A perfect airport/transport book. For those who went off Hornby a bit with his last two novels, this one in tone and narrator is closer to About A Boy and High Fidelity. Soon to be a major movie near you. To bad the kid from About A Boy is probably too old by now to play this part.

Likable teenage boy, single mom, lower-class family gets a girl pregnant in convincing circumstances--and she decides to keep the kid with no apparently no hand wringing and futzing. Again, convincing reasoning, tho I wondered why the option of open adoption never came up. Maybe they don't have it in England?

Not sure the device of periodically shooting the kid into the future works too well, though I'm already figuring out how it would work in the movie. (Only go to *one* future place and maybe work back how we got here). Also, Hornby doesn't have his heart in skateboarding the way he did with pop music and soccer. I think he was trying really hard not to rely on music or (traditional) sports as the thing for the kid to be fanatical about but, jeez, regardless,any story about kids this age ... should have little more music in it.

Hornby is no deep thinker, which is fine. What I like best about him is how lightly he drops in the little truths that we knew so well in adolescence yet rarely seem to surface in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. And: Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason a boy (or het man) won't see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen at a movie theater showing said movie--is because in the opinion of his peers, there's only one reason he would want to see such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if said parent is kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty. Older and fatter would be better.

A perfect airport/transport book. For those who went off Hornby a bit with his last two novels, this one in tone and narrator is closer to those of About A Boy and High Fidelity. Soon to be a major movie near you. Too back the kid from About A Boy is probably a too old by now.

Likable teenage boy, single mom, lower class family gets a girl pregnant in convincing circumstances--and she decides to keep the kid with no apparently no handwringing and futzing. Again, convincing reasoning, tho I wondered why the option of open adoption never came up. (Maybe they don't have it in England?)

Not sure the device of periodically shooting the kid into the future works too well, though I'm already figuring out how it would work in the movie. (Only go to *one* future place and maybe work back how we got here). Also didn't sense that Hornby had his heart in skateboarding. I think he was trying really hard not to rely on music or (traditional) sports as the thing for the kid to be fanatical about but, jeez, kids this age ... there should be more music in it.

Hornby is no deep thinker, which is fine. What I like best about him is how lightly he drops in little truths that we know from adolescence but somehow get nearly erased in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason boys (and men) don't want to see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen a movie theater showing said movie--is because to his peers there's only one reason he could be seeing such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if he's kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty..

know from adolescence but somehow get nearly erased in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason boys (and men) don't want to see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen a movie theater showing said movie--is because to his peers there's only one reason he could be seeing such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if he's kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty.. ( )

Stopped halfway through. I just didn't connect with the characters.

Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com

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. ( )

As always, Hornby gets the internal voice of the lead character perfectly. And the complexity of modern "blended" families is also handled well. However, the flash-forwards and flash-backs were a distraction.

For anyone else it would be a very satisfying read, but Hornby's other books are so much better that this one only rates two stars. ( )

I didn’t read the whole book, but from what I read it was when Alicia and Sam went on a date [that was most compelling]. Because it wasn’t very interesting because I’m not that much into skateboarding. AHS/BC