The Young Team: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2023

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I bought it after being impressed by the author at a Paisley book festival event about Scottish masculinities. One thing he said at that event which continued to strike me throughout the book is that Azzy's thoughts and feelings play out almost entirely internally. The contrast between his inner world and the dialogue is striking. It's one of the tragedies the book highlights, the extent to which generations of young Scottish men have been culturally forbidden to express themselves or emotionally connect with each other (verbally at least). And I know this world; I lived this world, and I knew my own town’s version of these guys. They were brilliant, hyper, hilarious, but always with a rippling undercurrent of unpredictability, always an unspoken knowledge between the lassies that despite how good the night is, if one of the boys decides to start, we boost. I could go on for ages about how well this book handles any one of these. The gang members who aren't impoverished, but seek out gangs anyway, the kid whose family environment of alcoholism dictate how he copes, and the females who affect Azzys decisions. All worthy of analysis and I kind of wish I still worked in Glasgow schools to put this in the hands of every kid who should read it. The connection they'd feel would make readers of every one of them!! Ultimately, I finished the book feeling hope. In Scotland University is free and for so many of our youth that is a lifeline to a better future. Alongside that, they are resilient and have a good sense of humour which helps deal with all the negative that they have to deal with. Things might not be great but there are resources (external and internal) there which make me think all is not completely lost.

Graeme Armstrong: ‘When I stopped taking drugs, I felt a kind

Graeme Armstrong appears at Waterstones, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, on 5 Mar and Aye Write! festival, Glasgow, on 12 Mar This is a masterpiece, and something we’ve never been allowed inside before. It’s clear Armstrong has drawn on his own experiences here - it’s too stark not to be real - and the message he has to relate is so important. I truly hope this book finds its way to the people who need to read it. Azzy Williams is ready. Ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and ready to fight. But most of all, he’s ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team. Round here, in the schemes of the forgotten industrial heartland of Scotland, your mates, your young team – they’re everything. Azzy Williams is fourteen; a rising star, this is his life and he loves it. Azzy Williams is seventeen; he’s out of control. Azzy Williams is twenty-one; he’d like to leave it all behind. But a way out isn’t easy to find . . . Inspired by the experiences of its author, Graeme Armstrong, The Young Team is an energetic novel, full of the loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and threat of life on these streets. It looks beyond the tabloid stereotypes to tell a powerful story about the realities of life for young people in Britain today. The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong – eBook DetailsThe only thing separating me from anyone in this book is privilege. I had the privilege of not going down a drinks/drugs route because the system wasn’t pitted against me. My parents have money, my parents are still together, I was encouraged to study, it was assumed that I’d be intelligent and academic, I was supported through school by teachers because I was seen as smart because I spoke “well”. ALL of this is privilege that isn’t afforded to a lot of children in Scotland, including today. His book received 300 rejections over five years. Graeme was told it wouldn’t work “because of its dialect.” But he persevered – it was “The Young Team or bust. No Plan B.” It was finally signed by Picador in 2019. Our conversation comes full circle as Armstrong contemplates how his school days shaped his future, Trainspotting aside. “When I started telling teachers I was going to study English at university it was met with healthy scepticism. One teacher said there was too much reading for someone like me and another told me to just leave school. But I hung on.” Azzy Williams is ready. Ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and ready to fight. But most of all, he’s ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team.

The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong - Pan Macmillan The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong - Pan Macmillan

I left that part of my life behind when I got a long-term boyfriend at 14. I stopped drinking on the streets and “taking” drugs. I became a bit of a goody-two shoes, drinking in houses that parents had left to their kids for the weekend because they trusted them.

Ah never say never n aw that!’ A say, wae Monica catchin ma eye. She looks doon ever so slightly, n gees us this mad look.

The Young Team - Books from Scotland The Young Team - Books from Scotland

Written in the dialect of Scots used in Lanarkshire, those who don't speak it might struggle at first but please don't let that deter you from persevering with this mighty novel. It is as much social commentary as any formal research an organisation working with disadvantaged youth/gangs could ever produce. The Airdrie-born author has achieved accolades beyond his imagination since launching his Times best-selling debut novel The Young Team last year, which has earned its place on the bookshelves of Martin Compston and Nicola Sturgeon and is now set to be adapted for TV.Ready to smoke, pop pills and drink wine, and he’s ready to fight. But most of all, he’s ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team. Round here, in the schemes of the former industrial heartland of Scotland, your troops, your young team- they’re everything” Get all the latest Glasgow news and headlines sent straight to your inbox twice a day by signing up to our free newsletter. Predictable comparisons have also been made with Irvine Welsh’s work given both write in Scottish dialect. I’m a big fan of Irvine Welsh however I think the comparisons are lazy. Graeme Armstrong captures a different world. One he knows well. Comparisons with the Trainspotting crew are superficial. This is a different era, a different world, and it's completely distinct from 1990's Leith. Yes, our main man Alan 'Azzy' Williams is in a gang but the story is more about his personal journey. His gang, The Young Team, are his brothers and he will do, and frequently does do, anything for them. These guys pull each other out of some truly awful circumstances and have a bond forged initially through drink, drugs, gangs and raves. Learning Disabled and Autistic Talent to Lead New Production Company by U.K.’s Access All Areas (EXCLUSIVE)

Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, gang - The Skinny Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, gang - The Skinny

I’ve got different shelves for different things. I’ve got a nonfiction shelf, a Scottish social realism shelf and a general fiction shelf. Azzy Williams makes poor choices. But what other choices did he have? The police, your parents, your school: they all try to push you a different path. Violence begets violence. And yet what choice do you have when you’re trapped in years of intergenerational dynamics, like an understudy actor stepping up to take the lead? You play your part, like you’ve been told countless times before. It’s normal to you. It’s natural. Perfectly captured the “ned” and rave culture in Scotland in and around 2005 onwards. It went beyond the stereotype and showed us people who get involved in violent territorial gangs do so for the brotherhood, sense of belonging and status within “the scheme”. Ben said, “The Young Team grabbed my attention from the very first paragraph and held it until the last. Graeme's ear for dialogue is truly exceptional and the book's characters all felt absolutely truthful and recognisable to me. It has been such an exciting challenge to work on a TV project that has the potential to reach audiences who never see themselves or their world portrayed with any authenticity.”

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He continued: “I went from three drafts of 235,000 words to one book with 110,000. There are still bits I would change to this day, like any artist. But you need to learn to let that go to grow.” Azzy dreams of another life. He faces his toughest fight of all – the fight for a different future. Armstrong encapsulates all of this perfectly. The mentality, the social insistence, the substances, the violence. He describes everything to the point of near nostalgia, yet adds explanations and added pressure which we never would have guessed our boys to be suffering; but, of course, they must have been. The drive of masculine conformity is a strong one, and dangerously precarious. The Young Team is a 21st century tale of alcohol, drugs, raving, territorial disputes and violence. It focusses on young working class males on Lanarkshire estates who are compelled to live up to the hard man image of their elders. Predictably for most it’s a road to nowhere, littered with burnouts, corpses, casualties, regret, anger and sorrow.