The Teenage Textbook

1988 novel by Adrian Tan

The Teenage Textbook

Author| Adrian Tan
Language| English
Genre| Young adult fiction
Set in| Singapore
Publisher| Hotspot Books, Landmark Books

Publication date

| 1988
Publication place| Singapore
Pages| 175
ISBN| 9789813002210 1988
Followed by| The Teenage Workbook

The Teenage Textbook is a young adult fiction novel by the Singaporean author Adrian Tan, first published by Hotspot Books in 1988.

## Background

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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 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 and Daren Shiau.[1]

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.[2][3][4]

## Adaptations

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In 1997, The Teenage Textbook was made into a stage play by The Necessary Stage, starring Hossan Leong and Mark Richmond.[5] 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,[6] on Channel 5, starring Xuan Ong, Chen Yixin, and Chris Mak.[7]

## References

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1. ^ Yusof, Helmi. "Tomes that show us how we live". The Business Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
2. ^ "The Teenage Textbook (MEMORIAL EDITION)". Landmark Books. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
3. ^ "The Teenage Workbook". Landmark Books. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
4. ^ "Renewed interest in 'The Teenage Textbook' after author Adrian Tan's passing". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
5. ^ "The Teenage Textbook". The Necessary Stage Archives. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
6. ^ "The Teenage Textbook updated for Gen Z in new TV series". Yahoo! News. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
7. ^ "Mui Ee, Sissy and Tom are back: Teenage Textbook TV series to premiere in March". CNA Lifestyle. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

## External links

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* Interview with Adrian Tan