The article analyzes the novel «Just Me. Diary of a Super Cool Warrior» by contemporary Dagestani writer Islam Khanipaev in the context of existential issues in children's literature. The aim is to identify how fundamental questions of human existence are artistically represented in a work addressed to children and adolescents. The methodology includes comparative analysis with classical works of Russian literature, such as M. Gorky's «Childhood», L. Andreev's «The Little Angel» and «Petka at the Dacha», N. Garin-Mikhailovsky's «High School Students», and E. Schwartz's «The Tale of Lost Time», as well as theoretical reference to the founders of existentialism, K. Jaspers, J.P. Sartre, and A. Camus. The analysis reveals that key existential categories, specifically borderline situation, loneliness, freedom and responsibility, and attitude toward death, receive original artistic embodiment in Khanipaev's novel. The protagonist perceives the surrounding world as hostile due to the loss of his father, which triggers the process of existential coming of age. The central image of the novel, the «super cool warrior», is interpreted for the first time as a mechanism of psychological defense and a way of achieving authentic identity. Unlike the heroes of classical Russian literature, Khanipaev's character does not become embittered or resigned. Instead, he finds an internal resource to confront the crisis through creative self-reinvention. The diary form records the intimate process of self-examination, rendering the work profoundly psychological and enabling the reader to trace the evolution of the protagonist's emotions and thoughts at a crucial juncture in his life. Khanipaev's novel, continuing the traditions of Russian classics, offers an optimistic resolution to the existential conflict. Encountering borderline situations, including death, loneliness, and misunderstanding, becomes not a tragedy but an impetus for creative self-reflection and self-discovery. The results can be applied in courses on contemporary children's literature and in the analysis of adolescent prose
Anastasiya V. Sebeleva (Thu,) studied this question.