Burgess, Melvin. Smack. 1996. Henry Holt and Company: New York.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Theme: Drugs mostly about heroin addiction.
Reading Level: Young Adult
Awards: Carnegie Medal, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction (UK), ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Plot Summary: Smack is written about two teenagers, a boy named Tar and a girl named Gemma that runs away from home. Tar is running away from his abusive father and alcoholic mother. Tar is a good boy in the beginning; he just wants to get away from his parents. Tar gets involved with swaggers in the United Kingdom. Swaggers are people that take over abandoned buildings, hook up electricity, and live in them for free. The first few swaggers that Tar meets are college bond people that are just against the government. Overall, they are good people. Soon Gemma meets him up with him against her parents will. Gemma seems to be the bad influence on Tar because she gets bored with his swagger friends. She meets these other swaggers that are bad off on heroin and moves in with them. Shortly after she moves in Tar follows her. Eventually they all get hooked on heroin. The things they end up doing for heroin are horrendous. None of them can stop using heroin. Finally, when Gemma gets pregnant she decides to change her life. She does not want to raise her child like her friend was doing in a heroin atmosphere.
Critique: Smack definitely fits into a realistic fiction category. It is a problem novel about heroin addicts which certainly classifies as edgy. It hits hard on social issues that drug addicts endure. The atmosphere of this story is extremely vocal. There is a no holds bar for this book. The dialect, however, was very clever. I enjoyed how the author spoke through every character in the book. Every character that you meet in this book has a chapter voiced in their own words and in their own point of view.
Curriculum Issues: I do not believe I would use this in my classroom. It has no place in a school library. It is too graphic for young adults. I learned a few things with this book about drugs. I do not like the way Gemma talked about her parents. She made them seem unfair and over bearing. When, in fact, her parents were being good parents. Plus, they made it seem like drugs were so cool. They did not tell the reader how bad drugs are for you until the very end of the book. With young, immature minds reading this I would hope they would not get the wrong impression. Therefore, in my opinion this book would not be in my school’s library. ( )

Smack by Melvin Burgess drugs, sex, and anarchy, what's not to love? A sad yet happy story that I absolutely loved. It takes you through the hardships of two teenagers that ran away from home and learn to live on the streets. the boy ran away from a life of abuse while the girl ran away because her parents where too strict. a great story, with great life lessons. i recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially those having problems in their life. ( )

I believe the word "gritty" is the first adjective that comes to mind to describe this book. Burgess gives us a story of addiction and disintegration, followed by the struggle to rebuild a fully-functioning life. Tar, officially named David, runs away from his physically abusive father and emotionally manipulative mother. He heads to Bristol and falls in with some friendly vegan anarchists, who set him up with a place to live. His girlfriend, Gemma, comes to join him and after becoming dissatisfied with life in the anarchist squat, she meets two heroin addicts who invite her to come and live with them in their squat. She tries heroin, and then gets Tar to try it, and their addiction starts to spiral out of control. At first, they're just smoking it, but then they start injecting it. Burgess portrays their slipping into carelessness, first saying that none of the group ever shares needles, then they start sharing among their core group of 4, and then it becomes clear that no one really cares. The girls in the group either work the street or in a massage parlor, while the boys sell drugs or shoplift. Burgess does a good job of depicting the decay that addiction brings into their lives; it's an engrossing read, but not because it's glamorous, heroin-chic or anything like that. It was like watching a car wreck or someone fallen and bloody on the sidewalk. It was a lot like Trainspotting (the film), in some ways. In the end, Gemma and Tar clean up, but their relationship is unsalvageable. Part of the strength of the novel comes from the use of multiple voices to tell the story. You hear from Gemma and Tar, as well as the secondary characters: Gemma's mother, Tar's dad, Lily, Rob, Richard, and Skolly. It creates a more complete picture of outwardly radiating impact that addition has had on the lives in the novel. Appropriate for mature teens; I would not want younger teens reading this. It would be a good novel for a junior or senior English class, where students can read it with the guidance of a teacher. Recommended for public library teen collections, but it may be too controversial--sex AND drugs--for a school collection. There are some graphic descriptions of injection drug use included. ( )

This is an edgy adolescent lit book that transcends the genre. Adults will enjoy the story too. Smack is action-packed and full of all the good stuf no one will admit to liking. ( )

This is a story of addiction, love, despair, and hope told in many voices. You not only hear the story of Tar and Gemma's spiral into addiction from them, but from those around them. An honest and brutal portrayal of heroin addiction - not one bit preachy.

Other books to try: A Hero Ain't Nothing But a Sandwich ( )