Coming of Age Novels - Book Report/Review Example

Let us start by having a brief introduction of each of the novels. For instance Lynn coady's novel. Lynn knows that university life has much to offer to those who encounter it. She knows that there many changes which can be attained from the universities, and that is why her novel, Mean Boy, gives a great concern to some students who are swayed by their professor t drunkenness, at Westcock, which is a fictional New Brunswick university, back in the 1970s. Jim Arsenault is a known poet and a prominent critic who is known to be uncompromising as pertains inferior verse.

Jim is believed to be a proof that can bring out the best, as well as the worst from his students. The most evident of these is the protagonist, 19-year-old Larry Campbell, who wants to be a poetic transcendence. On the other hand, "Lullabies for Little Criminals" is a coming-of-age story of a girl who is 12-years old. This Montreal girl first lands into a provincial school, which becomes her home. It was during the same time when her father who was only 15 years old died, after she was born.

The dad was an addict of heroin and had to go to a rehabilitation center. This is a baby, who is very tough and yet appears to be childlike. She goes through a hell of encounters in these rough streets of Montreal, but she is very resourceful, a trait which helps her belief in what she does and herself. She has an eternal optimism which is the gear towards her goals and she tries to sail through some tough challenges which come her way. (Heather) Larry is a poor sod, and a second-year undergraduate student in a small-town at a university in New Brunswick.

He appears to be in a crisis with himself, for having been self-absorbed, and also depressed by his poetry professor, (Jim Arsenault). Larry's aim is to learn how to be a poet from the university. However the lessons he gets from Arsenault, and the rival poet Dermot Schofield, appear to be more than he has worked for. But what can poor Larry do He is overwhelmed by an almost "debilitating self-consciousness," which she calls, "dread" as pertains the life's smallest challenges. He is constantly tormented by his knowledge that, he had inspired many poets.

Jim says, "I need Jim Arsenault to love me," his implication here was that he was looking for favors from the professor, because he knows from that he would end up becoming famous. All he wants is approbation. "Because that will mean I have worth. That will mean there is a point." This relationship between Jim and Larry is cozy. It reflects how the social dynamics change when students join the universities. For most time, gone are the rigid boundaries which are usually enforced in high school; not only here are students and professors on a first-name basis, but they also do get drunk together.

Larry pays Jim many visits and does organize several visits for him in the house, as well as escorting poets to Jim's house for guidance. Larry calls him an all-around Guy when it comes to Friday. (Coady 101) This intimacy is prevalent of some perils, especially when youthful ambitions tend to clash with the complications of middle age life. This is what is happening to Larry in his college. Jim appears to Larry (the young poet) as a great source of authenticity. To him he seems to be endlessly creative,