What makes a good coming of age story? Marriage? College? Graduating high school? All of these rites of passages can be involved in transferring from a child into an adult. In most of the stories and films I list today, the protagonist of the story has a problem to solve for themselves. The main character is stuck trying to find themselves and move into adulthood. Many of them find themselves through a rite of passage such as a  quinceañera, moving away to college, having a child, or finding out your sexuality. Here are some of the best coming of age stories in modern literature.  

1) Blue is the Warmest Color:

In this romantic coming of age story, a young girl named Adele is struggling with her sexuality. She has always dated men, but have felt no attraction to them. Once she meets Emma, she starts to question about what she has known her whole life. While they explore their relationship with each other, they find themselves maturing and not caring what others think of them.  

2) Mean Girls:

It's hard to look at how much Lindsay Lohan has changed in the last couple years, however, this coming of age movie showed her promise as an actress and her eagerness to make it through high school.   

3) The Book Thief:

This book teaches you how death has an affect on everyone and the main characters maturity throughout the story. Death lurks around ever corner, which goes good with the theme of Nazi Germany.  

4) A Boys Own Story:  

In this story, an unnamed boy goes through the struggles of family all the while trying to figure out his sexuality.  The book talks about the affects of AIDS and other transmitted diseases. The main character is not proud of how he feels about other men, and convinces himself that it is just a romantic fantasy.  

5) My Girl:  

Its hard to imagine the little boy from Home Alone doing anything else but antics, however, in this movie he's is a young respected man. In this story, Vada, the protagonist is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father owns a funeral home. When Vada's father hi 

res Shelly, a makeup artist for the funeral home, she gets outraged and does everything in her power to split them up.