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Growing Pains
'Growing Pains' is a collection of poetry and prose that delves into the complexities of adolescence. It pays close attention to topics like grief, loss, abuse, love & self- love, and Healing. The collection is divided into 6 chapters, each exploring a different topic. Through poignant and powerful language, 'Growing Pains' offers a raw and honest look at what it means to 'grow up' in modern-day society.
Perfect for fans of Michaela Angemeer & Rupi Kaur.
Perfect for fans of Michaela Angemeer & Rupi Kaur.
164 pages, Paperback
Published July 10, 2023
3 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Ishaq Yakubu
7 books35 followersIshaq Yakubu, also known as Prince Ishaq, is a Nigerian writer, creative artist, and internet public figure. His writing explores love, power, identity, and coming of age within contemporary African societies. He writes primarily within the genres of Young Adult and Coming-of-Age fiction, Romance, and Contemporary African Literature, with a distinctive voice that blends youthful candour, political awareness, and cultural heritage.
He is the author of the Sarauniyya series, a body of work that has steadily woven itself into Abuja’s contemporary literary and youth culture, marking his emergence as a significant young voice in Nigerian literature.
Beyond fiction, Ishaq is also a poet, known for a style influenced by lyrical maximalism. His work frequently returns to the theme of love — not merely as an ideal, but as a responsibility shaped by consequence, memory, and risk.
Alongside his literary career, Ishaq maintains a public presence under the moniker SuperstarIshaq across platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where his documentation of youth culture, style, and luxury life in Abuja exists in conversation with the worlds he explores in his writing.
Prince Ishaq’s latest publication, Gambo Santuraki Street, marks a deliberate expansion of his literary scope, signalling the beginning of a broader narrative universe that bridges romance, political consciousness, and moral complexity within the Northern Nigerian space.
Ishaq lives and writes in Nigeria.
He is the author of the Sarauniyya series, a body of work that has steadily woven itself into Abuja’s contemporary literary and youth culture, marking his emergence as a significant young voice in Nigerian literature.
Beyond fiction, Ishaq is also a poet, known for a style influenced by lyrical maximalism. His work frequently returns to the theme of love — not merely as an ideal, but as a responsibility shaped by consequence, memory, and risk.
Alongside his literary career, Ishaq maintains a public presence under the moniker SuperstarIshaq across platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where his documentation of youth culture, style, and luxury life in Abuja exists in conversation with the worlds he explores in his writing.
Prince Ishaq’s latest publication, Gambo Santuraki Street, marks a deliberate expansion of his literary scope, signalling the beginning of a broader narrative universe that bridges romance, political consciousness, and moral complexity within the Northern Nigerian space.
Ishaq lives and writes in Nigeria.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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July 20, 2023I believe nothing is more motivating for a poet when it comes to putting pen to paper than lived experiences.
On my quest to avoid reading the numerous books on my bookshelves, I took a detour and dove into Growing Pains by Ishaq Yakubu because it piqued my interest as a promising short read.
Growing Pains is a book that holds many short poems that reminded me somewhat of the poetry style similar to poets like Rupi Kaur and many interesting short stories about the experiences of young people that left lingering thoughts that reminded me to live, forgive myself and embrace my individuality.
There are a lot of themes that are covered, such as grief, loss, abuse, love, self-love, and healing, with a strong focus on the self-love, self-forgiving, and healing part, so if you’re interested in a quick read, with positive vibes cop yourself a copy.
On my quest to avoid reading the numerous books on my bookshelves, I took a detour and dove into Growing Pains by Ishaq Yakubu because it piqued my interest as a promising short read.
Growing Pains is a book that holds many short poems that reminded me somewhat of the poetry style similar to poets like Rupi Kaur and many interesting short stories about the experiences of young people that left lingering thoughts that reminded me to live, forgive myself and embrace my individuality.
There are a lot of themes that are covered, such as grief, loss, abuse, love, self-love, and healing, with a strong focus on the self-love, self-forgiving, and healing part, so if you’re interested in a quick read, with positive vibes cop yourself a copy.
August 3, 2023
"You and I were a story,
An unexplored world that could have gone on forever."
- An Unexplored World
I am on a quest to read as many books from Nigerian authors as possible, and I have to say that I am glad that I stumbled upon Ishaq Yakubu's work.
Growing Pains is a collection of short stories and poems divided into different sections highlighting stories and emotions that range from love, loss, adulthood, friendship, parenthood, trauma, sexual abuse, young love, the illusion of young love, and my favorite part, resilience.
My favorite story was that of Ben and Abby; there's something comforting about confiding in strangers you know you will never meet again, and that whole chapter resonated with that singular idea.
My favorite quote is from Chapter 4: The Day Shall Come,
People don’t amuse you as much as you make
them think they do, but you only try to accommodate
everybody because you grew up with parents who were
mostly absent and never had any time to accommodate your
silly jokes and thoughts and ideas.
If these stories are made into a limited series on screen, I know I will watch the story of Rahila and Prince over and over. The author did a great job with such different narrators overall, but this particular story was like watching a painting come to life with feisty characters who loved beautifully.
Looking forward to more from Ishaq Yakubu.
An unexplored world that could have gone on forever."
- An Unexplored World
I am on a quest to read as many books from Nigerian authors as possible, and I have to say that I am glad that I stumbled upon Ishaq Yakubu's work.
Growing Pains is a collection of short stories and poems divided into different sections highlighting stories and emotions that range from love, loss, adulthood, friendship, parenthood, trauma, sexual abuse, young love, the illusion of young love, and my favorite part, resilience.
My favorite story was that of Ben and Abby; there's something comforting about confiding in strangers you know you will never meet again, and that whole chapter resonated with that singular idea.
My favorite quote is from Chapter 4: The Day Shall Come,
People don’t amuse you as much as you make
them think they do, but you only try to accommodate
everybody because you grew up with parents who were
mostly absent and never had any time to accommodate your
silly jokes and thoughts and ideas.
If these stories are made into a limited series on screen, I know I will watch the story of Rahila and Prince over and over. The author did a great job with such different narrators overall, but this particular story was like watching a painting come to life with feisty characters who loved beautifully.
Looking forward to more from Ishaq Yakubu.
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December 11, 2024Well, tbvh I never read any of Ishaq's book not until 'Sarauniya-heartstrings' and after then I made a promise to follow up with anything art relating to the author and here we are.
Growing pains is not an exception though, man, Ishaq is super good;not exaggerating though
And I tried reaching out to your Gmail address for a duet poem but unfortunately, something seems to be up with yours @shaqsman18
Growing pains is not an exception though, man, Ishaq is super good;not exaggerating though
And I tried reaching out to your Gmail address for a duet poem but unfortunately, something seems to be up with yours @shaqsman18
July 11, 2023
I lived through every story like it was my own😭😭!!felt every thing there was to feel!!! MUST READ!!!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews