Slam

Features

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
• Published by: Putnam Juvenile October 16, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0399250484
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0399250484
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

From AudioFile
Narrator Nicholas Hoult is best known as Marcus in the film version of author Nick HornbyÕs ABOUT A BOY. Now he narrates HornbyÕs latest novel while still a teenager himself--not surprisingly, he nails the tone of a Londoner whose life goes unexpectedly off the rails. Sam is obsessed with skateboarding and Tony Hawk, the worldÕs greatest skater. Life is going well--his teachers are recommending art college, and he has a gorgeous girlfriend. In skating, a slam is a hard fall; in SamÕs life, the slam is unexpected fatherhood. Sam becomes a father at 16--the same age his mother had him. Hoult makes Sam an entirely believable teenager--his dialogue is slouchy, like a teenagerÕs, and his light tone maintains HornbyÕs humor. A.B. 2008 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* For Hornby, author of About a Boy (1988) and High Fidelity (1995), the move from adult to young-adult fiction represents more of a natural progression than a change in course. So it should come as no surprise that he has written an accomplished teen novel featuring a character whose voice hits its groove at the downbeat and sustains it through the final chord. Sam is a disarmingly ordinary 15-year-old kid who loves to skate (that's skateboarding, to you and me). But then he is blindsided: his girlfriend gets pregnant, and he lands in the middle of his mum's nightmare (she had Sam when she was 16). This may sound like an old-fashioned realistic YA problem novel, but it's a whole lot more. Sam, you see, has a sort-of-imaginary friend: the world's greatest skater, Tony Hawk, whose poster Sam talks to when he has problems. And the poster talks back, maybe, or maybe Sam is just reciting quotes from Tony's autobiography. And is it really Tony who is "whizzing" Sam into the future for glimpses of what is to come? With or without Tony's help, Sam gives us the facts about his very eventful couple of years, but as he reminds us, "there comes a point where the facts don't matter anymore . . . because you don't know what anything felt like." Which is where Hornby comes in. We know exactly how Sam feels-even when he feels differently from the beginning of a sentence to the end-and it feels just right: a vertiginous mix of anger, confusion, insight, humor, and love. Ott, Bill

Reader Reviews
I've been a huge fan of Hornby's since the early days, including his non-fiction, and this step into YA lit feels totally natural. After all, so many of his protagonists (including himself) are young men struggling to come to terms with adulthood and the responsibilities of "growing up." Here, the dilemma is much the same, however it's much more direct, and instead of a young man grappling adulthood, it's a teenage boy grappling with the implications of a monumental adult responsibility. I'm guessing there have been a number of good YA books about teen pregnancy -- and if that's the case, add this one to the list. The simple story is narrated by 18-year-old North London lad Sam, reflecting back over the past two years. While it's pretty bare bones -- the cast doesn't really extend beyond Sam, his girlfriend, their respective parents, and two skater acquaintances -- things are made livelier though the device of having Sam discuss his problems with a poster of legendary pro skater Tony Hawk (whose responses are passages Sam has memorized from Hawk's autobiography). There are also a few jumps into dream sequence/time-travel which break up the straightforward narrative, although they don't actually add up to that much. The book's real strength comes from Hornby's ability to capture the inner life of a teenage boy while avoiding all the usual pitfalls. Sam is neither too articulate nor too dense, and he's basically a well-adjusted, pleasant teen who hasn't gotten into any trouble -- until now. His narrative is full Hornby's trademark observational wit, although without nearly as many pop culture trappings as usual. The book certainly carries a cautionary message about teen sex, but it's never hectoring or reductionist. There's a strong sense of hopefulness for Sam, despite the deep hole he's dug himself. It's not an amazing book, but certainly a cut above the average. Comment | | (Report this)