The Best Coming Of Age Picks From The Read With Jenna Book Club

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Since launching her book club in March 2019, Jenna Bush Hager has had some great picks on her Read With Jenna list. While the "Today" host's monthly favorites vary in genre, she's featured quite a few coming-of-age reads that received rave reviews. It's no secret that Bush Hager has a love of reading, and she told Today, "It's how I calm down. It's how I detach. It's how I fall in love with other places that I will never go to. It's how I empathize with characters who are nothing like me." And, although it's not one of her book club picks, one of Hager's favorite novels, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," is a coming-of-age tale that follows a young girl's determination to rise out of poverty.

Unsurprisingly, Hager has shared similar books on Read With Jenna that have found success amongst readers. The "Jenna & Friends" host has a knack for choosing page-turners, such as the popular romance novel that's a Read With Jenna book club favorite. But for bookworms who love coming-of-age finds, they'll definitely think Hager's top recommendations are worthy reads.

Jenna Bush Hager's pick for March 2024 was "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, which was first published in 1984. For Bush Hager, the coming-of-age novel has remained one of her favorites for decades. "I have loved 'The House on Mango Street' since I first read it in high school because I feel like Sandra Cisneros writes in such a poetic, gorgeous way, and the character of Esperanza has stayed with me all of those years," she told Today.

The book, written in a series of vignettes, is centered around a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, whose family has moved to a small, dingy home in a poor Chicago area. Her parents struggle to provide the family with the picture-perfect house Esperanza desires, but they have to make do with what they have. The young girl turns into a teen and discovers her sexuality, soon learning about the downsides when she receives attention from men. Despite Esperanza's negative experiences on Mango Street, she realizes that her time there has shaped her, and in the end, she can never truly leave the neighborhood behind.

While "The House on Mango Street" wasn't Hager's top-rated book of all time, with an average of 3.69 stars on Goodreads, many readers still connected with Esperanza. "A gorgeously crafted modern classic that explores heritage, immigration, family, and what it means to belong to an expectation, an identity, a home," wrote one reviewer. Another shared, "This felt as if it took my mother's life and my own, melted it together, and formed a beautiful, simple story that I'll cherish forever."

Making its way on Read With Jenna's February 2023 spot was "Maame" by Jessica George, which is about a young woman named Maddie Wright living in London. At just 25 years old, Wright is tasked with taking care of her ailing dad while working to help keep the family afloat. When her mom comes back from Ghana, Wright takes the chance to begin her life as a young adult by moving out and entering the dating pool. Of course, not everything comes easily to her, and she experiences heartbreak, microaggressions over her ethnicity, and struggles finding her footing at her job. Throughout the book, George covers hard topics such as mental health and death, but over time, Wright overcomes her struggles and grows into a self-confident woman.

"Maame," which earned a spot on The New York Times bestseller list, was a huge hit with bookworms, earning 4.3 stars on Amazon. One reviewer shared, "Wow! This book encapsulates our many responsibilities growing up as a daughter in [a Black] home. The heaviness of always having to consider and take care of everyone else but yourself." As for Jenna Bush Hager, she shared with Today, "I just couldn't believe the author's talent and the range of emotions I felt while reading it. On one page, I was crying, yet on another page, I laughed hysterically." The former teacher added, "She was a mother to her parents. Therefore, she never really got to explore who she is. To watch that journey unfold is really satisfying and fun."

"Writers & Lovers" by Lily King is another heartfelt coming-of-age book that takes readers through the journey of the protagonist, Casey Peabody's road to self-discovery. The March 2020 pick for the Read With Jenna book club is about a woman in her early 30s who is financially struggling while trying to deal with the grief of losing her mom. Meanwhile, all her friends are getting married and thriving in their careers while Peabody has been slugging away at her unfinished book for years. Through breakups, panic attacks, and homelessness, she manages to find the light at the end of the tunnel and eventually make her dreams of becoming an author come true.

Jenna Bush Hager told Today that she chose "Writers & Lovers" because it was unlike any of the books in Read With Jenna. "Lily King really explores different themes that our book club hasn't explored," she explained. Readers seemed to love King's storytelling, and her novel received 4.4 stars on Amazon. One reviewer shared, "It's my favorite book so far this year and I can say with confidence that Lily King's novel will be making an appearance on my Best Books of 2020 list." Another wrote, "This book was unbelievably good. It had this paradoxical lightness and heaviness to it. The main character is so approachable in her grief, and Lily King does an incredible job of making grief a presence in the book, but not an overbearing and sagging weight for the reader."

Jenna Bush Hager chose "The Girl with the Louding Voice" by Abi Daré for February 2020's Read With Jenna book club. The main protagonist is a young teenage girl named Adunni who lives in Nigeria and is forced by her father to marry an older man, cutting off her dreams of getting an education. After enduring horrific incidents, Adduni runs away only to be betrayed by her brother Kola, who sells her to a woman as a servant. Through determination and help from a kind older woman, the teen manages to win a scholarship and is finally one step closer to her freedom.

Although Adduni's experiences are far removed from many of Daré's readers, book lovers felt immersed in the story one shared on Goodreads, "WOW is all I can say!! This book touched me in so many ways, I felt laughter, love, fear, betrayal, anguish, and finally triumph!" Another wrote, "What an adventure. Adunni is a girl with a vision!! After all that life continues to throw at her, she is still willing to always fight. The best part about her vision is that she recognizes that the fight is not with her alone but with the many girls in Nigeria who have gone through what she has been through and probably worse." With a 4.43 rating on Goodreads and nominations for favorite fiction and favorite debut novel for 2020, this book is definitely one of Hager's best picks.

"Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano was Read With Jenna's selection for January 2020, and despite it being a tearjerker, Jenna Bush Hager recommended the book for its underlying message. "I choose 'Dear Edward' because it is a book about love and loss and finding your way after the unthinkable. I thought to start our year off, even though hopefully nothing this dramatic happens in everyone's life, we can all think about a new lease on life," she told Today.

Napolitano's story follows the life of a 12-year-old boy named Edward Adler who struggles to cope after being the lone survivor of a plane crash that took the lives of his family. Adler goes off to live with his aunt and uncle, where he befriends his neighbor, a girl named Shay. Two years later, he finds tons of letters from the plane crash victims' loved ones, with one man gifting him millions of dollars. Reading the letters allows Adler to heal from his grief, and he uses the money to help the victims' families.

The New York Times bestseller was received well by readers, with 4.5 stars on Amazon. One review stated, "Ann Napolitano has written another beautiful, inspiring story that questions how to survive insurmountable grief, how to cope, and how to move on. I loved this story, it really seemed to be told through the voice of a 12-year-old boy." Another fan raved, "I couldn't put this book down. Ann has woven so much meaning of life into this novel. It is so complex and intricate, and a rare look into the inner suffering, experience, and healing of a traumatized person. Excellent."

With 11 coming-of-age books to choose from on Read With Jenna's, it wasn't easy to narrow it down to a top five. While curating our list, we noted the selections that were labeled coming-of-age and went on various sites such as Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon to take note of the ratings. We then narrowed our list to the five books with the highest overall score and determined that they were the most well-liked by readers, taking into consideration the number of ratings. Books that were The New York Times bestseller or won awards were also factors for making it onto Women's list.