Slam

Starred review from October 8, 2007
A highly companionable narrator, 16-year-old Sam Jones has spent his life coming to terms with having been an unwanted baby—his parents married because his 16-year-old mother was pregnant, and they divorced soon after. He knows better, in other words, than to make the same mistake. But by the time he learns he's going to be a father himself, he's not even dating Alicia, the mother, anymore. Devastated about how fatherhood will wreck his future, Sam, a skateboarder, talks things through with a poster of Tony Hawk, who “answers” in quotes from his biography, which Sam has read 40 or 50 times. Sam also credits Hawk with a magical ability to transport him to his own future, where he participates in dream-state scenes that actually do occur later. Like Hornby's adult bestsellers (High Fidelity
; About a Boy
), his YA debut features witty dialogue, a winning if flawed hero and wry insights into the male psyche, making this book a sure bet for Hornby fans of any age. Whether Hornby will find a new audience may be chancier—the readers attracted by Sam's skateboarding talk might want more action and less absorption in relationships than his craftily structured novel offers. Ages 12-up.

Starred review from October 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Sam has slammed many times while skateboarding, but he slams in a different way when he learns that he is going to be a father. He is nearly 16 when he meets Alicia, and the relationship moves quickly, ending just as fast. Then, on his birthday, he gets an "urgent" text message from her, and what she has to tell him when they meet doesn't surprise him. Alicia is pregnant. Sam turns to the poster of the person he can always trust to give him the answers, Tony Hawk. TH whizzes him into the future and shows him exactly what kind of father he will become to his child, Roof. These moments are the most touching and hilarious in the novel. Sam's adventures are artfully done and move the plot forward without revealing too much. The characters are given the opportunity to grow with charm and wit while facing the challenges of young adulthood. Without making light of it, Hornby broaches the subject of teen pregnancy with humor and warmth."Julianna M. Helt, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 23, 2009
Hornby, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, specializes in memorable characters; in his first novel for young adults, he's created a dozy. On his 16th birthday, Sam gets an urgent text message from his ex-girlfriend. He is about to be a father, just as his own parents were teens when they had him. Seeking advice from the poster of skateboarding pro Tony Hawk in his room, Sam learns all the ways his life will change with the birth of his son. Why It Is for Us: Who knew that Tony Hawk had superpowers? As Tony whizzes Sam forward and back in time to show him what his life will hold, we experience a full range of emotions from this baffled but likable young teen. Hornby is able to evoke equal sympathy for Sam and for his parents, who know how difficult it will be to rise above this situation and build a future. [Originally published in 2007.]

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2007
For Hornby, author of About a Boy (1988) and High Fidelity (1995), the move from adult to young-adult fiction represents more of a natural progression than a change in course. So it should come as no surprise that he has written an accomplishedteen novel featuring a character whose voice hits its groove at the downbeat and sustains it through the final chord. Sam is a disarmingly ordinary 15-year-old kid who loves to skate (thats skateboarding, to you and me). But then he is blindsided: his girlfriend gets pregnant, and he lands in the middle of his mums nightmare (she had Sam when she was 16). This may sound like an old-fashioned realistic YA problem novel, but its a whole lot more. Sam, you see, has a sort-of-imaginary friend: the worlds greatest skater, Tony Hawk, whose poster Sam talks to when he has problems. And the poster talks back, maybe, or maybe Sam is just reciting quotes from Tonys autobiography. And is it really Tony who is whizzing Sam into the future for glimpses of what is to come? With or without Tonys help, Sam gives us the facts abouthis very eventful couple of years, but as he reminds us, there comes a point where the facts dont matter anymore . . . because you dont know what anything felt like. Which is where Hornby comes in. We know exactly how Sam feelseven when he feels differently from the beginning of a sentence to the endand it feels just right: a vertiginous mix of anger, confusion, insight, humor, and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)