Books with a Child Protagonist

[lattywatty]

Hello I'm looking for books originally published between 1900 - 1989 which has a child as the main protagonist (and preferably narrator, but doesn't matter).

I'm looking for something to compare with "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer for my AS Lit coursework next year. To give you some ideas, the book is mainly in the POV of a child who loses his father in 9/11. It deals with him finding a key that belonged to his father and searching the 162 million locks of new york to find what it opens. Obviously the main themes are death and trauma, with paralells between his and his grandmother's story. Something about losing a friend/family member in a war or other terrorist attack would be perfect.

Thanks ever so much. And if you have any other ideas for a comparison coursework between two novels (one must be post-1990, one must be pre-1990 & post-1900) then please let me know! I'm just trying to fill my brain with books over this summer!

[kelby_lake]

What Maisie Knew is only 3 years before 1900...

[lattywatty]

What Maisie Knew is only 3 years before 1900...

Our course is very strict unfortunately. :(

[Desolation]

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust has a child narrator, although it doesn't really deal with the themes of loss and death.

[JBI]

The Sound and the Fury, As I lay Dying, Light in August (only a little bit in this one).

[kelby_lake]

Urggh- don't pick To Kill A Mockingbird!

Bonjour Tristesse is about a 17 year old girl, and deals with death and trauma.

[lupe]

You may want to consider 'Rule of the Bone' by Russel Banks, a brilliant and extremely touching novel, which deals with the issue of family loss. The narrator and main protagonist is a young boy with a really inspiring story.

[DisPater]

James Joyce - Dubliners pre 1990
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young man pre 1990
J. D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye pre 1990
William Golding - Lord of the Flies pre 1990
Jan Guillou - Ondskan (Evil) pre 1990
Daniel Pennac - Messieurs les enfants post 1990

[higley]

Scrolling down I just knew Salinger would come up. :P Golding is good.

So it seems you're interested specifically in protagonists from adult literature? Actually it would be an interesting comparison, to analyze how a child protagonist in a children's novel from the early-mid 1900's would differ from a kid protagonist in one of today's youth novels, but I don't know if that would fall within your course's perimeters.

[mal4mac]

I agree with the others about Golding, "Lord of the Flies".

Other recommendations:

J.G. Ballard "Empire of the Sun", covers his childhood experience in a Japanese POW camp.

"Diary of of Anne Frank"

The Soldier's Return by Melvyn Bragg - autobiographical novel about Melvyn's childhood experiences of the 2nd world war, his father was away for many years fighting so it may have strong parallels to what you want. I really liked this book, it draws a strong picture of his experiences, and is a very easy read. It's part of a growing sequence of autobiographical novels by him, I liked the others I've read in the series as well.

[crystalmoonshin]

"Diary of of Anne Frank"



And perhaps, "Tales from the Secret Annex" also by Anne Frank.

[kasie]

The Soldier's Return by Melvyn Bragg - autobiographical novel about Melvyn's childhood experiences of the 2nd world war.....

This would unfortuately fall outside the OP's remit, being published in 1999, so would McEwan's Atonement, but L P Hartley's The Go Between (1953) would fall within the dates required though that is written by an old man looking back on the misconceptions of his youth, though the child's-eye view is well-conveyed.

[Whifflingpin]

Joyce Carol Oates - My first thought was Foxfire, but that was just outside the time zone - maybe Childwold or Wonderland or Triumph of the Spider Monkey

[mona amon]

The God of Small Things by Arundati Roy. But it was published in '97.

[DisPater]

I just remembered another one
Ian McEwan - The Cement Garden

[meh!]

An excellent, affecting novel called 'The Changeling' by Robin Jenkins. About a boy who is taken on holiday from the slums where he lives by a well-meaning teacher and confronted with the impossibility of that situation. One of the most tragic books I've read.

[toni]

William Golding's Lord of the Flies [1954] is brilliantly written. I think it fits the themes of death and trauma, among others.



An excellent, affecting novel called 'The Changeling' by Robin Jenkins. About a boy who is taken on holiday from the slums where he lives by a well-meaning teacher and confronted with the impossibility of that situation. One of the most tragic books I've read.

I found the the Changeling's plot fascinating yet disturbing.
And it didn't occur to me that it was originally a novel! Or is it.. I have the DVD copy of the film which starred Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood.

[AuntShecky]

The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass is about a little boy traumatized by WW II, but I can't remember if the narration is first person.

[qimissung]

A Boy Ten Feet Tall by W. H. Canaway. It is not in first person, however. It is about a young boy whose parents are killed in an air raid attack and he crosses the continent of Africa alone to find his aunt.