Tony Griffin, the former Clare hurler and 2006 All-Star has taken an unconventional route from the hurling field to the bookshelves. The third edition of his book Teenager’s Book of Life has recently had a re-print and more than 30,000 copies have now been sold. The book grew out of more than a decade of listening to teenagers in schools and communities across Ireland through the SOAR Foundation, which he co-founded with Karl Swan.
“This book was all the things I wished someone had told me, things I wanted thousands of teenagers to hear and take with them, so that hopefully their lives might be a little easier or better informed,” says Tony.
Now published by Little Island Books, it has found an audience among teenagers and parents alike.
The book originally emerged from a question Tony had heard repeatedly in his work with teenagers: “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
He had become increasingly conscious of how much young people were trying to make sense of their own lives, often without the reassurance that their experiences were universal and shared. He wanted to bring together the things he wished he had known himself.
“I just started writing – the first sentence came, and then it was all tumbled out,” he says.
“The first chapter was ‘Who Am I?’” he recalls. A sticky note on the wall became his guiding principle: “Be daringly honest and write to please nobody.”
Workshop
Tony remembers a particular workshop where a girl who was being bullied described caring for her younger sisters while her mother recovered from an accident. Asked what she missed most, she spoke about her mother putting her uniform on the radiator so it would be warm in the morning.
“The other girls in the class just broke down. They were like, ‘We didn’t realise that was your life,’” he says. “I think that’s very powerful, where young people see each other’s point of view.”
That openness subsequently shaped the book. “The main thing for me was that the tone of voice was honest,” he says.
He wanted to address teenagers directly, rather than write about them from an adult perspective.
“Teenager, they’re so wise,” he says. “They have an insight and a wisdom that very often adults have lost.”
Reflecting on the pressures facing teenagers, he says: “I think it’s incredibly hard to be a young person now, when you’re just starting to find out who you are.
“What they’re looking for most of all is connection and belonging,” he adds.
The book explores identity, relationships, body image, grief and the inner critic. Tony drew on specialist expertise, with his sister Angela, a clinical neuropsychologist, contributing a chapter on grief in the latest edition. Although written for teenagers, the book has also found an audience among parents. “The funny thing is, parents read it now, and they get a lot from it. But that was never my intention,” he says.
His advice to parents is simple: “Just leave it [the book] in the kitchen, leave it on a counter. Don’t even tell your teenager you got it for them. Let them discover it, and if it’s for them, they’ll open it on the right page.”
Securing a publisher
Getting the book into readers’ hands required Tony to take on the practical demands of publishing as well as writing. He managed printing, distribution and promotion himself, securing stockists throughout the country as well as setting up displays and packing shelves.
“I was responsible for everything: the cost of paper, when to print,” he says. He funded reprints for several years, with support from two or three patrons. “Every time a print run was required, that would be a big, take a deep breath and go again.”
The latest edition received a redesign by Anchor Studios in Kenmare, with illustrations by Kathy Hogan. Having invested in the redesign and reprint, he describes the decision as “my last roll of the dice”.
The deal with Little Island Books has brought Teenager’s Book of Life into the traditional book trade and changed his role. He is making videos for social media, writing a weekly newsletter for parents and visiting schools. His focus now is bringing the book to a wider audience.
Asked what he hopes a young person will take from it at a difficult point in their life, his answer is straightforward: “Reassurance and a way forward. Just get a sense of everything is going to be okay.”
When asked if he wants to continue writing, his answer is clear: “Absolutely, it’s probably the thing I enjoy more than anything. Now I can focus on bringing the book to life,” he says.
Teenagers’s Book of Life, by Tony Griffin, Little Island Books, €15.99
