Historical Fiction; Coming of Age
Meridian traces the American Civil Rights Movement over the course of a decade. We watch the Movement grow and change through the eyes of characters like Truman and Meridian, from the early days of idealism to the jaded militancy of later years. The story is even peppered with real-life events, like the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.
Similarly, we can look at the book as Meridian's coming-of-age tale. This is a bit obscured by the novel's weird, non-chronological structure, but look closely and you'll see it. Meridian does a lot of growing and changing over the course of the novel (almost as much as the Movement itself!), transforming herself from a mistreated teen mom into a fearless and noble warrior for justice. In many ways, this coming-of-age is reflected within the civil rights struggle itself.