13 Enthralling Boarding School Novels

Donna Tartt, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, established herself as a major talent with her acclaimed debut. Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a new way of thinking and living. A murder committed by one of their own leads to blackmail and betrayal and, ultimately, the group’s destruction.

Set at a boys boarding school during the early years of World War II, this novel provides a luminous exploration of the dark side of adolescence. Its harrowing account of the loss of both the narrator and the world’s innocence has earned it the well-deserved title of contemporary classic.

When Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin’s esteemed Seabrook College, ends up dead on the floor of a local doughnut shop, one pressing question remains: Why? This heartfelt and hilarious novel explores the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of adolescence, all while investigating the mystery of Skippy’s demise.

Although she once felt like an outsider, scholarship student Lee managed to carve a place for herself at the Ault School. When her behavior takes a self-destructive turn, though, her carefully crafted identity is shattered. Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel is an insightful and uproarious coming-of-age story, as well as a vivid dissection of class, race, and gender.

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at an exclusive boarding school with mercurial cliques and mysterious rules. Years later, as Ruth and Tommy reenter her life, Kathy reflects on their shared past. This suspenseful, moving novel explores youthful innocence, knowledge, and loss, seen through the eyes of a young woman revisiting her enigmatic childhood.

Following the death of her boyfriend, Jam Gallahue finds herself at a therapeutic boarding school where a journal-writing assignment leads to an alternative realm and the opportunity to reclaim her loss. Meg Wolitzer has crafted a breathtaking story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance, as Jam determines how much she’s willing to sacrifice.

A brief but brilliant story of a charismatic schoolteacher’s catastrophic effect on her pupils. At the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, Miss Jean Brodie selects a special group of students she considers the crème de la crème, but ultimately, one of the girls will betray her for her years of manipulation.

At Culver Creek Boarding School, Miles “Pudge” Halter meets Alaska Young. An event unto herself, Alaska pulls Miles into her exciting world, ultimately stealing his heart. John Green’s debut novel examines the lasting impact one life can have on another and brilliantly covers the loss of innocence characteristic to coming-of-age tales.

At an elite prep school in 1960, a literary contest sparks a fever of competition amongst the students. This striking novel explores the ensuing deceptions and betrayals as the students vie for their chance to claim the coveted prize: an audience with a beloved writer.

The week before graduation, Jane Hudson witnessed a terrible tragedy at the Heart Lake School for Girls. When Jane returns to the school as a Latin teacher, the shattering truth behind these tragic events are brought to light in this Gothic page-turner.

This stunning debut tells the story of the lone African-American teacher at an elite all-boys boarding school, a promising black inner-city student who is new to the school, and a middle-aged white divorcée. Compelling and provocative, this novel explores how race and class entangle and sets our characters on the path toward a tragic confrontation.

Following a family tragedy in the midst of the Great Depression, fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell has been exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. An immersive page-turner about sex, love, family, and class, this evocative debut reveals the truth behind Thea’s expulsion from her family.

This story of unfulfilled love spans over half a century, commencing in a boarding school and following the narrator through his adolescence and into adulthood. It is an intimate portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man and a calling for us to embrace our sexual differences.