Slam! by Nick Hornby

Hornby, N. (2007). Slam. (Unabridged., 8 dics). Penguin Audio.

ISBN: 0143142836

Classification: audio book, fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Age Level: 10th-12th grade

Subjects: audiobook, coming of age, family, fiction, love story, pregnancy

Reader's Annotation: Sam's life is pretty straight-forward, with school and skating, his mom and his friends...until his girlfriend gets a positive result on a pregnancy test.

Summary: Sam is a skater, a skate boarder, not an ice skater. He's got his life pretty well organized. He's going to finish high school, then go to University to study graphic design. When he needs advice he turns to a poster Tony Hawk, which replies in excerpts from his biography which Sam has read repeatedly. Then Sam's girlfriend gets pregnant. Sam is going to be a teen father. That's the one thing his mother didn't want for him, given that she had Sam at a very young age. Sam and his girlfriend negotiate the rocky waters of teen parenthood with a little help from a Tony Hawk poster and occasional time traveling visions Sam has when he's sleeping.

Reviews / Awards:

New York Times Review

Author Info:
Nick Hornby's website

Potential Hotspots:

teen sex, pregnancy, swearing

Readalikes:

• First Part Last by Angela Johnson
  
• Hanging on to Max by Margaret Bechard
  

Why it belongs in a YA collection:
Nick Hornby is a well known adult author, yet Sam is such an authentic teen, YA readers will not question Hornby's ability to write for teens. Though this is something of a cautionary tale, teens will not feel bogged down by the message. Sam has a supportive family and friends, and so does Alicia, his girlfriend. The story focuses more on the choices the characters make than on the "don't get pregnant!!" message.

Other:

Because Hornby and all the characters in this story are British, I particularly enjoyed listening to it as an audiobook.

Evaluation:

4.5 stars