All this talk of Stephen King, and nobody has mentioned his first: Carrie, or his alter ego Richard Bachman’s Rage and The Long Walk, all tales of high school students. And Firestarter, with the young Charlie McGee…
Tabitha King’s first book Small World also was a tale of high school. And her triology Pearl, One on One, and the Book of Reuben all feature high school students (and Pearl is an absolute gem).
Kozinski’s The Painted Bird.
Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. People more familiar with the film might be surprised that Alex was 15 at the beginning of the novel.
It never would have occured to me that this was a novel written for adults (it’s taught in middle schools and found in YA sections of libraries & book stores) but it looks like it was. That does nothing to improve my opinion of the quality of the writing…
Uh, carry on folks.
Bless the Beasts and Children
Stephen King’s Hearts in Atlantis’s first novella, Low Men in Yellow Coats starts on protagonist Bobby Garfield’s 11th birthday.
It is, though. I remember it being on my reading lists at school when I was in 7th and 8th grades. When we had to choose books to write essays on in 8th grade, quite a few people chose Tree. And I’ve seen it in various school libraries quite recently. Maybe not elementary age kids, but definitely middle school. Which isn’t to say that people haven’t tried to ban it because of the issues you mention…
The Color Purple–Celia is 14 years old, has given birth to two of her stepfather’s children and is forced to marry Mr. ______ at the beginning of the book.
Gone With The Wind opens when Scarlett O’Hara is 16.