The Member of the Wedding is a coming-of-age story about Frankie Addams, a 12-year-old girl who longs for a wider connection to people and the world. Other coming-of-age stories students might read in conjunction with this book are To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, and Mary Karr's The Liars' Club. The film version of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) would also be a wonderful counterpoint to this novel.
Other books on this topic that might interest students include Paperboy by Vince Vawter (2014), Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall (2014), and I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World by Eve Ensler.