Selected recent adolescent novels which center on a young adult's relationship with an older adult are analyzed. In these novels which feature older adults and young adults as main characters, the older character has qualities that the teenager examines, then accepts or rejects. In today's nuclear family, teenagers sometimes have very little opportunity to be well acquainted with older individuals. By depicting an elderly person's values and philosophies, these realistic novels can enhance a young adult's personal development and give him a new awareness, an interest or empathy for another human being. (Author/JAB)