 2025 Chair of judges, Roddy Doyle, won the prize in 1993 with his own coming-of-age classic, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

These 11 Booker-nominated novels follow the moral and psychological growth of an array of young characters, as they deal with the aftermath of traumatic events, shifting identities and ever-changing family dynamics.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s debut novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2004. It focuses on the life of Kambili Achike, a 15-year-old Nigerian girl who comes from a wealthy and dysfunctional family.

Controlled by her strict and violent father, Kambili is regulated by his rules and routines. As Kambili and her brother Jaja end up living with their aunt for a period of time, they are introduced to a more liberal way of thinking, which has reverberating effects and changes the course of their lives. 

Samantha Teta, writing in the New Times said, ‘Purple Hibiscus is a sensitive and intimate story that brings a reader the innocence and delicacy of childhood, the struggle of maturing into adulthood and the blurred lines between love and hatred.’

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

Midnight’s Children is one of the Booker’s all-time fan favourites. It won the Booker Prize in 1981,the special Booker of Bookers Prize in 1993, to mark the prize’s 25th anniversary, and the Best of the Booker in 2008, for the 40th anniversary. 

The novel tells the story of Saleem Sinai, who was born at midnight on 15 August, 1947, at the exact moment that India gained its independence. All children born between 12am and 1am that night have special powers. As Saleem is determined to find out the meaning behind his gifts, he becomes a conduit, connecting other gifted children and creating a Midnight Children’s Conference.

Not only does Rushdie chart the course of Saleem’s life, from a child gifted with telepathic powers to an adult questioning his identity, but, according to Clark Blaise in the New York Times, ‘It is also a novel of India’s growing up; from its special, gifted infancy to its very ordinary, drained adulthood.’

Brian Tanguay, in the California Review of Books, said ‘Midnight’s Children bears the mark of all great literature in that it deserves, and almost demands, to be read again and again.’

Flesh by David Szalay

Flesh follows István, an emotionally detached Hungarian man who navigates a series of life-changing events.

The Booker Prize 2025-winning novel charts István’s progression from an awkward and shy teenager to a middle-aged man broken by a number of traumatic experiences. Exploring ideas around masculinity and intimacy, Flesh gives us snapshots of István at different moments in his life, from his adolescence in Hungary to, eventually, a life of great privilege and wealth in London.

Heather Cass White, in the Los Angeles Review of Books, said, ‘Anything that pertains to human experience is of interest to Szalay. He is a shape-shifter, persuasively inhabiting the skins of men and women anywhere on the globe … Remarkable … The result of Szalay’s abstemiousness is a spare portrait of a man bemused at his own life and hobbled largely beyond help by its traumas.’

There’s a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert

Translated from French and longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2025, There’s a Monster Behind the Door is Gaëlle Bélem’s debut novel.

Set in La Réunion in the 1980s, the book follows the dysfunctional Dessaintes family and a mother and father’s reign of terror. The narrator is one of their daughters, an unnamed girl who is constantly haunted by her violent and destructive family. Determined to escape the intergenerational trauma that has plagued them all, the young narrator finds solace through reading and writing. 

The International Booker Prize 2025 judges said, ‘In prose that throbs with verve, humour and pain, this story set on the island of Réunion brings to life a narrator beset with the history of her family and her people.’

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Set in an unusual English boarding school, Never Let Me Go tells the story of three childhood friends. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are isolated from the outside world until they are 16, and are told that they are special and are destined for more by their school’s guardians. But as the book gradually reveals the true purpose of the school and their reasons for being there, the group learn their disturbing fate. 

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005, the book follows the trio as they navigate young adulthood and their own complex love triangle – while also coming to terms with devastating revelations about what life has in store for them.

Michiko Kakutani, in the New York Times, said, ‘A portrait of adolescence as that hinge moment in life when self-knowledge brings intimations of one’s destiny, when the shedding of childhood dreams can lead to disillusionment, rebellion, newfound resolve or an ambivalent acceptance of a preordained fate.’

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Cat’s Eye follows the story of Elaine Risley, a successful artist who has returned to her home city of Toronto. As memories of her childhood and young adulthood start to emerge, Elaine finds herself remembering certain traumatic events that she’s blocked out. From her cruel tormentor and former best friend, Cordelia, who subjected Elaine to merciless bullying, to other pivotal experiences that have defined her life, including motherhood and loss.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989, Cat’s Eye explores the pain and suffering that has haunted Elaine for the past 40 years. She reflects on the trajectory of her life, the influence of her childhood friendships, and the difficulty of shedding past shame.

