Idk if I worded that well, so I hope people understand it because I love this trope. I have a few examples:
- The narrator in I Who Have Never Known Men (Jacqueline Harpman)
- Jack in Room (Emma Donoghue)
- Jonas in The Giver (Lois Lowry) somewhat
- Charlie in Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) somewhat
Basically characters who had very restricted upbringings and weren't able to explore most things and so they have never seen it or never known of those things existing. Like for example, the narrator in I Who Have Never Known Men had never seen a kitten, or Jack in Room had never felt rain. The books could be about how the character interprets these unknown experiences and emotions in their own limited understanding or makes sense of a new world they find themselves in
I understand that most books with this trope would be dystopian, but it doesn't have to be, it could also be about mental health issues or be sci-fi. Like in Flowers for Algernon, Charlie grew up with below normal intelligence, but then underwent surgery that improved his intelligence, and only now can he understand things around him. Or in The Giver, Jonas lives in a world where colours don't exist, so he doesn't understand the concept of a warm yellow sunshine
by Lesbihun
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*Never let me go* by Kazuo Ishiguro
grow up never knowing what you want or can be lol
Being There, by Jerzy Kosinski
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Main characters have spent their entire lives in an underground city. They eventually reach the surface. The sequel books are more about finding out how the people above ground live.
You could also add any time travel books. Even if they’re traveling back to the past, they still have to learn about how to live an everyday life in an unfamiliar environment. A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain is about a current day woman who gets transported back to 1815. There are about six books in the series so far.
Are you only looking for fiction?
If not, {{Genie by Russ Rymer}} comes to mind, but it’s pretty disturbing.
Maybe The Girl with All the Gifts. The main character is very clever and knows things from books but hasn’t ever experienced real things due to being locked away until the events of the book.
The narrator of Klara and the Sun is an artificial friend (very realistic android) trying to make sense of the world in general and the complicated family who purchased her. Partly about her own growth and perceptions and understanding, partly the story of that very complicated family emerging gradually from disjointed bits and pieces Klara doesn’t fully understand yet.