Seventeen A Tale of Youth and Summer Time and the Baxter Family, Especially William

"Seventeen" by Booth Tarkington is a story set in the early 1900s that follows William Sylvanus Baxter, a seventeen-year-old boy facing the ups and downs of being a teenager in a medium-sized town. The book explores what it's like to grow up, deal with love, figure out who you are, and manage the switch from being a kid to becoming an adult. We meet William as he's trying to find his way, balancing childish fun with the new responsibilities and emotions of teenage life, struggling with how he sees himself and wanting to impress others, especially girls, and his behavior shows both confidence and insecurity as he worries about what people think of him and becomes obsessed with a beautiful, new-in-town girl. As he deals with the struggles of being a teenager, his relationships with friends and family offer both funny and touching scenes that highlight the confusion and thrill of being seventeen.