''The Teenage Textbook'' is a

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

novel by the

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an author

Adrian Tan Adrian Tan Gim Hai (4 February 1966 – 8 July 2023) was a Singaporean lawyer and author. Known for writing the '' Teenage Textbook'' series of books in the 1980s, he was the 27th president of the Law Society of Singapore and a partner at TSMP ...

, first published by Hotspot Books in 1988.

Background

The book followed the life of a female student named Mui Ee, studying at the fictitious Paya Lebar Junior College in Singapore. The book was a bestseller in Singapore, and was followed by a sequel, '' The Teenage Workbook'', in 1989. Tan wrote the books while he was an undergraduate law student at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

. The two books sold over 50,000 copies. In 2015, ''The Teenage Textbook'' was selected by '' The Business Times'' as one of the Top 10 English Singapore books from 1965 to 2015, alongside titles by

Arthur Yap Arthur Yap Chioh Hiong (; 1943 – 19 June 2006) was a Singaporean poet, writer and painter. Biography Arthur Yap was born in Singapore, the sixth child of a carpenter and a housewife. Yap attended St Andrew's School and the University of S ...

and Daren Shiau. Following the death of Adrian Tan in July 2023, the Memorial Edition of the two books were published by Landmark Books on the following month.

Adaptations

In 1997, ''The Teenage Textbook'' was made into a stage play by

The Necessary Stage The Necessary Stage (TNS, previously known as M1 Theatre Connect and M1 Youth Connection) is a Singaporean non-profit theatre company with charity status. Formed in 1987 by Alvin Tan, TNS was established with its own mission to create challengi ...

, starring

Hossan Leong Hossan Leong (; born 10 July 1969) is a Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian. Personal life He was born 10 July 1969 in Singapore, Leong was educated at Anglo-Chinese School and Anglo-Chinese Junior Col ...

and Mark Richmond. In 1998, it was also made into a film, '' The Teenage Textbook Movie'', starring Melody Chen and Caleb Goh, which topped the box office in Singapore for four weeks. In 2021, the book was reimagined by Drew Pan as a TV series titled ''Teenage Textbook – The Series'', on Channel 5, starring Xuan Ong, Chen Yixin, and Chris Mak.

References

External links

Interview with Adrian Tan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teenage Textbook, The Singaporean novels Novels set in Singapore 1988 novels