The heroes of contemporary children's and young adult novel world’s in Croatian literature are interpreted in this thesis on the chosen romanesque literary works. The introductory part of the paper is dedicated to defining the poetics of contemporary children's and young adult novels, with an emphasis on the analysis of the prevailing theme and characters. The main part of the paper includes the literary-theoretical interpretation of the following novels: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian(2007) by Sherman Alexie, Your Dad Will Buy You a Roller Skates (2006) by Melita Rundek, Gumi-gumi or Girl Who Skipped the Skies (2001) by Zoran Pongrašić, Chubby Girl(1999) by Janja Vidmar, Non-flying Dragons (2020) and The Cloud of Stralings(2021) by Ivana Šojat, Edbin (2014), Green Dog (2009) and Dear Mom (2015) by Nada Mihelčić and Fat(2007) by Silvija Šesto Stipančić. This study deals with the trauma experienced by the main heroes caused by many external and internal factors. In this regard, literary heroes are seen as victims of consumption of drugs, victims of peer and family violence, illness and body traumatized heroes and as heroes traumatized by relations in dysfunctional families. Most of these literary heroes, by establishing relationships with others (psychiatrists, friends, parents, sympathies) manage to overcome the initial trauma and are empowered to move on, while a small part of the traumatized characters have a tragic ending. Written in a predominant confessional tone, dealing with a rather gloomy and serious subject, the selected novels testify to a part of the poetics of contemporary children's and young adult novels, as well as the society projected in them.