The works listed will allow your students to further explore the theme of Coming of Age and other themes related to A Separate Peace:


Fiction
Knowles, John. Peace Breaks Out. 1981. Like A Separate Peace, this novel is set at the Devon School. A young teacher returns from fighting in World War II and discovers that the innocence he remembers is gone.

Hughes, Thomas. Tom Brown's Schooldays. New York: Puffin Books, 1983. The title character of this 19th-century bestseller goes to Rugby and learns the harsh realities of life in an English boarding school. (easy)

Roos, Stephen. Confessions of a Wayward Preppie. New York: Delacorte Press, 1986. During his freshman year at prep school, a boy is caught between two roommates who hate each other and faces the temptation to help a friend cheat. (average)

Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little Brown, 1991. First published in 1951, this novel influenced an entire generation of writers. Salinger humorously portrays the experiences of Holden Caulfield after he is expelled from prep school. (average)


Nonfiction
Bryant, Hallman Bell. A Separate Peace: The War Within. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. This full-length study includes information on Knowles's life and the historical background of A Separate Peace. (challenge)


Multimedia
A Separate Peace. Dir. Larry Peerce. Hollywood: Paramount Gateway Video, 1982. In this 1972 motion picture adaptation of Knowles's novel, Parker Stevenson plays Gene and John Heyle (an Exeter alumnus) plays Phineas.