For teenagers, GCSE, BTEC, A-level and International Baccalaureate results are days away and fate stands by, snickering, with a sharp pair of scissors in its hands. Later on this summer after they get their results, these teenagers may have cause for reflection. They might even consider turning to literature for consolation or counsel. But what books should they read? Of course they could always plump for Great Expectations, The Bell Jar, The Catcher in the Rye or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Some fiction hits the sweet spot of every generation. But isn't most coming of age fiction friable? Doesn't its relevance fade? Obama may be the first mixed-race US president, but how many teenagers will read James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain? My generation flipped through novels without the help of colour-coded guidance from publishers and bookstores. Even so, we quickly found our way. The 70s zeitgeist spoke through a megaphone. We read Catch-22 and Slaughterhou
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head