Almost Grown

by Tony Lindsay

Almost Grown is a collection of fifteen short stories with teen and young adult main characters. These young characters live ordinary day-to-day lives with unexpected twists, and there are no “super” adults saving them; they must work through some of the pit falls and problems of growing up themselves. The reader journeys through bad decisions made better, and young people realizing that it is ok not to be right, or the best all the time. Being almost grown is difficult but these stories show the pleasure of that stage of life as well.

127 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2015

About the author

Tony Lindsay is the author of seven novels; One Dead Preacher, Street Possession, Chasin’ It, Urban Affair, One Dead Lawyer, More Boy than Girl, One Dead Doctor and four short story collections titled Pieces of the Hole, Fat from Papa’s Head, Love, Lust, and Addiction, and Almost Grown. He has published book critiques and reviews for Black Issue’s Book Review. He was a contributor to the anthologies Don't Hate the Game, Lucious, and Fire and Desire. He has also contributed to the on-line encyclopedia Identity.com, and Mosiac.com. He has been published by to the African American literary web-site ‘Timbooktu.com’, as well as the young adult magazine Cicada. He writes bimonthly articles for Conversations magazine, and he writes non-fiction book reviews for Hartman Publishing’s N’DIGO Magapaper. Lindsay has a Post Graduate Certificate in Multicultural and Transnational Literatures East Carolina University, an MFA in Creative Writing from Chicago State University, and Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Illinois – Chicago. He teaches at Calumet College of St. Joseph, Harold Washington College, Ivy Tech Community College, and South Suburban College.

Reviews

[N.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lindsay crafted excellent short stories in this book, which I loved. As a parent and educator, I can see how such stories could be used to generate great conversations with upper middle and high school age youth. He includes a discussion question at the end of each story. The questions are thought-provoking and a great way to tap into a young person's sense of self, morality, etc. Most of the stories are grounded in real-life issues that young people grapple with, such as friendship, identity, and romantic relationships. Although, the alien story was a surprise and didn't quite fit the stories that came before. There were editing issues, which is the only reason I didn't give this book a five-star rating. Overall, "Almost Grown" is a very good book and worth sharing with young people. I certainly intend on passing this book along to my two teenagers. I have no doubt they will enjoy it as much as I did.

[Sissy Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very relatable to me being a mom in an urban community in 2020. You were able to visualize a lot of the stories. These are things kids go through in today’s world, some I actually went through while growing up. The fact that no one is stepping in to save them is the part that I like best. This new generation has saviors so they don’t have to figure it out leaving some youth and young adults helpless as they navigate life. I also had my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son read this book. It opened their eyes to a lot of things that happen in the world that one would think only happens on tv, which it may but they are now ready and equipped to handle it if it actually does happen in their lives. I would definitely read more from this author! It really is hard for black youths and young adults today, and this book touched on some of the realness of being included in that category. My kids have been problem solving on their own as much as possible since reading this book, they used to bring all their minor issues to me and this read changed that perspective for them! It also made me understand the problems and issues we have in our communities versus “the kids are always bad” theme and makes you critically think what causes these issues and behaviors. Very good read!

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Tony Lindsay novel ALMOST GROWN are thought-provoking, fifteen stories you will see that are without an adult or parental advice, there are life lessons that we as adults can learn from. The lesson are realist and could likely happen to any age group you will go through a series of feelings some are jaw-dropping and some are really painful with an eye-opening question as to why would we as adult allow teens and or young adults to do life alone.

If you have not had a Tony Lindsay read do so I live his work.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Almost Grown to be very relatable and extremely realistic . Many of the stories I could related to as a mom of three. Initially I had a hard time following as there were grammatical errors within the first 10 pages . Being as though I received the book in exchange for feedback I pushed through . After getting over that I realized each story had an awesome storyline . I would in the future read something by Golden Publishing’s again.