The Grown Ups by Robin Antalek

On this trip, we hit the streets of New York, in a quaint little neighborhood where everything seems so right, but-surprise-is going so wrong. Having grown up on a street similar to the one portrayed in this story, I can relate to the struggles the main characters face. This book, told in alternating perspectives, tells the story of families in turmoil. It is easier to exude the image of the perfect family, when inside and behind those closed doors is a father who cheats on his wife with the neighborhood mothers, boys and girls who pass joints around and play spin the bottle in the basement, and when it's all said and done, you have kids just trying to figure it all out. 

Sam, Suzie, Bella, Michael, the parents, illness, infidelity, betrayal...this book navigates through a world that is so well-written you will not realize you are swiftly turning the pages of a book. Prepare to become immersed in the lives of these characters. 

Sam and Suzie have a fling that has been kept hidden from their group of friends. In their private space, they are woven together like a tapestry, but in front of their friends, they are two separate people. Suzie and Sam. They have secret escapades, typical teen behavior, but never reveal their feelings publicly. Do they share the same feelings? Is this this just for fun, or are there deeper emotions at the heart of this story? When Suzie moves from their town in order for her family to get a "fresh start", Sam moves on from their relationship, and on to Bella. After Suzie cuts ties with everyone, no one knows what happened to her, and Sam and Bella's relationship buds in to a romance.  Complication begins knocking when Suzie arrives back on the scene with Sam's older brother Michael in tow. 

I have given you enough to have strapped you in to the NY roller coaster, and now I want you to enjoy the ride. This book was wonderful! I truly flipped the pages quickly, and it read like I was watching a movie. I thought the author did a fabulous job of capturing the difficulties of growing up, and what happens when the patchwork of our lives are tattered.

*A huge "thank you" to Book Sparks for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.* 

About the Author

Robin Antalek is the author of The Summer We Fell Apart (HarperCollins 2010) which was chosen as a Target Breakout Book. The Summer We Fell Apart was also published in Turkey by Artemis Yayinlari. Her non-fiction work has been published at The Weeklings, The Nervous Breakdown and collected in The Beautiful Anthology, Writing off Script: Writers on the Influence of Cinema, and The Weeklings: Revolution #1 Selected Essays 2012-1013. Her short fiction has appeared in 52 Stories, Five Chapters, Sun Dog, The Southeast Review and Literary Mama among others.  Robin has received three honorable mentions in Glimmer Train's Family Matters and New Fiction Writer's contests as well as an honorable mention for the Tobias Wolf Fiction Award.

Robin's Website