Claire Tomalin, writing for the Observer, said ‘Cat’s Eye is largely a meditation on ageing and the way it changes one’s relations with people, places and the past.’

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle’s Booker Prize-winning novel is set in Dublin in the 1960s, and revolves around one year in the life of 10-year-old Paddy Clarke. The book tracks Paddy’s growth from a reckless prankster to the new man of the house as he’s compelled to step into his father’s shoes.

A classic example of a coming-of-age story, the novel highlights Paddy’s development towards maturity. As he copes with his parents’ splintering marriage, losing friends and growing apart from his brother Sinbad, Paddy realises he must change his behaviour. 

Chris Goodwich from the Los Angeles Times said, ‘Paddy is a very ordinary boy going through very ordinary experiences, and that’s exactly what makes Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha so good – Doyle’s finding the magic, significance and gravity inherent in pre-adolescent teasing, neighbourhood clubs, petty shoplifting and schoolyard fights with former best friends.’

C by Tom McCarthy

Set in a world full of radio transmissions and cryptic codes during the early 20th century, C depicts the eccentric life of Serge Carrefax. From his early years as a young boy fascinated with radio waves to adolescent tragedy and his time as an aeroplane radio operator in the First World War, Serge experiences a range of pivotal moments that define who he is.

C was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2010, and, in an interview with The White Review, Tom McCarthy said that ‘it’s got a much more epic scope than the previous books I’ve done and, in one sense, a very conventional narrative arc – a cradle to grave, nineteenth-century bildungsroman.’  

According to Jenny Turner, writing in the London Review of Books, ‘C is organised to look a bit like a realist Bildungsroman, the life and impressions of one young man: he even gets born with a caul on him, as David Copperfield did. Serge, however, attracts no sympathy or empathy or whatever from his creator: he’s a convergence, or rather an area of concentration, where ideas, images, words, preoccupations gather and regroup.’

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006, Black Swan Green tracks 13 months in the life of 13-year-old Jason Taylor from the West Midlands. Each chapter represents one month, depicting the chaotic time between childhood and adolescence while growing up in the 1980s.

Jason is an aspiring poet and struggles with stammering, trying to find his own identity among the coming-of-age issues that plague him, including shifting family dynamics, bullying and first crushes. The book is semi-autobiographical and set in David Mitchell’s hometown – the author said in an interview with BookPage that Black Swan Green is his most personal novel.

Adam Phillips, writing in the Guardian, called Black Swan Green an ‘ambitious study of adolescence…using a child narrator, especially a 13-year-old who is on the cusp of a different kind of consciousness, frees Mitchell to be gauche and shrewd - early adolescence is inevitably the age of false notes and brashness - while often allowing him too much knowingness.’

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time found success with both adults and children as two versions of the book were published, one aimed at older readers and another at younger ones. Longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2003, the mystery novel is narrated by 15-year-old Christopher Boone. Christopher lives with his widowed father in Wiltshire, and, although extremely gifted at mathematics, he often finds social interactions difficult. 

After discovering that his neighbour’s dog has been murdered, Christopher decides to investigate and uncovers more than he bargained for. What follows becomes a pivotal moment in his life, and a catalyst for growth and change.

Nani Power, writing for the Washington Post, said ‘Although the book is character-driven, it also contains a rich plot. It is a murder mystery, a road atlas, a postmodern canvas of modern sensory overload, a coming-of-age journal and lastly a really affecting look at the grainy inconsistency of parental and romantic love and its failures.’

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, translated by Leah Janeczko

Veronica Raimo’s autofictional Lost on Me depicts the eccentric life of Vero, a young woman growing up in 1980s Rome. It is a coming-of-age story that revolves around Vero’s overbearing family and her desire to seek independence from them. From her anxiety-ridden and overprotective mother, to an obsessive father and a gifted brother, Vero’s wish to strike out on her own leads to comical situations. She starts to write to preserve her sanity, frequently embellishing her stories with made-up details.

The book is written as a series of vignettes, describing an array of formative experiences that switch between Vero’s childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. 

Translated from Italian by Leah Janeczko, Lost on Me was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2024. Jasmine Pirovic, writing for Russh, said it was ‘Deeply original and with kudos from Naoise Dolan and Katherine Heiny, this bildungsroman follows Vero, a 15-year-old girl, writer and compulsive liar, as she plots various bids for freedom, all of which are thwarted by her savvy mother.’