1. Coming of Age
What does it mean?

2. Definition
A coming-of-age novel is the story of a person's transition from one life-stage to the next.
It's a tale of growth, wisdom, insight, and the ways in which the protagonist develops a mature and conscious understanding of self and circumstance.

3. The Protagonist…
usually a child, is initiated into the hard realities of adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, and often by a process of disillusionment.
A “new awareness” emerges after:
the dropping of faulty preconceptions
the destruction of a false sense of security, or
the loss of innocence

4. The 5 “Coming of Age” Shifts
The Protagonist moves:
from a state of naiveté to a state of knowledge.
from a state of inexperience to a state of experience.
from having a false view of the world to having a more realistic view of the world.
from a state of idealism to a state of realism.
from a state of immaturity to a state of making mature responses and decision.

5. But Why?
Readers leave a good coming-of-age story with insight into how people master life changes. They may even be able to use the solutions offered in the story as part of their personal transition strategies.