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Robin Antalek
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The Grown Ups: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Robin Antalek (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 91 ratings
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Spanning over a decade, told in alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores the indelible bonds of friends and family and the connections that form between Sam, Suzie, and Bella as they navigate parents, siblings, and one another on the way to becoming who they really want to be when they grow up.

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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  5. Publication date
    January 27, 2015
  6. File size
    3049 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The Grown Ups is a highly relatable, fiercely readable, and deeply satisfying tale about the families we don't choose, the history that binds us, and the evolving relationships that shape our lives.

-- "Jonathan Evison, New York Times bestselling author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving"

A celebration of resiliency and the bonds of friendship.

-- "Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue"

An engaging ensemble piece with revealing insights about friendships. A great choice for book clubs looking for new-adult titles.

-- "Library Journal"

One of those rare books that pulls you deeper into your own life and your own memories.

-- "Jessica Anya Blau, author of The Wonder Bread Summer"

From the Back Cover

Spanning over a decade, told in alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores the indelible bonds of friends and family and the connections that form between Sam, Suzie, and Bella as they navigate parents, siblings, and one another on the way to becoming who they really want to be when they grow up.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00JOFYXXM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (January 27, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 27, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3049 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 91 ratings

About the author

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Robin Antalek

Robin Antalek

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

After making a career out of changing careers, from PR to tending bar, and from waitressing to managing a modern dance company, Robin Antalek eventually gave in to the voices in her head and began writing fiction. She studied at The New York State Writer's Institute at the State University of New York at Albany, and has published in many literary journals: Sun Dog: The Southeast Review, Literary Mama, among others, and has twice been a finalist in Glimmer Train's Family Matters contests as well as a finalist for The Tobias Wolf Award for Short Fiction. You can also find her nonfiction essays monthly on the web at The Nervous Breakdown.

The Summer We Fell Apart is her first novel. She lives in a very needy Victorian house in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her husband, two daughters, and three dogs.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
91 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Susan
5.0 out of 5 stars A paean to friendship
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
I loved this book so much that I read very slowly as I neared the end. The story revolves around a group of high school friends and their families, taking place over ten years. Yes, the kids live privileged lives, but I never thought of them as "spoiled rich kids" as one reviewer described them. Going to college, particularly the Ivy League or Seven Sisters, is a given and any college on a lower tier is probably viewed as a small failure. The kids have their requisite share of romantic relationships and first sexual experiences, all within the confines of their group.

As they leave for college, having experienced a scandal involving a parent and the sudden departure of one mother from her husband and two sons, I was hopeful that the friendships would continue. After college, they choose different paths and see one another infrequently.

Person by person, the now young adults return home, some having never left. Romance blooms between Michael and Suzie Epstein. Sam, Michael's younger brother, pines for Bella, his high school romantic interest. Will she forgive him for a transgression from years ago?

Robin Antalek is a master at character development. Every character in The Grown Ups is fully formed. Her skillful dialect, completely realistic, contributes to the change in her characters during the ten year span of the story. The "Hey dude" vernacular of high school slowly fades away as the characters age. Best of all to this reader, the cast of characters is likable and realistic. Only Ted, an outsider and Bella's boyfriend , is created as highly unpleasant.

The writing is flawless as well. Words flow so easily, but I never had the urge to be a word gobbler. I tend to savor books with such top-notch prose. What a gift Robin Antalek has.

I lived much of the story, which is the reason I found it to be realistic. My father, along with many other fathers, decreed that I was on my own after graduating from Mount Holyoke. My school friends and I scattered around the globe, keeping in touch by email. I never expected to return to my old hometown. Because of a family crisis, we left Southern California; I am back! At milestone school reunions, I saw my best friends for the first time in years. No time had passed for us, and my high school mates are trickling back. It happens. It truly does. I am blessed, as were the characters in the book. Robin Antalek gets it.
2 people found this helpful
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Larry Hoffer
4.0 out of 5 stars The relationships that fulfill us and those that challenge us...
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
Relationships. Can't live without 'em, can't, well...

The summer of Sam Turner's 15th year was an eventful one. Spending time with his group of childhood friends, he suddenly catches the interest of Suzie Epstein, and they begin a romantic relationship that they keep hidden from their friends, even though the hookups of others are known among them. But as quickly as it begins, their relationship ends when Suzie's estranged parents decide to give their marriage another try and move the family to another city. And then Sam suffers another blow, when his mother decides to leave his husband and move away.

In the wake of Suzie's abrupt departure and the dissolution of his family, Sam finds himself drawn into a relationship with Suzie's best friend, Bella. Their relationship continues into college, but while Sam feels strongly for Bella, he can't seem to give her the full commitment she desires—and he can't seem to give that commitment to anything in his life, which also causes trouble in his relationships with his father and older brother. He finds himself drifting, from job to job, relationship to relationship, without feeling any pull to put down roots.

Suzie left her old life and her old friends behind, mostly out of embarrassment for the way her parents' marriage affected the lives of so many. She becomes the caretaker for her younger brothers and her alcoholic mother, and works hard to graduate high school one year early, so she can start anew. And she never thinks she'll be able to have a relationship that isn't dysfunctional, until, surprisingly, she connects with Sam's older brother Michael.

The Grown Ups follows Sam, Bella, and Suzie over a decade, as they weather romantic, professional, and familial crises. Robin Antalek does a terrific job weaving their stories, and even though her characters aren't completely likeable, their lives are tremendously compelling. Even though what happens in this book is more commonplace than unique, I still really enjoyed this book, and found it emotionally provoking at times as well. This is a book about all types of relationships—romantic ones, parent-child, siblings, and of course, friendships—and at least one of the relationships in the book may seem familiar to you.

"She could feel the world that Mindy was talking about pressing in on all sides, and then the crazy crooked line that ran from her mother to Sam. They had known each other all their lives. They were in each other's DNA. This place was all she had ever known."
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Lindsay
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent read
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
I didn't love this book but I liked it and enjoyed reading it. I wanted something momentous to happen in the end to at least one character in the book.
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Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Read for any "Grown Up"
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
The Grown Ups is a great Summer read that follows along with 3 childhood friends. The author, Robin Antalek, has such a great mastery of storytelling and it starts right off with a great ice breaker,
"It was the summer all the children in the neighborhood caught a virus."
That first chapter was filled with so much vivid detail and humor that I was quickly hooked into the story and into the neighborhood that bound the 3 characters, long after they moved away.

This story drew me in with these dynamic characters, teenagers who struggled to grow up in the midst of parental problems, their own life choices along the way and the constant struggles that life throws at them. This was such a beautiful portrayal (though sometimes in the ugliest way) of the fears and struggles faced while growing up and finding one's place in the world.
One person found this helpful
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LIbraryMouse
4.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2015
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The early part of the book is about the childhood and teenage years of the characters. The depiction of their relationships with each other and their families was really priceless. The middle part was so so; watching the relationships play out as they needed to. But I lost interest in the characters as they got older, and more fixed in their worlds. I would only have given it 3 stars if the first part hadn't been so good.
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