The first love in the life of a teenager is one of the brightest and sometimes bitter moments. For some, it remains only a fleeting memory, for others - a turning point in life. From ancient times to this day, writers and poets have constantly turned to this topic.
Teenage love in classical literature
Perhaps the best novel about teenage love in the world is the well-known tragedy of William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. True, the love of her characters looks unusually mature and conscious, but, unfortunately, it leads to a sad ending.
One of the stories of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is called "First Love" and tells the autobiographical story of young Volodya's love for the young and lovely Zinaida, who unexpectedly turns out to be his father's beloved.
Teenage love through the eyes of 20th and 21st century writers
Many wonderful books about teenage love were written in the second half of the 20th century. One of them is "The Wild Dog Dingo, or The Tale of First Love" by Reuben Fraerman. It contains love, friendship, jealousy, and again - not the happiest ending. Two more books about awakening the first feeling in the hearts of young savages - "Dinka" by Valentina Oseeva and "Dubravka" by Radiy Pogodin.
The collapse of the first youthful love is described in the fascinating adventure stories of Anatoly Rybakov "Shot" and "Krosh's Vacation".
The story of Sani Grigoriev and Katya Tatarinova in the novel "Two Captains" by Veniamin Kaverin begins with youthful love. Moreover, it describes a rather rare case when the heroes manage to preserve their love in adulthood.
Galina Shcherbakova's stories "You never dreamed of" and "Desperate Autumn" are very interesting. "You never dreamed of" is, in fact, a modern version of "Romeo and Juliet". “Desperate Autumn” is the story of a love “quadrangle” in which none of the heroes ever finds happiness.
“Tomorrow Was War” by Boris Vasiliev is a story about Stalin's times, about faith in a happy future, crossed out by the war, and about first love. For some, this love will turn into disappointment, for others - a lost dream, and for some at first it will become mutual and happy, but then it will be ruined by the war.
A series of stories by Lyudmila Matveyeva "Inhabitants of Lunny Boulevard" tells about love and jealousy raging in the youngest hearts.
Among modern foreign literature on the topic of teenage love, the most popular are "Heat" by Kate Petty, "Girls in Search of Love" by Jacqueline Wilson, "Real Magic" by Alice Hoffman and Stephenie Meyer's "vampire" story "Twilight".
There are many books dedicated to the first love of adolescents living at different times and in different countries, and they all talk about the sincerity and fragility of this wonderful feeling.
