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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780399250484
ISBN number: 0399250484
Label: Putnam Juvenile
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: October 16, 2007
Publishing house: Putnam Juvenile
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 21307
Studio: Putnam Juvenile
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Product Description:
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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Rated by buyers -
This was supposed to be teen-fiction but, as an adult Hornby fan, I had to get it. I'd say the only thing that makes it teen-fiction is that it's told in the very first person by a 16 year-old boy. Other than that we still have Hornbys' clever insights and humour all the way through. It is about a boy(Sam) who gets his girlfriend (Alicia) pregnant but doesn't find out till just after he dumps her. All the pressure Sam feels to be a man when he still wants to be a kid and go skating (skateboarding- not ice skating). Sam gets whizzed into the future 2/3 times and I found this annoying and knocked a star off for it. As the book says itself- there is no real end to the story but that feels right. Being pro-abortion in these situations, it takes away some of my sympathy for the girl because she insists on having it, and Sam tries to do the right thing by backing her up. So their young lives end up in a mess. But it's an easy read with the Hornby one-liners and insights.
Rated by buyers 
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Nick Hornby has always walked a fine line between seeing the humour in every day life situations and celebrating the idiocy of mainstream pop culture. While High Fidelity and a Long Way Down were laugh out loud hilarious, and packed with wit, Hornby has slowly but steadily moved to a point where his characters are so deeply embedded in the mainstream that his work is becoming nauseating for anyone who doesn't consider a viewing Pop Idols accompanied by a Big Mac to be the realisation of the profundity of the life experience.
How to Be Good was already balanced on the wrong side of the greasy schmaltz line, but Hornby crosses over completely in this awful offering that had me close to retching at times. The book is packed with pop culture references, cutesy moments and is narrated by one of Hornby's typically ambivalent protagonists. I'm not sure what else to say about it - reading to the end, as I felt compelled to do after shelling out money for a copy, was torturous and the book is just frightfully bad.
Perhaps its the total lack of appreciation of wider social context that gets to me, I get the feeling that Hornby's characters would be as comfortably at home in Nazi Germany as in Big Brother Britain, such is the depth of the unquestioning support and endorsement of the status quo.
Rated by buyers 
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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 endeavor 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.
Reviewed Author name: The Compulsive Reader
Rated by buyers -
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 Sam 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 endeavor 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, but 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 be soon forgotten.
Rated by buyers 
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"How to be Good" was my very first hornby read so i'm a latecomer. However, since then, I've read most everything he's put out including Fever Pitch, About a Boy, High Fidelity, etc...Slam, although not a bad read, was by far the least interesting for me. Hornby gets into the mind of a 16 year old kid but in the end, that's what made me question the quality of the book or it's readability at least. Sam's vernacular and pubescent bearing just kind of got on my nerves...they do, however, make for some fairly funny moments but nothing to write home about.
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