bildungsroman

From LookUp: Noun

1. Literature a novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education the book is a bildungsroman of sorts, as Tull overcomes his abused childhood and learns about love

In literary criticism, a Bildungsroman (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːn], plural Bildungsromane, German pronunciation: [ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːnə]) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is important. The term comes from the German words Bildung ("education", alternatively "forming") and Roman ("novel").