Grow Up

Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2012.

Hilarious and heartbreaking by turns, Grow Up is a future classic packed full of funny, smart, entertaining swagger. A comedy in three parts, it offers a revelatory portrait of the pills, thrills and bellyaches of growing up today.

Jasper has his hands full. Finishing high school would be hard enough without a mother pushing him to overachieve, and his friends pushing drugs down his throat.

And then there's his stepdad, the murderer.

Ben Brooks work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for the Dzanc Best of the Web anthology. Grow Up is his fifth published novel. At 16, Brooks began sending his writing to James Chapman, who runs Fugue State, a small New York press devoted to experimental novels. Chapman published Brooks's first book, Fences, in 2009 and its unusual style sent ripples across the Atlantic.

'Amazing. One of the most hilarious and well observed accounts of teenage debauchery you are ever likely to read.' Dazed and Confused

'Liquid gold.' Observer

'Ben Brooks is a magical imp who pumps out dark nuggets of poetry and makes you snort with laughter.' Noel Fielding

'Sickeningly good. So confident, so stylish. An unacceptably witty and original debut.' Tim Key

'Navigates the travails of school and beyond with a quick wit.' Independent on Sunday

'A sharp and witty exploration of adolescent life... delightfully comic. The subject matter edges into dangerous territory - date rape, teenage pregnancy, suicide - but Brooks handles it with maturity and wit. is one part serious, the rest is simply laugh-out loud funny. Contagiously funny, well-written and no doubt marks the start of a promising career for a talented young writer.' Scotsman

'Brilliantly captures 21st-century youth. Hilarious...At the heart of Grow Up, though, is something more satisfying than steady gags. In a world where youth is fetishised as much as it is, Brooks revels in what everyone secretly knows - namely, that teenagers are all, in some way or another, idiots.' Times

'Jasper's narrative is an exaggerated but honest version of a teenager overwhelmed by his hormones.' Herald

'Adults and adolescents alike will enjoy this insight into the teenage mind from a young man who's very much the voice of his generation.' North & South (NZ)