As bourgeois consciousness solidified in 18th century Germany, work and education (Bildung) came to be considered as antagonistic human endeavors. It would take more than half a century thereafter to create efficient laws and regulations that protected children from exploitation in the industrial or agricultural realms. Children’s literature at the time, thus commonly idealized work as the fulfillment of individual life and depicted child labor as a pedagogical tool. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that child labor and its effects on the cognitive and physical well-being of children began to be critically examined through realistic portrayals of poverty and exploitation. Despite increased interest in the depiction of labor, work, and unemployment issues during the 1970s, these topics have continued to be infrequently considered in youth and children’s literature. Against this common observation, Tamara Bach’s novels tell the stories of teenagers, who, confronted by the harsh reality of their overworked parents, take on the role of adults and immerse themselves in a diligent and hardworking everyday life. This strand of contemporary literature thus revisits its early history and raises pointed questions about the possibility and the potential of coming-of-age processes in an era of social decline.