Slam

Slam
by Nick Hornby

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Book Summary Information

Author: Nick Hornby
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-16
ISBN: 0399250484
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Book Reviews of Slam

Book Review: Hornby for Teens
Summary: 5 Stars

Nick Hornby is among my favorite authors, so when I saw he had written a book for young adults, I grabbed (the audio version) for my son (who is 12) and I to listen to. I expected that Hornby would satisfy my son's taste for humor and edginess, while also being a "good book" for him to read. We were not disappointed.

This is textbook Hornby: the writing is relentlessly clever and hip and treats serious themes by exploring them with humor and originality. Like many of Hornby's other books, it involves a likeable male character who is eventually forced by circumstances to "grow up" --- only this time the character is growing up prematurely (at 15), rather than "postmaturely" as in many other Hornby books. It is very much a "boyish" perspective, and I suspect that this book may not appeal to female readers, even less so than other Hornby books, as this one also lacks the romantic aspect that some of his other novels have featured. My son and I, though, both thought it was great.

Teen pregnancy is a heavy topic, and towards the latter portion of the book, one begins to feel that weight, notwithstanding Hornby's breezy style. So the book does suffer to some degree from the stereotyped track of young adult fiction: teenager faces crisis from contemporary social concern (death/divorce/alcholism/disability/pregnancy) that rocks his/her previously complacent world. Teenager plumbs the depths in facing the crisis and survives, barely, for a not-unhappy-but-no-longer-innocent-as-a-child ending. My twelve-year son already has internalized that story arc so that it shapes his expectations, and Slam, for all Hornby's originality, does not venture off this path.

A final aside: My wife and I have noticed lately a lot of "have the baby" stories directed at teenagers (a middle course between abortion stories and abstinence stories that were more prevalent in the late 20th century). In addition to Slam, there was the hit movie "Knocked Up," and the Academy Award nominated "Juno." An interesting development to a believer that pop culture follows what its consumers want much more than it leads them.

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Summary of Slam

Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend?because by the time she tells him she?s pregnant, they?ve already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad.

There?s only one person Sam can turn to?his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Sam believes the answers to life?s hurdles can be found in Hawk?s autobiography. But even Tony Hawk isn?t offering answers this time?or is he? In this wonderfully witty, poignant story about a teenage boy unexpectedly thrust into fatherhood, it?s up to Sam to make the right decisions so the bad things that could happen, well, don?t.

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