Product Description

'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up'. Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam: his mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia. Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3015 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'Truthful and funny' Sunday Times'Hornby takes the raw ironies of life and gently rubs away at them to reveal gems of bittersweet truth' Observer'A moving read for anyone' Elle'Touching, very funny' Guardian'Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read' Independent'Warm, witty and wise' Arena'Hornby's writing is hilarious' Cosmopolitan

Sunday Times, October 7, 2007
'Truthful and Funny'

Arena, October, 2007
'Warm, witty and wise'

Customer Reviews

Dull "Lad-Lit" for teens. Don't bother.
I love Nick Hornby, so I snapped this up when I saw it at the airport. It sounded good; a teenage boy gets his girlfriend into a bit of trouble and has to deal with the consequences. Unfortunately Nick hasn't just written from a sixteen year old's point of view- he's actually written like a sixteen year old boy and has failed miserably at trying to sound "with it." It lacks everything that made "High Fidelity" such sharp, funny writing and was really disppointing. Maybe a reader in their mid-teens would enjoy it, but there's much better things to read than "Slam".

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Sam figures that his life is going pretty well. He's doing all right in school, he gets along with his mom, he has a great
girlfriend, and is getting good at skateboarding. He has aspirations of attending college, unlike his mom, who had to drop
out of school when she became pregnant with him.

But all of his dreams come crashing down when his girlfriend, Alicia, tells him that she's pregnant. And she has no intention
of getting rid of the baby.

Sam spooks. He goes into denial. When that doesn't work, he tries running away, physically and emotionally. And then, an
unexplainable thing happens...while he dreams at night, he gets whizzed into the future and is shown an unexpected life that
will force him to face the facts and take responsibility for his actions.

SLAM is a frank, vivid, and highly realistic take on teenage pregnancy from a point of view that is completely different from
what many are accustomed to. Hornby doesn't waste time by working in lectures of the consequences of premarital sex,
but instead gives us Sam, who is a little selfish, very scared, a bit ashamed, but ultimately a strong character who, through
many trials and despite his own feelings, manages to pull himself together and attempt to be the best dad he can be -- and is
surprisingly good at it.

The more unbelievable element of the story, Sam's visits to the future, gives the story just the right dash of unique appeal
without seeming too implausible. Hornby does more than just give us an intriguing account of teen parenthood; he reveals
each emotion, thought, and feeling with startling clarity and humor, until you understand and empathize with Sam. SLAM is
a fascinating, compelling, and even poignant read that won't soon be forgotten.

People will nick it off you...
I took this on holiday and people kept nicking it off me to read it, it was so good. My son who is 13 loved it and so did my nieces who don't normally read much. Then my husband got hold of it...

Yes, teen pregnancy has been done a lot but the humour and down to earth language in this book make it very readable, and I was laughing out loud. It is also very thought provoking - any teenager having casual sex or indeed any sex should bear in mind what the outcome could be and the affect it will have on their future and I am sure this will become compulsory reading in secondary schools. Enjoy!