SLAM by Nick Hornby

The novel is about Sam (16), a  skateboarder who lives with his 32-year-old mother. Sam seeks advice on life from Tony Hawk’s poster on his wall which talks back to him. Sam meets a girl called Alicia, who is a year older than he is, and the two begin dating and have sex and (predictably enough) conceive a child. The story is about his dealing with the fact he is soon to become a father, a teenage father. The interesting bit of the  story: Tony Hawk’s poster plays a great role in helping Sam shaping his mind, by zapping him into the future.

“Whoever invented skateboarding is a genius. There’s only one skater, and his name’s Tony Hawk. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who he is, just trust me. Not only is Hawk the world’s best skater, he’s also good to talk to. So I talk to Tony Hawk, and Tony Hawk talks back. Because just when it seemed like everything had come together for me, I had to go and screw it all up. It only took five seconds. But all of me knew. One risk. One mistake and my life would never be the same. Hawk had a few things to say. And a few things to show me. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see your own future?”

Nick Hornby’s Slam is very hilarious yet has a lot of moral values in it. It is such a page-turner, I just couldn’t put the book down. *****