Coming of Age

Coming of age is a major theme in the novel "Peeled" by Joan Bauer, and affects primarily the main character of sixteen year-old Hildy Biddle. Coming of age refers to the spiritual, emotional, and ethical growth of a character, leading to a better and improved individual.

When the novel begins, Hildy is a capable writer, but she is unsure about herself and her talents. She has two former boyfriends, both of whom cheated on her; and her skills as a writer go largely unnoticed by the student body and the town at large. She dreams of becoming a journalist, like her father, who has been dead for years. She exists in a sleepy town with a newspaper devoted to conjecture and superstition. Yet, her intuition and her deductive reasoning always lead her to search for the truth, and this helps to propel her in her coming...