Coming-of-Age; Young Adult Literature
"Can a person always be a teenager?" Lily writes in her lecture notes on Hamlet near the beginning of the book. "Or always middle-aged? (Like me?)" (6.9). Obviously, One Whole and Perfect Day is packed with young people in the midst of change. And when it comes to Lily and Lonnie, they have a whole lot of classic young adult stuff on their plate. Think: crushes, school, and navigating family drama. Whenever characters like these are at the heart of a book, chances are decent we're in young adult lit territory. And indeed, with this book, we are.
This book is also in the coming-of-age genre, though. Lily is discovering the disconnect between being a teenager and a housekeeper and trying to find the right balance for her life, Clara wants to find out who she is apart from her parents' dysfunctional marriage, and Lonnie's searching for his path in life. Even Jessaline, who's a minor character by comparison, is trying to get out from under her parents' thumb and choose a career she's passionate about.
But hold on just a minute… Is it possible for a coming-of-age novel to not just illustrate stories of young people entering adulthood, but also show older characters making similar entrances into different stages of life? This book sure does. And while coming-of-age books typically focus on young people making their way into adulthood, we think anyone can come of age in their own way at different points in their lives.
In this book, the younger characters' parents and grandparents also deal with increasing confusion about their roles in their children's lives. Think about Rose's struggle with loneliness and abandonment when Clara leaves home, or the way Stan feels out of place in "the way the world kept changing on him" (21.8). In the end, the book is as much about all of the characters entering new chapters in life as it is about Lily's struggle with being a teenager with adult responsibilities.