Azzy Williams is ready. 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. Azzy Williams is fourteen. Buckfast, gang-fights, a growing reputation. This is his life and he loves it. Azzy Williams is eighteen.

Drugs, raves, serious violence. Things are out of control. Azzy Williams is twenty-one. Addiction, gangsters, old enemies. He dreams of leaving it all behind. Round here, a way out isn't so easy to find . Inspired by the experiences of its author, The Young Team is an energetic novel full of loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and the real 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.